Thesis Research

My research seeks to determine why strict herbivory (plant-eating) evolves in lizards. My study is a laboratory investigation that tests the effects of diet switching (herbivory to carnivory, then back to herbivory) on the desert iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis, a locally occurring, herbivorous, iguanid lizard. My experiments include estimating the digestive efficiencies of desert iguanas fed one of three diet treatments before and after diet switching. The effects of diet switching on the endosymbiont community (microorganisms in the hindgut of the lizards that help digest plant material via fermentation) will be analyzed using molecular techniques. The hypothesis I am testing predicts that in an environment where insects are only available seasonally, the benefit of switching to a diet of insects is outweighed by the decline in digestive efficiency (following switching back to eating plants) caused by the disruption to the endosymbiont community associated with eating insects.

Download a copy of my full research proposal here [Andres MS Thesis Proposal].

Awards and Honors

• Henri Siebert Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation in Physiology/Morphology, $200, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (2005)
• Association of Retired Faculty Memorial Award for Outstanding Graduate Student, California State University, Northridge (2005)
• Sallie Casanova Predoctoral Program, $3000, California State University, Northridge (2003)
• Graduate Equity Fellowship, $6000, California State University, Northridge (2002-03)
• Ebell Scholarship, $2000, The Ebell of Los Angeles (1992)
• Dean's List, DeVry Institute of Technology, Pomona, California (1991-94)