Kathy Nagel

PhD Candidate 

Email | knagel@berkeley.edu
Research area | Biomechanics / Metabolics / Sensory Ecology

Research Interests

Throughout my circuitous scientific career, I have always been fascinated by evolution and animal behavior. How do animals interact with the environment, and how do environmental changes lead to adaptation and speciation? My research focuses on the two clades of Hawaiian Tetragnatha: the spiny leg clade and the web building clade. The spiny leg clade abandoned web building for a cursorial hunting style, resulting in a shift in their sensory environment. Without webs, how do these species detect vibratory signals and capture prey? Using an interdisciplinary approach integrating microscopy, biomechanics, and metabolics, I aim to identify the primary sensory modality used by the spiny leg species, determine the purpose of the long leg spines characteristic of this clade, and identify the physiological impact of web loss.

Before joining the Evolab, I worked with Dr. Jeannette Yen and Dr. Rachel Lasley-Rasher at the Georgia Institute of Technology studying the impact of harmful algal blooms (red tides) on zooplankton behavior. While at Georgia Tech obtaining my Master’s Degree, I also worked with the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s SIMPLE BoS project focused on reducing the cost of solar panel racking and mounting hardware and associated labor by 50%. In 2017, I joined the UC Berkeley Energy Institute at the Haas School of Business to work with Dr. Catherine Wolfram’s team to manage the E2e and CALPower projects focused on energy economics.

Current Projects:

Currently, I am analyzing the data from metabolic and biomechanics experiments conducted in 2023 and preparing samples for TEM analysis.