Multimedia Gallery
The Discovery FilesSurvival by Adaptation!
Lizards might tell us how they and other species have evolved over centuries, millennia even, to adapt to changing environments. It is a process called "adaptive radiation," how organisms evolve to adapt to changing environments. Researchers are studying Caribbean lizards to see if ecological communities can endure for extended periods. Dr. Melissa Kemp, a paleobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, is leading the study. During Women's History Month, learn how NSF's "The Discovery Files" is highlighting the work of notable women scientists.
Credit: National Science Foundation
Survival by Adaptation!
Hi! I'm Mo Barrow with The Discovery Files, from NSF -- the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Lizards might tell us how they and other species have evolved over centuries, millennia even, to adapt to changing environments.
And Dr. Melissa Kemp, a paleobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, is listening, studying a diverse collection of living and extinct creatures to understand how they take on a variety of ecological roles, simply to survive.
With support in part from NSF, she has built a bridge between the biological and geological sciences to study a process called "adaptive radiation," how organisms evolve to adapt to changing environments.
She was no doubt inspired by the natural environment of her youth, raised in a rural town outside of Baltimore, Maryland, the outcroppings of rocks and forests defining the landscape, a perfect early science laboratory.
And she's passing it on; mentoring undergraduate students in training to become K-12 STEM teachers, in her study of Caribbean lizards to see if ecological communities can endure for extended periods.
What stories can lizards tell us about diversity, survival? Dr. Kemp is listening!
During Women's History Month, NSF is pleased to highlight the work of Dr. Kemp and other notable women scientists.
Discover how the U.S. National Science Foundation is advancing equity in research at nsf.gov.
"The discovery files" covers projects funded by the government's National Science Foundation. Federally sponsored research -- brought to you, by you! Learn more at nsf.gov or on our podcast.
Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.
Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.
Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.