Kayla Murphy

Proactive graduate student with a background in experimental design, statistical analysis, and teaching. Dedicated to student success through a student-centered teaching approach as a graduate instructor. Continuously pursuing additional research questions to complement the main focus questions. Committed to professional growth and expanding experiences within the scientific community.

kmurphy26@murraystate.edu

Certified prescribed burn crew member, 04/2024

Botany, Dendrology, Managing Wildlife Diseases, Mammalogy, Soil Science and Soil Management, Vertebrate Natural History, Zoology, Principles of Wildlife Management, Wildlife Techniques, Animal Behavior, Conservation Biology, Zoological Conservation, Introduction to Graduate Studies, Phenotypic Plasticity, Quantitative Ecology, Applied Statistics I

• Education Outreach - South Marshall Elementary School and Murray Elementary School
• Tree Survey Sampling
• Bird Banding
• Invasive Species Removal
• VIE Tagging for Upland Chorus Frogs
• Newt Sampling for Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans
• Small / Large Animal Health Assessments
• Assessing Camera Trap Data

Kentucky Academy of Science, 11/2024

Poster presentation: The effects of fly parasitism on the calling activity of two katydid host

• Graduate Research, Dr. Oliver Beckers, 05/01/24, 11/01/24, Field collected gravid female parasitoid flies, Ormia lineifrons, and Neoconocephalus katydid species. I artificially parasitized the katydids and analyzed their temporal call structure to determine if there is a change in calling activity for two Neoconocephalus species: N. velox and N. retusus. This project is ongoing.
• Undergraduate Research, Dr. Oliver Beckers, 08/01/22, 05/01/24, Work with the southern field cricket, Gryllus rubens, collected individuals from Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2024 and Spring 2024. Completed dissection and measured mandibles and femurs to determine if there is phenotypic plasticity between long wing and short wing crickets. I investigated cricket muscle histolysis, mandible and femur measurements. Male G. rubens fight each other until one male dominates the other. I tested if mandibles are used as weapons in these fights and if their size differed between winner and loser males.
• Student Research Assistant, Louisville Green Heart Project, Dr. Andrea Darracq, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Identified and picked invertebrates in debris from urban land sample bags such as arthropods and gastropods. The focus of this part of the Green Heart project is on the invertebrate community in urban landscaping. I evaluated the diversity of arthropods in urban areas to contribute data supporting biodiversity improvements in our ecosystem.