Abigail Robinson Receives BU Women’s Council Award

Abigail Robinson, a Biology PhD student in the Mullen Lab, received the BU Women’s Council Award.

The BU Women’s Council was founded and dedicated to helping the talented young women who have chosen to pursue graduate degrees at BU.

Abby studies how predator avoidance strategies, like mimicry, shape communities. Batesian mimicry occurs when palatable mimics gain protection from predators by evolving phenotypic resemblance to a chemically defended model species. Using a tri-trophic community ecology approach, her work aims to understand factors that maintain Batesian mimicry in native North American butterfly populations. Understanding how mimicry impacts community dynamics will give valuable insight into how mimetic species may respond to changing environments. 

Congratulations Abby!