Morgan Dakota DeLong-Maxey of Buckingham, a second-year student in the College of Arts & Sciences focused on biology, environment and ecology, who is researching what processes are responsible for maintaining genetic diversity in natural populations, was one of 39 students receiving the 2019 Harrison Undergraduate Research Award at UVA.

“I have involved myself in this work because it searches for answers and provides context for even larger questions that can be asked about ecosystems and environments. I am asking the question: what processes are responsible for maintaining genetic diversity in natural populations? I am studying the role of temporally varying selection in maintaining long-term functional genetic diversity in natural populations of Daphnia pulex found in the UK. I predict that this diversity is maintained through shifting selective pressures within a growing season, favoring different dominant clones at different time points,” stated Maxey.

“The Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards provide an opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in a core purpose of the University, by creating and advancing new knowledge,” said Brian Cullaty, director of UVA’s Office of Undergraduate Research. “The program aspires for these student-faculty collaborations to make an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.” Students, working with a faculty mentor, develop and submit detailed research plans for funding. In January, a Faculty Senate committee selected the winners.