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Rachael Mallis, Ph.D.
Department of Biology
University of New Mexico
Museum of Southwestern Biology
167 Castetter Hall, MSC03 2020
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
My passion for spiders came in a roundabout way. I was looking forward to studying mantids with my undergraduate advisor, Dr. Lawrence Hurd. He had other plans and I ended up diving into a ground spider diversity project for two years at Washington & Lee University. It was during this project, as I identified lots of different spiders that I came to love them! Before, I'll admit, I was a bit freaked out by spiders. Looking at them under the scope and understanding their morphology allowed me to appreciate just how fantastic and beautiful these creatures are. After receiving my BS in Biology, I pursued an MSc in Integrative Bioscience (Zoology) at the University of Oxford. While there, I conducted two research projects, the first on the activity patterns and habitat usage of feral ferrets in regional farmland (under the direction of Prof. David Macdonald). My second project was on potential hosts of avian malaria, where I collected and identified local mosquito species (Prof. Ben Sheldon). After my experience in Oxford, I was convinced that I wanted to pursue graduate studies on spiders, and joined the Department of Entomology at the University of Kentucky. I received an MS in Entomology in 2010, under Dr. Lynne Rieske-Kinney. My research was on the spider community in eastern hemlock trees, where I examined community level diversity in both hemlock and deciduous stands, as well as in relation to infestations of the invasive pest, the hemlock woolly adelgid.
It was during this project that it was the long hours spent identifying over 4000 spiders to species level, that I was more interested in taxonomy and systematics of these amazing creatures. So in fall of 2011 I joined Dr. Miller's lab and am starting a revision of the US species of the jumping spider genus Pellenes. I'm excited and looking forward to pursuing my graduate studies here in New Mexico.
Ultimately I'd love to teach at the college level and work in a museum. Put me outside in the field, or inside by a scope and I'm happiest!
Publications:
- Mallis, R.E. and L.K. Rieske. 2011. Arboreal spiders in eastern hemlock. Environmental Entomology 40:1378-1387.
- Mallis, R.E. and L.K. Rieske. 2010. Web orientation and prey resources for web-building spiders in eastern hemlock. Environmental Entomology 39:1466-1472.
- Mallis, R.E. and L.E. Hurd. 2005. Diversity among ground-dwelling spider assemblages: habitat generalists and specialists. Journal of Arachnology 33:101-109.
- Hurd, L.E., R.E. Mallis, K.C. Bulka, and A.M. Jones. 2004. Life history, environment, and deme extinction in the Chinese mantid Tenodera aridifolia sinensis (Mantodae: Mantidae). Environmental Entomology 33:182-187.
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Rachael Mallis
Rachael Mallis
Rachael Mallis
Rachael Mallis
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Kelly B. Miller Lab, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, 167 Castetter Hall, MSC03 2020, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 USA
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