Nick Polizos

Neurobiology & Behavior in Miami, he/him

About

I am a PhD Candidate at the University of Miami. Currently study learning and memory using the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) as a model system. I use a combination of in vivo neuroimaging techniques and behavioral assays to study how organisms sense the word around them, integrate that information, and then use that information to inform future behaviors.

Projects

Ongoing
MBON Project
Ongoing
Sink or Swim: Geckos & Flooding
Ongoing
Thermal Learning In Drosophila Larvae at University of Miami

Side Projects

2020

Fluctuating environmental pressures can challenge organisms by repeatedly shifting the optimum phenotype. Two contrasting evolutionary strategies to cope with these fluctuations are 1) evolution of the mean phenotype to follow the optimum (adaptive tracking) or 2) diversifying phenotypes so that at least some individuals have high fitness in the current fluctuation (bet-hedging). Bet-hedging could underlie stable differences in the behavior of individuals that are present even when genotype and environment are held constant. Instead of being simply ‘noise,’ behavioral variation across individuals may reflect an evolutionary strategy of phenotype diversification. Using geographically diverse wild-derived fly strains and high-throughput assays of individual preference, we tested whether thermal preference variation in Drosophila melanogaster could reflect a bet-hedging strategy. We also looked for evidence that populations from different regions differentially adopt bet-hedging or adaptive-tracking strategies. Computational modeling predicted regional differences in the relative advantage of bet-hedging, and we found patterns consistent with that in regional variation in thermal preference heritability. In addition, we found that temporal patterns in mean preference support bet-hedging predictions and that there is a genetic basis for thermal preference variability. Our empirical results point to bet-hedging in thermal preference as a potentially important evolutionary strategy in wild populations.

Exhibitions

2023
The role of hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) in the progression of Alzheimer's disease at 9th Annual Biology Graduate Student Symposium
Miami, FL
2023
Drosophila melanogaster larvae demonstrate associative learning in response to thermal stimuli following conditioning with gustatory reinforcement at Miami Winter Symposium on Molecular Neuroscience: Focus on Sensory Disorders
Miami, FL
2019
Using temperature to facilitate associative learning and memory retention in Drosophila melanogaster larvae at Neurobiology of Drosophila Meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor, NY
2018
Using temperature and light to facilitate associative learning and memory retention in Drosophila larvae at Southeastern Evolution and Ecology Conference
Coral Gables, FL
2018
The use of temperature to facilitate associative learning and memory retention in Drosophila larvae at Behavioral Neurogenetics of Drosophila Larva Conference
Edinburgh, UK

Speaking

2023
The effects of nicotine on the development of monoaminergic neurons in Danio rerio at 108th Annual Meeting of the Illinois State Acadamy of Science (ISAS)
Edwardsville, IL
2020
Teperature can facilitate associative learning in Drosophila. at 11th Annual Biology Graduate Student Symposium
Miami, FL
2019
Using temperature and light to facilitate associative learning and memory retention in Drosophila larvae at South Florida Drosophila Research Consortium
Jupiter, FL
2018
Using temperature and light to facilitate associative learning and memory retention in Drosophila larvae. at South Florida Drosophila Research Consortium
Miami, FL

Awards

2022
Dean’s Summer Research Fellowship from University of Miami
2021
Kushlan Research Fund from University of Miami
2019
Kushlan Research Fund from University of Miami
2019
Evoy Rearch Fund from University of Miami
2017
Rotation Fellowship from University of Miami
2015
Dean's List from Knox College
2015
Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship from Knox College
2014
Dean's List from Knox College
2014
Richter Grant from Knox College
2013
Dean's List from Knox College

Work Experience

2018 — 2022
Teaching Assistant at University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL

BIL 150: General Biology, 2020
BIL 151: General Biology Laboratory, 2018
BIL 161: Evolution & Biodiversity Laboratory, 2019, 2021
BIL 153: Introductory Biology/Chemistry Laboratory I, 2021
BIL 163: Introductory Biology/Chemistry Laboratory II, 2022

2019 — 2020
HHMI Teaching Fellow at Miami Dade College
Miami, FL

BSC 2011L: Principles of Biology Laboratory II, 2019, 2020
CHM 2210L: Organic Chemistry I Laboratory, 2019

2013 — 2016
Teaching Assistant at Knox College
Galesburg, IL

BIOL 110: Introduction to Evolution & Biodiversity Laboratory, 2013-2015
BIOL 120: Introduction to Cell Biology & Physiology, 2014-2015
BIOL 312: Animal Behavior, 2015-2016
BIOL 329: Histology, 2015-2016

2014 — 2015
Animal Caretaker at Knox College
Galesburg, IL

Volunteering

2018 — Now
2022 — Now
2018 — 2018

Education

2017 — Now
Coral Gables, FL
2015 — 2016
2011 — 2015
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