Research Team

Krystal Duarte, Graduate Student

Krystal Duarte is a first-year graduate student working with Dr. Byrd-Craven and Dr. Krems. She is a McNair scholar and previously worked on projects that investigated romantic infatuation and flirting behavior. Her current research interests are in female status and female aggression from an evolutionary perspective.

 

 

Julia Hurwitz, Graduate Student

Julia is interested in the psychobiology of romantic relationships as well as examining same-sex relationships through an evolutionary lens. She is also broadly interested in hormonal contraceptives and how these affect health outcomes along with mating behavior.

 

 

 

 

Laureon Merrie, Graduate Student

Laureon is a third-year graduate student working with Dr. Krems and Dr. Byrd-Craven. Her interests are in female sociality, and in pairing both feminist and evolutionary perspectives to explore overlooked aspects of women's behavior.

 

 

 

 

Nina Rodriguez, Graduate Student

Nina Rodriguez is a first-year graduate student working with Dr. Krems and Dr. Byrd-Craven. She received her M.A. at California State University Fullerton where she conducted research on personality traits from an adapationist perspective. Her current research interests range from female competition and sociality, status acquisition, personality variation, and the influence of motivation on behavior.

 

Tori Short, Graduate Student

Tori Short is a second-year graduate student working with Dr. Byrd-Craven and Dr. Krems. Tori is primarily interested in using evolutionary theory to study environmental influences on health-related schemas and behaviors pertaining to diet, exercise, stress, and inflammation. Tori’s research interests also include female friendship dynamics as well as sex differences in mate retention and satisfaction.