Haylee Quertermous is from a small town in southern Illinois. She received her Bachelor’s (B.Sc.) and Master’s (M.Sc) degrees at the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!). Haylee’s research focuses on sexual determination and plasticity, specifically in sex changing fish. She previously worked with the mangrove rivulus fish, a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite that can change sex to male. She studied how social subordination affects sex change, investigating behavior, gonadal histology, and gene expression.
As a PhD student in the Gemmell Lab, Haylee is working on the sex changing fish project. The team investigates the formation of the female hierarchy and sex change in the New Zealand spotty wrasse (Notolabrus celidotus). They will use behavior analyses and neuroendocrine and genomic techniques to learn about the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underpin social status and sex change.
