Current PhD Students

Victoria Hurless

Victoria Hurless (formerly Lockhart) graduated from the University of Washington (UW) in 2005 with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology and a Minor in Chemistry. Victoria (or Vicki) became fascinated with the subject of development after she completed Dr. Billie Swalla’s course on developmental biology at UW. Vicki spent the summer of 2005 at the Friday Harbor Marine Labs working on ascidian (Boltenia villosa) metamorphosis in the Swalla laboratory. She is now a graduate student in the Cell and Molecular Biology Joint Doctoral Program at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego. Vicki is interested in the evolution of development, specifically the evolution of gene regulatory networks in ascidian (Ciona intestinalis) peripheral nervous system development. In addition to her graduate studies and research, Vicki enjoys teaching an undergraduate SDSU course as well as the MBL Embryology course and is an active volunteer and mentor in numerous local organizations.