Felix Javier
@felixjavier
PhD student at UConn EEB || NSF GRFP Fellow ||Copepods, Inverts, Genomics, Evolution and Science Communication || 🇵🇷🏳️🌈
There’s something about working on the confocal microscope on the weekends that makes me enter a flow state
ASP 2026 was a success! I presented my current work developing an interactive identification key, redescriptions based on CLSM imaging and defining species groups. I also received the meritorious presentation award!
We printed a 3D model of a caligid copepod (Caligus curtus) based on microCT data. We scaled this thing to make a massive version for outreach and education
Had an egg-cellent time volunteering at the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History’s “Big Bird Day” yesterday! 🥚🌿
Exciting news! I will be at couple of conferences in the upcoming months My conference season is shaping up to be an exciting one! I’m heading to ASP in Orlando, SACNAS in Long Beach, and WCMB in Belgium later this year.
I had a great experience presenting my current research at the annual graduate student symposium in the EEB Department at UConn! Our department has an amazing and supportive community and I enjoyed getting to hear all the cool research going on in the department!
I presented at the @cientificolatino.com Pathways to the Ph.D. Conference (sponsored by MIT) with Alexander Umanzor! Our talk, “Crafting a Competitive Graduate School Application: Telling Your Story with Impact,” sparked great conversations with future grad students.
The UNIDE Student Advisory Board (SAB) is now recruiting for 2025. Undergraduate and graduate students in ecology or environmental science fields are eligible to apply. This paid, remote opportunity ($1000 stipend) runs Nov–June, 2–4 hrs/month! unidecology.org/sab-applicat...
Just completed the 5th International Workshop on Symbiotic Copepoda in Malaysia! Gained hands-on skills in copepod taxonomy, field collection, specimen dissection, and parasite data analysis plus presented my Lepeophtheirus ID key project.
Just gave my first presentation as a PhD student! I shared my work on developing an interactive identification key for Lepeophtheirus, a genus of parasitic copepods and brought along a 3D printed model to bring these tiny parasites to life.
Big things coming up! I’ll be presenting at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists and heading to Malaysia for the 5th International Workshop on Symbiotic Copepoda 🎉🪱🦐
Post-Bacc Opportunity! Participate in a full year of research and receive a stipend of $32,000. Additionally, a roundtrip ticket to Panama and lodging at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute facilities are included. Link Below ⬇️
After a long break, I’m thrilled to announce that the podcast will soon be making its return! 🎉 Your support and encouragement mean the world to me, and I can’t wait to dive into this new season with you all.
Just a quick introduction post: Im Javi, I am currently a PhD student at UCONN studying parasitic copepods! I am passionate about mentoring, science communication. I have a podcast highlighting LGBTQ+ scientists. In my free time I play video games, rewatch my favorite shows/animes and drink coffee 💜
Two quick updates: I will be attending the University of Connecticut for my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology AND I was awarded the NSF GRFP! Extremely grateful for all the opportunities, guidance and support throughout this process 💙
REU Done ✅ These past 10 weeks have been filled with a lot of learning and growing as a scientist. Working on this project taught me a lot and I’m really proud of my work!