October 31, 2022

Grant: $300 in 1986; $200 in 1987

Education level at the time of the grant: Graduate student

Project Description: These two small grants supported the fieldwork and lab costs associated with my master’s research project, “A study of disturbance behaviors in Uloborus glomosus (Araneae; Uloboridae) as possible predator avoidance strategies.” This project resulted in three peer-reviewed publications:

• Cushing, P. E. and B. D. Opell. 1990. Disturbance behaviors in the spider Uloborus glomosus (Araneae, Uloboridae): possible predator avoidance strategies. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 68:1090–1097.

• Cushing, P. E., and B. D. Opell. 1990. The effect of time and temperature on disturbance behaviors shown by the orb-weaving spider Uloborus glomosus (Uloboridae). Journal of Arachnology, 18:87–93.

• Cushing, P. E. 1989. Possible eggsac defense in the spider Uloborus glomosus (Uloboridae). Psyche, 96:269–277.

How did the grant process or the project itself influence you as a scientist/researcher? 
Receiving these competitive grants as a young, early career scholar gave me confidence in the value of my research, my methodology, and my skills as a writer and scientist. It helped me continue to pursue funding opportunities as a PhD student and later in my career. 

Where are you now? 
I am senior curator of invertebrate zoology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS). I curate the Marine Invertebrate collection (primarily shells of gastropods) as well as the Arachnology collection. When I started at the museum in 1998, the DMNS did not have an arachnology collection. In the two decades I have been at the museum, I have built and grown a significant collection whose data is fully accessible to the world via online data portals.

Students may apply for Sigma Xi research grants by March 15 and October 1 annually at www.sigmaxi.org/giar.