Britney Solis

Britney is a first year PhD student in the Meuti and Short Lab. Following graduation from the University of Notre Dame in 2025 with a B.S in Neuroscience and Behavior, Britney worked as an undergradate research assistant with Dr. O'Tousa characterizing mosquito visual systems and analyzing how organisms enhance vision to allow activity at night and other low light conditions. Additionally, Britney has worked in the Schafer lab exploring cellular metabolism and cell death pathways In ECM-detached Cells Grown in Physiological Medium. During her undergraduate experience Britney gained interest in woking with mosquito species, which led her to join the Meuti lab in the summer of 2024 as an SROP participant. During that summer she worked on analyzing effects photopollution may have on diapause markers on Cx. Pipiens. This experience has allowed her to spark interest in developing improvements on sterile-insect techniques on Ae. albopictus. This two-part project will include working in the Meuti lab to uncover seasonal differences in seminal fluid production and male mating performance and working with Dr. Short to characterize interactions between mosquito diet and microbiome that facilitate male reproductive success,