# @ucsc on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/ByQrhfNhUJo
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20346465-ucsc-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/ed361874ab.jpg
- **Posted:** 2019-06-03T20:14:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** UC Santa Cruz (@ucsc) — https://gondola.cc/ucsc

## Caption

#SlugStories Commencement 2019 Special Feature “I have been broadly working on how climate change will affect ectothermic organisms (organisms that rely on external sources to regulate temperature), using the viviparous (live young–bearing) European common lizard in France as my study species. My dissertation specifically looks at how maternal thermoregulation, offspring phenotype (i.e., viability, morphology, and other characteristics), and interactions with the parasites that infect them are impacted under different climate scenarios….The results of this dissertation will hopefully inspire further research in this field while adding to the growing body of knowledge that human-caused climate change has the power to seriously impact life on our planet.

UC Santa Cruz has been an amazing experience, and I cannot imagine a better place to have spent six years of my life. The faculty and other students in my department are excellent, and it is hard to beat going to work in a redwood forest overlooking the ocean! In addition, UC Santa Cruz offers so many incredible and free opportunities for professional development outside of research, and I did my best to participate in as many as possible in my time here. I feel like all these opportunities helped me become a more well-rounded candidate on the job market and better prepared me for my career as an educator.”
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Pauline Blaimont is receiving her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology. She was a Grad Slam finalist in 2019 for her three-minute talk on the response to climate change in lizards. During her time at UC Santa Cruz, Blaimont has been the recipient of the Chateaubriand Fellowship, the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need fellowship, and the Golden Slug Service Award for her service in the Women in Science and Engineering organization. She will be teaching a class on behavioral ecology during Summer Session at UC Santa Cruz before moving to the East Coast to start a full-time biology teaching position at Rider University in New Jersey in the fall. 
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#ucsc #ucsantacruz #ucscalumni #classof2019 #graduation #graduation2019 #commencement #commencement2019 #climatechange

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## Tags

commencement, ucsc, ucsantacruz, slugstories, commencement2019, graduation2019, climatechange, graduation, classof2019, ucscalumni

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