Rachel's laboratory explores how marine invertebrates successfully reproduce. There are almost as many strategies for reproduction as there are kinds of marine organisms. Her lab tries to understand how environmental conditions and evolutionary history shape the way snails (and crabs and sea urchins) reproduce and develop. They use seasonal upwelling in the Bay of Panama (Pacific) and seasonal development of a low-oxygen water layer in Bocas del Toro (Caribbean) to understand how environmental conditions impact reproductive timing and larval growth and survival. They use experiments to understand how animals choose mates, how their neighbors influence how much they invest in reproduction, and, in the case of slipper limpets, how snails choose when to change sex.

As Director of STRI’S Bocas Del Toro Research Station, Rachel works to promote understanding of the environment and biodiversity of the Bocas region. Part of this effort includes her collaboration with other taxonomists from around the world to develop tools to improve access to taxonomic tools including methods for observing and identifying marine invertebrates.

Rachel is a contributor to the Caribbean, Panama Observatory.

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