When I was four years old I wanted to be a paleontologist. I remember asking my father what colour dinosaurs were. He replied ‘Well, Simone, no one knows what colour dinosaurs were, but someday you could discover it.’ My whole life, I maintained the idea that I could grow up and make discoveries about the natural world. I specialized in ecology in undergrad and at the end of my BSc, I did an honour’s project on the influence of fish evolution on their surrounding ecosystems. I continued lab work before traveling to the Galapagos Islands to observe a famously diverse biological landmark. I was inspired to start my PhD on ecological and evolutionary diversity in desert lizards. My desire to make discoveries about the natural world has persisted since an early age. I hope to inspire and teach others to take an active interest in the nature that is around them.

What can recent colonization tell us about evolution and ecology?