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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank my advisor, Evan Siemann, for accepting me as a student in his lab at a
turning point in my graduate school experience. He has always respected my ideas and
provided me with supportive feedback and guidance, and he has created an environment
that has allowed me to thrive. My other committee members; Amy Dunham, Micky
Eubanks, and Dave Queller; have also provided me with valuable input throughout the
conception, execution, and writing of this thesis. I also thank the Wray-Todd family for
their generous support of ecology and evolutionary biology students at Rice.

My labmates Juli Carrillo, Christopher Gabler, and Maria Meza-Lopez have been
incredibly encouraging, especially as my defense grew closer. Juli in particular was an
amazing cheerleader, and I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful person to share
responsibilities and recipes with during my two years as a graduate student. I will miss
seeing her everyday. I also thank all of the undergraduates who have contributed to the
success of my research. Matt Barajas, Marilu Corona, Summer Jones, Matt King, Max
Quintanilla, and Erica Soltero braved the heat on ant collecting trips to Katy and censuses
at the Coastal Center, suffered through fire ant stings without complaint, and counted
hundreds of tiny ants. Erica Soltero in particular was extremely dedicated to the cause
and was a joy to be around everyday. Her enthusiasm for the research is a sign of the
success she will surely have in the future and was a great motivation to me when I was
dragging my feet. As I have said before, there are not enough Sonic sundaes in the world
to sufficiently thank her for her help.

I also want to express my gratitude to my family. My older sister Elizabeth
provided long-distance encouragement from China, and my younger sister Johanna

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