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I'm a biologist interested in mygalomorph spiders' evolution. I did a biology degree in Valencia, Spain (2014-2018) and a biodiversity masters in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain (2018-2020). Nowadays I'm doing my doctorate in the University of Idaho with Chris Hamilton (2022-present). I’m taking a modern systematics approach to establish hypotheses about the generation and maintenance of biodiversity, with a focus on the funnel-web spider Euagrus, inhabiting the south of the U.S. and México. As a side project, the IHHE award will allow me to work on the PNW endemic relict spider Microhexura.

Kevin Omondi Ochwedo is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Idaho's Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, where he works with Professor Shirley Luckhart. In 2022, he obtained his doctorate in biological sciences with a specialization in applied parasitology from the University of Nairobi. Kevin also worked as a researcher with the Sub-Saharan Africa International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) on an NIH-NAID-funded project in Kenya that focused on seasonal malaria vector surveillance, clinical research and molecular epidemiology. He has extensive research experience in medical entomology and parasitology, with a focus on malaria vector and parasite research, vector physiology and genetic epidemiology of malaria vector-parasite-human interactions. Kevin is currently exploring how biogenic amines (histamine and serotonin) in human blood alter receptor signaling in mosquitoes. He explores potential use receptor antagonists to counterbalance these effects, potentially reversing the enhanced vector physiology, biological patterns and competence, so providing a novel basis for behavioral transmission-blocking techniques for malaria control.