Charli Minsavage Davis – Mars Foundation Scholar
1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate

Biology
Georgetown University

Research:
My research uses genomics, quantitative models, and AI to explore how cloning in foundation species affects genetic variation and evolutionary potential.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?
Many conserved and managed species in natural populations reproduce by cloning. While it is recognized that genetic variation is the basis for evolutionary potential, much less is known about the impact of clonality on genetic variation. My work is on the forefront of AI applications in biological study of systems and genomics of natural populations. I will advance research methods to employ AI tools and illuminate the link between mechanisms and empirically-collected natural patterns. My work will be critical for the future of conservation and management in coastal ecosystems that directly benefit society, such as through mitigating hurricane risk and managing stormwater.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?
Financial support will allow me to expand both my genomic sample size and access to computing resources. Specifically, ARCS funding will help me expand high-throughput DNA sequencing to greater genome coverage of more individuals and populations. AI models and genome assembly are both computationally demanding, and funding will be used to expand computing capacity such as through additional memory on cloud servers and more compute hours.

Career objectives:
I am a first-generation college student in pursuit of a doctoral degree who comes from a disadvantaged background in rural Appalachia. Combined with being a queer woman in STEM, my experiences put me in a unique position to help others who may have experienced similar challenges. I envision being a PI and running my own lab, helping both undergraduate and graduate students pursue incredible goals in science who may not have had the opportunity otherwise.