Sarah Tepler
Research Technician
email: tepsa @ stanford.edu
Sarah Tepler is an extraordinarily well-educated and talented technician in the Denny Lab. She is involved in a range of projects characterizing the material properties of articulated coralline algae, invertebrate physiology, and the existential wishes and desires of the black turban snail. Currently she is following up on Patrick Martone's thesis work investigating the lovely Calliarthron tuberculosum, looking at the strength and stiffness of the super-strong, super-flexible genicula that enable the calcified alga to live in the extremely high energy, wave-swept low intertidal. She is also exploring the behavior of Tegula funebralis, the black turban snail, which can survive a wide range of temperatures but may possess very distinct temperature preferences that dictate their movement in the intertidal. Sarah also takes it upon herself to keep floundering graduate students (See Kevin Miklasz) in the Denny lab on their toes to help them cope with their competitive academic environments.
Sarah is a recent graduate of Columbia University, holding a B.A. in Archaeology. She is very interested in the biogeography, physiology, and evolution of macroalgae, particularly the kelps. She also has a deep appreciation for any plants, on land or at sea, that have adapted to deal with water stress in remarkable ways. Sarah considers any day wildly successful if she has fallen into the intertidal and become completely soaked by accident, and will most likely borrow your clothing on any given day as a result.