​I am Dr. Nia Symone Walker, and I am joining the Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences at Claremont McKenna College as an assistant professor of integrated sciences: biology in January 2025. I am currently completing a postdoctoral researcher position in the Coral Resilience Lab at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology I received my Ph.D. in Biology from Stanford University, under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Palumbi, and my B.A.  in Organismic and Evolutionary from Harvard College.

I am a molecular ecologist interested in better understanding how organisms function under normal and high stress conditions. I primarily conduct research on reef-building coral stress resilience. I use genomics, genetics, ecological, and physiological techniques to investigate coral stress resilience. In particular, I aim to break down stress resilience into relative components (e.g., resistance vs. recovery ability) and under different timescales (e.g., short term vs. long term, seasonal variation, and across life stages) and conditions (e.g., types of stress and environmental gradients).

I am also committed furthering access to higher education and all levels of academia for individuals from diverse and underrepresented minority (URM) backgrounds. Academia and knowledge should be accessible to all whom have the curiosity to explore them. Beyond this, the only prerequisite to pursuing anything should be an interest in getting started. 

I am an avid jigsaw puzzle enthusiast, a writer of poetry and prose, and violinist. I am also dog and cat mom to a chiweenie named Dobby and a Siberan named Athena.