Mason K. Clark

I am a scientist interested in how insect herbivores acquire, transform, and use dietary molecules. I use molecular biology and gene-editing approaches to study the physiology of plant-herbivore interactions.

Research background

I completed my B.S. at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2016. My first research experience examined the population ecology and conservation of the endangered plant Rhodiola integrifolia subsp. leedyi. I later worked in medical genetics at The Ohio State University, studying genome evolution and reproduction in Candida albicans, followed by research and laboratory-management work in plant pathology and entomology at Cornell University.

Doctoral research

I began my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Texas A&M University in 2019, co-advised by Drs. Greg Sword and Spencer Behmer. My doctoral research centered on cholesterol and its role in insect-herbivore physiology. Arthropods are sterol auxotrophs and must obtain sterols from their diets, yet herbivorous insects feed on plant tissues dominated by phytosterols rather than cholesterol. This creates a useful system for studying the molecular and physiological mechanisms that connect diet, metabolism, and animal performance.

This website is being rebuilt. Publications, talks, grants, and an expanded research overview will be added as their records are assembled and verified.