Natalie Castillo is a research assistant in Dr. Margarita López-Uribe’s lab. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from California State University Northridge. Her undergraduate research focused on investigating whether differences in life-history strategies between invasive Brown Widows (Latrodectus geometric) and native Western Black Widows (L. hesperus) promote Brown Widows’ invasive success in urban habitats of Southern California. In the López-Uribe Lab she will be working on identifying and detecting pathogens in local bee populations.