# Maddi Waskom Graduate Student Ortega-Hernández Lab ![a person in front of a building, smiling at the camera](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/mcz/files/maddi_waskom.jpg?itok=uh-9zpHH) email laptop\_windows [Website](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Madeleine-Waskom) I am a paleontologist using descriptive and quantitative methods to study the morphology and ecology of Cambrian sponges in early Paleozoic animal communities. I graduated from Harvard College in December 2022, where I studied Integrative Biology and wrote my thesis on the formation of three-dimensional arthropod fossils. In May 2024, I completed my master’s in education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where I focused on inclusive pedagogy and research in higher education. I am interested in using three-dimensional analysis and statistics to ask questions about how communities lived and evolved in the early Paleozoic. Outside of the lab, I hold a special place in my heart for science communication and education in classrooms and media.