One of the things I want to research is the genetics of the Oniscidea: woodlice, or terrestrial isopods.

This started as an interest in how isopod husbanders create and maintain morphs—what loci are involved, the method of inheritance, the actual gene products, etc—and has expanded into an interest in their sex determination system, especially as impacted by bacterial endosymbionts, ala Wolbalchia pipientis.

I'd also like to someday identify the myriad undescribed Cubaris species in the pet trade, and maybe even pluck them out of their wastebin taxon, but that's more of a vanity project than anything else (I'm not really a zoologist)...

I keep isopods!

My first colony I inherited from my college. One of our ecology labs had us testing the chemotaxis of fifty A. vulgare—but my professor forgot to dilute the acid and base, and horrible smoking isopod death ensued.

Because the Life Sciences department didn't have any plans for the survivors, I left campus that day with all seven of them. The Burn Victim Unit was created out of oak leaves, fancy substrate, and a 6qt sterilite bin, and was the site of a slow withering decline. Bit of a nonstarter.

As of right now, I only have the dregs of that A. vulgare bin, but I'm looking into getting P. pruinosus powder orange, which are supposed to be more forgiving. Armadillidium species are my absolute favorites, and in terms of pet trade morphs I really like A. vulgare magic potion and orange vigor. I'm a bit of a black thumb when it comes to keeping animals, though, so... well, I'll get there.