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About Me
I am a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology currently working with Dr Michel Ohmer at the University of Mississippi and Dr Mark Wilbur at the University of Tennessee, as well as the broader Resilience Institute Bridging Biological Training and Research (RIBBiTR). My work explores how the dual stressors of climate change and disease interact to affect vulnerable amphibian populations around the world.
In my free time, you can find me hiking, searching for salamanders, and exploring new places with my partner (Jarryd) and my dogs (Tilly and Daisy).
Research Interests
My research interests center on biodiversity and the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape it.
Broadly, I am interested in how gradual and sudden human-induced climate change, compounded by arising changes to abiotic and biotic factors, drive selection and affect biodiversity. This includes how additional stressors, like disease and urbanization, drive eco-evolutionary dynamics.
I aim to take an integrated approach to testing hypotheses through field and laboratory research. Research has included using long-term selection experiments, quantitative genetic studies, and bioinformatics to answer related questions.
I am currently learning more about modeling as a comprehensive approach to answering large-scale ‘eco-evo-devo’ questions and about bioinformatics to better understand adaptation to local environments through population-level differences.
Outreach
I am dedicated to mentoring young minds in STEM, in hopes of increasing representation in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology field. This includes helping to organize ARISE (A Research Immersive STEM Experience) at University of Mississippi, where my role as a Program Associate is to organize and help run a summer program for underrepresented High School students. I also greatly enjoy mentoring undergraduates in the field and laboratory to gain hands-on experience.
