About Me

I grew up in Maryland and have always loved the outdoors and exploring the natural world. In high school, I interned with Dr. Daniel Gruner and Alex Forde the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) during the summer before my senior year, and studied the plant-insect interactions of insect herbivores (Orthoptera) and the black mangrove through field studies in northern Florida salt marshes. I discovered a passion for ecology that summer, and continued working with the Gruner Lab during my undergraduate studies at UMD and also while completing my Honors Thesis in Entomology. After graduation, I moved to Colorado to pursue a PhD in Ecology at Colorado State University with Dr. Ruth Hufbauer, where I used experimental evolution and population genomics to study adaptation of insect populations to novel environments. You can view my full dissertation here.  I am currently seeking a postdoctoral position that aligns with my research interests and advances my goal of becoming a federal research scientist, to complete management-focused research that influences public policy.