About Me
- PhD Student, Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, Expected 2017
Dissertation Topic: Trophic contributions of native and non-native plants in urban ecosystems
Advisers: Dr. Douglas Tallamy and Dr. Peter Marra
- M.S. Environment and Natural Resources (Fisheries and Wildlife Science), 2012
Thesis: Causes and consequences of urban-associated song variation: A study of vocal behavior in the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Adviser: Dr. Amanda D. Rodewald
- B.S. Environmental Biology (Wildlife Science), 2006
- A.A. General Studies (Biology Transfer Track), 2003
(above, birding Whitewater Draw in SE Arizona; watching a marsh
wren forage while thousands of sandhill cranes bugle in the background)
Just after I turned 21, I left my home in Baltimore, MD and traveled north to continue my education at SUNY: College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Through my undergraduate education I discovered that there was more to a biology degree then cleaning cages at a zoo. We were required to take a 5-week course near Cranberry Lake, NY and it was here, in the middle of the beautiful Adirondacks, where I realized my passion for wildlife, wilderness and scientific research.
Since that time I've done a lot of traveling around the U.S. and other countries exploring and earning a living in field ecology. My interests have been inspired by the urban life of my youth, and I am passionate about conservation issues that relate to anthropogenic development as well as reconnecting people with the natural world. I'm also an avid birder and butterfly watcher, photographer, mushroom hunter and generally love being outdoors as much as possible.
Posing with a male white-collared manakin at BFREE, Belize.
