Backstory

I first developed an interest in the natural world in elementary school when my parents enrolled me in the Budding Naturalist program administered by the Ohio Metro Parks System in central Ohio. My parents and schoolteachers were very supportive of my scientific curiosity, and their support inspired me to continue to explore biology as a career.

I enrolled in college at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) as a first-generation college student in 2009. During my freshman year, I joined the Gorchov lab and was exposed to the field of plant ecology and the subfield of invasion ecology. In addition to serving as an undergraduate research assistant for field and lab projects exploring methods of invasive Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) dispersal, I developed a study with then-Ph.D. student Steve Castellano to analyze a proposed ecological relationship between fruiting L. maackii and an insect invader, the Multicolored Asian ladybeetle (Harmonia axyridis). To further cultivate my interest in ecology at the international scale, I enrolled in a field course during Summer 2012 to travel to Belize for two weeks and learn about tropical ecology and natural history of the country. I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Botany and Environmental Science in 2013.

I continued on to a Master's program in the Hunter lab at the University of Michigan in 2013. There, I developed an appreciation for chemical ecology and furthered my previous interest in plant-insect interactions through exploration of plant defenses and insect toxin sequestration. Developing my interest in global change ecology and climate change, I conducted a study to analyze the effects of altered precipitation regimes on plant defense production in milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) and subsequent effects on monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) performance. My labmates and I also coordinated multiple outreach events to the Ann Arbor and Detroit communities to show children how exciting and interesting plants and their defense mechanisms can be. I received my Master of Science degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2015.

Still not satisfied with my academic career, I moved out of the Midwest to a Ph.D. program in the Jenerette lab at the University of California-Riverside. Southern California is an interesting change of pace, particularly in the types of ecosystems that are prevalent: coast, mountains, and desert. My increasing interest in semi-arid lands, climate change, and plant invasions promoted my development of a dissertation relating drought, exotic grass invasion, and nitrogen deposition to ecosystem function and feedbacks to climate regulation.