About me

I am an assistant professor of Biology at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

I have a passion to foster scientific curiosity through teaching and mentoring undergraduate research. In my career I have been fortunate to work and teach in amazing landscapes and cultures including: Southeastern and Northeastern U.S. streams and wetlands, the New Zealand high-country, and in tropical Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, and Tonga.

My main research focuses on the strategies invertebrates use to exploit dynamic habitats. My path to become an invertebrate ecologist started with collecting insects in Iowan remnant prairies as a child. My fascination observing insects served as a gateway to my own experiments and work in a variety of research laboratories. My early exposure to scientific principles and the rigors of applied and basic field-based research stimulated my desire to become an invertebrate ecologist and contribute to environmental problem solving.

My research incorporates a combination of multi-year field surveys, field and laboratory experiments, along with genetic analyses to test hypotheses across complex spatial and temporal scales. Understanding the strategies invertebrates use to exploit a range of variable and unpredictable habitats has implications for how habitat conditions influence population and community dynamics, evolutionary ecology, and the management of freshwater ecosystems under global changes.

On this site you will find information about my scientific background, research, and teaching and work experience. I have also posted my attempts at macro and landscape photography along with invertebrate illustrations. Enjoy, and feel free to contact me.