RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research program examines the response of biological communities to environmental and human stressors. The sustainability and integrity of ecological resources are increasingly uncertain as climate warms and Earth faces a biodiversity crisis. Scientists must understand the magnitude, direction and rate of biotic responses to environmental and human impacts. However, environmental and anthropogenic factors operate simultaneously and therefore, they are difficult to discriminate using short-term ecological/human-lifespan scales. My work incorporates a longer-term (geological) dimension through three sequential intervals in the recent geologic past: (1) before humans, which I study with paleontological records, (2) during aboriginal (pre-industrial) occupation, by investigating archeological sources; and (3) in post-industrial times, by measuring modern and historical ecological records. The group of organisms I use to examine biotic-environment-human interactions belong to the Phylum Mollusca (primarily terrestrial gastropods) because they are plentiful, sensitive to environmental and human interference, and less investigated yet more threatened than other present-day major animal groups. To investigate molluscs, I integrate data and techniques from multiple disciplines including isotope geochemistry, taphonomy, paleoecology, Quaternary geochronology, archeology and the emerging field of conservation paleobiology.