Growing up near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland has instilled in me a lifelong passion for aquatic ecosystems and the plants and animals they support. I earned a B.S. in Environmental Science from Towson University and went on to work in aquatic conservation for the National Park Service. My research interests in aquatic biodiversity and community distribution have taken me to ecosystems around the United States, including the Park Range of the Rockies, the High Sierra in California, and urban streams of the Mid-Atlantic. I am excited to contribute to the ACES Lab and study freshwater mussels in the southeast! 

Spending most of my childhood growing up near the Great Lakes in Northeast Ohio, I have always had a soft spot for freshwater ecosystems and the diverse taxa that inhabit them. I earned my B.S. in Environmental Science from John Carroll University (go Blue Streaks!) and recently graduated with my M.S. in Biological Sciences from Wichita State University (go BioShox!). Most of my undergraduate and master’s experience involved amphibians and other herpetofauna, but my research interests broadly lie in freshwater systems and organism-environment interactions. Specifically, I’m interested in how an organism’s ecological and evolutionary traits contribute to variation in multi-elemental signatures and their implications for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. I look forward to exploring these questions and contribute to work in the ACES Lab while studying freshwater mussels!

Growing up near Lake of Egypt in southern Illinois gave me an early appreciation for freshwater ecosystems, and that connection only deepened when I moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, right along the Mississippi River, for my undergraduate and graduate studies. I earned a double major B.S. in Wildlife and Conservation Biology and in Organismal, Evolutionary and Ecological Biology, followed by my M.S. in Biology, both from Southeast Missouri State University, where my graduate research focused on nutrient use and behavior in eusocial insects, primarily termites. Before starting my Ph.D., I worked at animal sanctuaries in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri and near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My research interests center on organism-environment interactions and I am deeply interested in how organisms respond to and are shaped by their surroundings, and in turn, how they influence and alter the ecosystems they inhabit. I'm excited to bring these interests to the ACES Lab, where I'm studying freshwater mussels and aquatic insects!  

I am a senior majoring in Multidisciplinary Studies on a pre-med track with the goal of becoming an emergency medicine physician. Growing up in rural Mississippi sparked my appreciation for nature and motivated my interest in the ACES Lab’s focus on freshwater animal conservation. I am also drawn to the opportunities for hands-on field research, which I find both rewarding and inspiring.