Research Experiences

Research Experiences

2014 – 2019: Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History, studying the trophic ecology of invasive species (apple snails, Pomacea canaliculata) by processing and analyzing organic stable isotope samples at the Smithsonian Institute’s OUSS/MCI stable isotope lab, under the direction of the principal investigator Dr. Christine France. 

Subsequently, these data were used in statistical analyses (Bayesian Models) in R (SIAR Stable isotope analysis in R) to determine the components of invasive species diets, and other sympatric species within habitats.

2014 - 2019: Conducted ecological field collections to support research into the trophic ecology of invasive apple snails (Pomacea spp.) in Maldonado, Uruguay (2014-2015), Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China (2017), and Oahu, HI (2018); using stable isotopes to track trophic interactions between plant and animal constituent species of freshwater and terrestrial communities, including arthropods (such as crustaceans, insects, Myriapoda, arachnids, mollusks, and other macroinvertebrates), fish, as well as birds (using molted feathers), and specially invasive apple snail species (Pomacea canaliculata).

2013: Ninety-three days of Field research at US Palmer Antarctic Research Station, on the effects of ocean acidification on the development and survivorship of mineralizing invertebrates (such as Echinodermata, Isopoda, Mollusks, etcetera); funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

2012-2013: Master’s study away field research courses at UAB, taught by Drs. James B McClintock (Endowed Professor of Marine and Polar Biology) and Ken Marion (Professor Emeritus of Herpetology). 

Major portions of the course were taught at a tropical field station in the Caribbean (Gerace field station San Salvador, Bahamas) and Galápagos Archipelago respectively; including lectures, laboratory, field research, free diving observations of reeves and other marine habitats, and a required field research on the diversity of endemics species therein, their unique population dynamics, and statistical estimates of arthropod (Anomura crab) population sizes and composition using count data collected (these statistical analyses were only conducted in San Salvador as species in the Galápagos are protected).

1) The tropical island Ecology of San Salvador island, Bahamas, BY-567 (2012)

Course Description: An overview of the major tropical ecotypes with emphasis on ecology of terrestrial, aquatic, and marine tropical organisms.

2) The Ecology of the Galápagos archipelago, BY-568 (2013)

Course Description: An overview of the ecology of the Galápagos Island, with an emphasis on the ecology of terrestrial and marine organisms.

2011-2013: Master’s thesis

The Preferential Feeding of the Freshwater Amphipod (Hyalella azteca:) The roles of chemical and structural defense, and nutritional value in prey choice

This thesis investigated the trophic ecology and discriminatory feeding behavior of a key freshwater consumer by testing the null hypothesis that the common omnivorous freshwater amphipod (Hyalella azteca) displays no differences in rates of prey consumption (a measure of prey palatability) or prey choice (a preference to consume for one prey in the presence of another) for a suite of sympatric prey of ecological relevance. I interpreted differences in prey palatability and pairwise prey choice in the context of measurements of prey nutritional quality (soluble protein content), the presence of chemical (secondary metabolites), and/or structural (tissue toughness) defenses.