Research & Projects

Climatic drivers of reproductive effort in tropical birds

I study how rainfall and elevation influence courtship display rates in white-collared manakins (Manacus candei) across low and middle elevations in Costa Rica. Using acoustic monitoring calibrated with behavioral observations, I tested whether rainfall and elevation interact to influence reproductive effort, as predicted by hygric niche theory. We found that rainfall strongly suppressed courtship display rates, while evidence that this effect differed across elevations was limited. These results suggest that rainfall itself can impose an important constraint on reproductive behavior in tropical birds, validating our concerns about direct effects of more variable rainfall in the tropics in the context of climate change.

Population genomics and sex chromosome variation

A current project with the Shogren Lab uses whole-genome sequence data from 150 white-ruffed manakins (Corapipo altera) sampled across Costa Rica and Panamá to understand the drivers of sex chromosome and autosomal diversity in a highly sexually-selected species. Theory has suggested that Z/A diversity ratios are a metric of reproductive skew because the Z is shuttled 2/3 of the time through males rather than females. We are particularly interested in how population history and environmental conditions (which can affect male effective population size and may constrain skew) shape patterns of genomic diversity between sex chromosomes and autosomes. Stay tuned!

Future directions: I am interested in extending our whole-genome dataset to investigate mitochondrial variation across environmental gradients, connecting my work in evolutionary genomics with broader questions about energetics and physiological adaptation.

Drivers of facultative altitudinal migration

I study why male white-ruffed manakins (Corapipo altera) within the same population differ in whether they migrate downhill each year during the rainy non-breeding season. Using stable isotopes from claws alongside long-term behavioral data from the Boyle Lab, I tested three hypotheses explaining variation in facultative altitudinal migration in white-ruffed manakins. This work uses population variation in migratory behavior to understand how individual differences and environmental conditions shape movement strategies. We found little support for the idea that migration was explained by age or display effort, suggesting that substantial individual variation in migratory behavior remains unexplained by several commonly proposed mechanisms.

Previous molecular and biomedical research

Before beginning my work in behavioral ecology, I worked in translational medicine in the Henrich Lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital and UCSF, first as a research technician and later as lab manager. My research focused on latent HIV persistence and included experimental work using cell culture, flow cytometry, DNA/RNA extraction, and PCR/qPCR. We also collaborated with bioengineers to design single-cell microfluidic and immunological assays for latency detection. This work gave me several years of molecular and laboratory-based research experience before I intentionally expanded my training into field and organismal biology.