I grew up in a rural corner of Minnesota, surrounded by wolves, bears, peat bogs, and glacier-scarred bedrock. My hometown had a population of 500 and I was one of 22 in my graduating class. I first began research as an undergraduate at University of Minnesota Duluth, working with evolutionary ecologists Timothy Craig and Joanne Itami. I earned a M.S. in Entomology at Cornell University under soil ecologist and turfgrass entomologist Kyle Wickings and a Ph.D. in Entomology from Michigan State University under agroecologist Matt Grieshop. I am now a Postdoctoral Associate/Lecturer in Biology at Boston University. You can view my CV here.

In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, insect collecting, video and tabletop games, music (mainly metal, folk, and country), and creative writing.

My cat's name is Apollo.