My current research is focusing on the morphology of female mosquitofish in environments with predators present, comparing how their evolutionary adaptations compare to their male counterpart
I am about to begin a project looking at the presence of microplastics in freshwater fish in local water bodies. This is a collaborative project with other professors at Northwest
I am part of a collaboration looking at the morphological and life history changes of mosquitofish across the native, and invasive range.
My current research is focused on the influence of predation pressure on the morphology of small species of freshwater fishes. Species that reside in environments with predators present have the ability to adapt to survive in these environments. My research aims to investigate how these predator-induced morphological changes can impact fish survival, and swimming ability. My intention is to investigate the influence of morphology not only on burst swimming speed, which is used to evade predators, but also its influence on steady swimming ability, which is utilized for dispersal.
Additionally, I am researching snail shell morphology in environments with different predation types, including shell-entering predators and shell-crushing predators. This research aims to investigate if snails have differing shell morphology (rotund or elongated) in environments differing in predation strategy.
A current project I am working on investigates morphological adaptations of western mosquitofish in relation to ambush predator presence (dragonfly Naiads). This project aims to investigate what morphology is beneficial for survival in environments with ambush predators.
Additional Projects
I am currently designing a mesocosm study to investigate the influence of stocking density on movement of female and male western mosquitofish.
I've recently been working on a multi-university study to investigate adaptations to seasonality along the native range of the western mosquitofish