My career as a scientist spans many study systems and disciplines. I have a background in ecology and have worked for multiple long-term monitoring studies throughout the years. My science career officially began in the woods of New Hampshire, where as a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, I spent rainy spring evenings searching for red-backed salamanders hidden in leaf litter and measuring them by headlamp.
As a sophomore, I transferred to Cornell and spent several years conducting fieldwork in Ithaca on a long-term monitoring project on life-history tradeoffs in swallows. I also participated in two student-led research expeditions documenting the natural history of poorly known species in Malaysian Borneo.
Next, I spent a summer surveying threatened Yellow-billed Cuckoo populations in southern California, and then embarked on my Master's in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. There, I combined environmental DNA techniques and Bayesian hierarchical modeling to estimate occupancy of invasive Burmese pythons at wading bird breeding colonies in the Everglades. To complement eDNA monitoring, I used camera traps to estimate predation rates of pythons on white ibis and great egret nests.
For my PhD at Harvard, I've blended molecular, ecological, and evolutionary perspectives to study the evolution of neo-sex chromosomes in Australian honeyeaters and I've mastered a slew of genomic tools and bioinformatic pipelines along the way. My work includes using genotype-environment association analyses to explore how neo-sex chromosomes may contribute to climate adaptation in White-eared Honeyeaters, which occur across an aridity gradient in New South Wales.
I have particularly enjoyed the many rewarding aspects of collaborating with Australian researchers and agencies to conduct fieldwork in New South Wales and cytogenetic work in Canberra. Going forward, I am excited to do more applied research that leverages my genomic skills and passion for ecology and conservation.
When I'm not doing science, I play fiddle d'Amore, nyckelharpa, and piano with my family and spouse. I play a range of Scandinavian folk music, Americana, and New England contra dance music for dances, concerts, and weddings throughout the northeast.
Education
2019 - 2025 Ph.D. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2015 - 2018 M.S. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
2009 - 2012 B.S. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Field Skills
Environmental DNA sampling, camera-trapping, GPS navigation, airboat operator (>120 hr), outboard motor operator (>20 hr), fixed-wing aerial surveying, avian field techniques, planning and executing field work, tree-climbing, collecting digital natural sound recordings, animal telemetry
Lab Skills
Environmental DNA lab methods (single-, multi-channel pipetting, sterile technique, filtering water), phenol-chloroform eDNA extraction, eDNA inhibitor removal troubleshooting (with Zymo and Mo Bio kits), optimization of synthetic mini gene standard curve for eDNA detection assay, ddPCR, serial dilutions for ddPCR plate standard curves, troubleshooting QX200 ddPCR methodology, qPCR, traditional PCR, gel electrophoresis, plasmid digestion, Qubit 3.0 fluorometry, spectrophotometry, thorough protocol documentation
Data Analysis Skills
Experienced in managing and proofing data, occupancy modeling using Bayesian methods, generalized mixed linear modeling, transcriptomics, comparative genomics, population genomic bioinformatic pipelines, variant calling pipelines for low and high coverage whole-genome resequencing
Software and Language Proficiency
Basic: Mathematica, html, Access, Raven, CERVUS, mySQL
Intermediate: arcGIS, LaTeX, MATLAB, Microsoft Office, awk, sed
Advanced: R, Rstudio, bash, slurm, GitHub, Microsoft Powerpoint