Experiences in the field
I have learned so much about birds through experiences in the field, and have been extremely fortunate to do field work in many incredible places across the world, including Australia, the Florida Everglades, Malaysian Borneo, Costa Rica, California, and Ithaca, NY. All work was done with the necessary permits and permissions of local, state, and federal agencies.
Dissertation research | New South Wales, Australia (2022-2023)
I spent 12 weeks in the field in New South Wales, Australia in collaboration with colleagues at the Australian National Wildlife Collection. I focused on specific species of Australian honeyeaters (family Meliphagidae) to study the evolution of neo-sex chromosomes in this family. I also mist-netted and blood sampled White-eared Honeyeaters for a study on the genomic architecture of adaptation.
Terrick Terrick National Park | Victoria, Australia (2022)
I spent a weekend in Victoria, Australia searching for the elusive Plainswanderer with fellow bird lovers.
Southern Texas birding trip with OEB 190 (2022)
I helped lead a Spring break birding trip to south Texas with the students of OEB 190 -- Avian Biology and Diversity lead by my advisor Scott Edwards.
Concord Biological Field Station | Concord, MA (2020-2024)
I applied cutting-edge preservation techniques to specimens collected at the Concord Biological Field Station.
Parque Nacional Volcán Gran Tenorio | Costa Rica (2019)
I spent two weeks in the rainforest of Gran Tenorio mist-netting and observing the behaviors of lekking White-ruffed Manakins.
Master's research in the Florida Everglades (2015-2018)
I conducted two six month field seasons in the Florida Everglades, monitoring wading birds and quantifying the effects of invasive Burmese pythons on reproductive success through camera trap monitoring and environmental DNA tracking.
Southern California Yellow-billed Cuckoo fieldwork (2013)
I spent a field season in Southern California surveying Yellow-billed Cuckoos, finding and monitoring nests, and recording female call notes.
Tawau Hills Park | Malaysian Borneo (2012-2013)
I spent four months (over two separate trips) in the rainforests of Malaysian Borneo documenting the breeding biology of poorly known Bornean birds like the Black-headed Pitta (Erythropitta ussheri).
Macaulay Library audiovisual media trip | California (2012)
I spent a spring break learning how to take high quality field recordings and videos of birds in the Mojave Desert and other Californian biomes, with Macaulay Library staff from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and four other Cornell undergraduates.
Cornell Tree Swallow Study | Ithaca, NY (2010-2015)
I was a field technician for two field seasons and crew lead in 2014-2015 for the long-term study of Tree Swallows at Cornell Experimental Ponds.