I am currently a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Emily Taylor at California Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo as part of the Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Lab. While my research will focus on modeling reptile thermal ecology, I also sought out this fellowship because it prioritizes undergraduate mentoring, lecturing, and community engagement.
My PhD research with Dr. Chris Feldman at the University of Nevada, Reno revolved around understanding the ecological interactions underlying a coevolutionary relationship between toxic Pacific newts (Taricha) and their resistant garter snake predators (Thamnophis). I specifically studied (1) the costs and compensations arising from adaptive resistance-conferring mutations and (2) what information predators receive from assumed-aposematic color in newts. My side projects have a range of focus including curriculum building in natural history courses, public outreach, and undergraduate mentoring strategies. |
email: [email protected]