ABOUT ME
I've always been interested in the environment and the outdoors, and I discovered my passion for plant ecology in a botany class that I took on a whim in high school. I followed this interest to CU Boulder where I studied Ecology and Evolutionary Biology across desert and mountain ecosytems of the western U.S. I then went on to graduate school at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I studied the spatial ecology of invasive plants. I am now a Postdoc at Princeton University, where I work with Dr. Jonathan Levine and the High Meadows Environmental Institute to understand the impacts of land-use and climate change on biodiversity, particularly the implementation of natural climate solutions and the spatial potential for carbon mitigation. I am a big data scientist, and my approach to research often leverages publicly available datasets on biodiversity, land-use, climate, etc.
I am also interested in the impacts of global change on human systems and decision-making, including how we can use research to inform environmental policy and management. I do most of this work in collaboration with other researchers, such as the leadership team of the Northeast Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network. Outside of my personal research, I am passionate about science communication, outreach, and creating inclusive spaces in academia.
PHD RESEARCH PROJECTS
Click on the image below for more information.
The nursery industry is the primary vector by which invasive plants arrive to the United States. I'm interested in understanding the geography of these sales and how we can use this information to limit the spread of invasive plants, including updating plant regulations to be more effective across state borders.
These projects focus on understanding the macroecological and spatial drivers of invasive plant presence, abundance and impact in the United States. This work leverages spatial and ecological data from federal agencies and open source data repositories. One study on patterns in species richness is published in Ecology Letters. Stay tuned for studies on abundance & impacts.
Invasive species management is likely to be challenged by climate change. In a recent survey of invasive species managers, we found that most managers are concerned about the impacts of climate change, but many have yet to implement climate change adaptation into their management plans. I'm interested in how we can leverage information about climate change to be more proactive in managing invasive species. Check out the link below for more information about these efforts
PAST RESEARCH
I graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado Boulder where I worked on several research projects in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department. For my honors thesis, I studied how plant community respond to different snow and nutrient regimes in the Colorado alpine. I also assisted on projects involving the restoration of an invaded grassland, the vulnerability of biological soil crust in the Utah desert, and the insect microbiome.