About

As an Assistant Professor of Ecosystem Sustainability at the University of Maine, Presque Isle and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Southern California, I study how natural populations persist—or fail to persist—in the face of environmental change. 

These positions follow my USC Presidential Sustainability Fellowship at USC, where I collaborated with Carly Kenkel and Joe Arvai, and my NSF Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Oxford, where I collaborated with Tim Coulson in the Department of Biology. I received my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale University, in the lab of theoretical ecologist David Vasseur. 

My journey into quantitative environmental science began at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where I earned dual degrees in Mathematics and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology under the mentorship of Holly Barnard and Alexander Cruz. My interdisciplinary background has shaped my research focus: managing and facilitating the persistence of natural populations facing environmental change and habitat loss.

During my Ph.D., I approached these complex challenges through theoretical modeling. Recognizing the difficulties in collecting fine-scale data on eco-evolutionary dynamics in changing environments, I developed theoretical frameworks to bridge critical knowledge gaps.

My NSF postdoctoral fellowship at Oxford University allowed me to integrate theoretical and experimental methods, investigating the role of temperature change in species adaptation and extinction. Currently, I apply these frameworks across multiple systems—from Caribbean coral reefs to terrestrial ecosystems—assessing how plasticity and life history trade-offs influence population persistence.

This progression from theory to application across diverse taxa reflects my commitment to developing comprehensive approaches for understanding and preserving biodiversity in rapidly changing environments.

*Photography by Pam Schulz