I have always had a passion for wildlife and conservation- I remember telling my parents I wanted to be Go-Diego-Go and Steve Irwin when I grew up. So deciding to major in Biology at Wheaton College for my undergraduate degree was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made! 

At Wheaton, I was privileged enough to work as a research assistant in two labs in the biology department, partake in several study abroad courses that brought me to Tanzania, Costa Rica, Belize, and Ecuador, and also complete internships at a wildlife sanctuary and at Southwick's Zoo. In my senior year, I completed an honors thesis titled "Mixed species bird flock network structure at El Gullan Biological Station, La Paz Ecuador” and was awarded the Clinton V. MacCoy prize in Ecology from my school. 

After graduating in May of 2020 (yes, a COVID graduate!), I began my PhD at the University of Tennessee in Dr. Charlie Kwit's plant, wildlife, and interactions lab. At UTK,  have volunteered for several outreach organizations, including spending two years as the President of Darwin Day, coordinating and participating in a Science Fair at a local middle school, and acting as a peer mentor to undergraduates in the EEB department at UTK. I was also the Vice President of Graduate Student Resources and the Outreach Coordinator for the EEB department. 

I have a passion for teaching and mentorship and hope to pursue a career in academia. Thus far, I have had the privilege of hiring twelve research students as field assistants to accompany me during my fieldwork in Ecuador, seven of whom also conducted independent research projects. Several of my students went on to complete honors theses, create manuscripts, and present at conferences such as the AFO Conference in Plymouth Mass in 2022. I have also worked alongside various other undergraduate students at the FCAT research station, teaching them how to perform field methods for avian research including mist-netting, point counts, and camera traps, while also overseeing several of their independent research projects.

At UTK, I am the instructor of record for BIO 269 - Field Ecology, where we learn about major patterns in nature and the ecological mechanisms behind them, while also getting hands-on fieldwork skills, writing skills, analytical skills, and practice performing independent research.

Outside of wildlife conservation and ecology, I enjoy cooking, hiking and swimming with my pup, basketball, and lacrosse, and watching Survivor.