I am a community ecologist who studies the ecology and evolution of plant-herbivore interactions. Natural and anthropogenic factors affect where, when, and how plants interact with herbivores, and a major goal of my research is to understand how this variation affects ecological and evolutionary patterns across scales and ecosystems.
I am currently a postdoctoral fellow working with Andrew Davies in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department at Harvard University. My research combines high-resolution, drone-based remote sensing data with large herbivore exclosure studies at Mpala Research Centre (Kenya) to understand how herbivore extinction, replacement of wildlife with livestock, and native herbivore reintroduction affect the taxonomic diversity and structural complexity of African savanna plant communities. Previously, I worked with Anurag Agrawal at Cornell University as a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow studying the ecological and evolutionary drivers of plant defense strategies in the Solanaceae. I completed my PhD on plant-herbivore interactions in African savannas with Rob Pringle at Princeton University, before which I worked with Mark Bertness at Brown University on the causes and consequences of herbivore-driven salt marsh die-off in New England.
A common thread in all of my work is a desire to understand the mechanisms underlying ecological patterns. I use a variety of approaches including community ecology, remote sensing, and theoretical modeling techniques to better understand the ecology, evolution, and natural history of the various systems where I work. Ultimately, I hope to understand how ecological and evolutionary forces shape plant-herbivore interactions in order to predict how species and ecosystems will persist in a future increasingly shaped by human activity.
I am currently a postdoctoral fellow working with Andrew Davies in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department at Harvard University. My research combines high-resolution, drone-based remote sensing data with large herbivore exclosure studies at Mpala Research Centre (Kenya) to understand how herbivore extinction, replacement of wildlife with livestock, and native herbivore reintroduction affect the taxonomic diversity and structural complexity of African savanna plant communities. Previously, I worked with Anurag Agrawal at Cornell University as a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow studying the ecological and evolutionary drivers of plant defense strategies in the Solanaceae. I completed my PhD on plant-herbivore interactions in African savannas with Rob Pringle at Princeton University, before which I worked with Mark Bertness at Brown University on the causes and consequences of herbivore-driven salt marsh die-off in New England.
A common thread in all of my work is a desire to understand the mechanisms underlying ecological patterns. I use a variety of approaches including community ecology, remote sensing, and theoretical modeling techniques to better understand the ecology, evolution, and natural history of the various systems where I work. Ultimately, I hope to understand how ecological and evolutionary forces shape plant-herbivore interactions in order to predict how species and ecosystems will persist in a future increasingly shaped by human activity.
