I am a community ecologist who studies how plant-herbivore interactions shape ecological and evolutionary patterns. A common thread in all of my work is a desire to understand the mechanisms underlying these patterns. I use a variety of approaches--including community ecology, comparative biology, and theoretical modeling techniques--to better understand the ecology, evolution, and natural history of the various systems where I work.
Natural and anthropogenic forces 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. A simple increase in herbivore pressure, for example, can dramatically increase defense investment in spiny savanna plants, but leads to whole ecosystem collapse in New England salt marshes. Ultimately, I hope to use our understanding of how ecological and evolutionary forces shape plant-herbivore interactions to predict how species and ecosystems will respond to ongoing anthropogenic change.
For more details about my work, click the links above!
Natural and anthropogenic forces 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. A simple increase in herbivore pressure, for example, can dramatically increase defense investment in spiny savanna plants, but leads to whole ecosystem collapse in New England salt marshes. Ultimately, I hope to use our understanding of how ecological and evolutionary forces shape plant-herbivore interactions to predict how species and ecosystems will respond to ongoing anthropogenic change.
For more details about my work, click the links above!
