About me
Teaching: Ecology
I grew up in central Pennsylvania spending a lot of time outdoors watching birds and exploring the natural world. When it came time for college it was an easy decision for me to study the environment. In 2003, I completed my B.Sc. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Penn State and in 2006, I graduate from the State University of New York, ESF, with my M.Sc. in Wildlife Management. After finishing my degrees I worked in wetland conservation for the state of Delaware before deciding I wanted to travel. I spent the next several years traveling and working in places such as Argentina, the Northern Mariana Islands, Australia, and Puerto Rico. To that point, my research focused on avian ecology where I gained experience with endangered species management, complex mating systems, and habitat restoration to benefit songbirds.
These travels really opened my eyes to the world and helped change the way I thought about science. I realized that the developing world, especially the tropics, was an understudied and underrepresented system. In order to conserve birds and mammals one really needs to conserve the habitats they live in. About this time I spoke with Dr. Kenneth Feeley at Florida International University in Miami, FL. Our interests aligned nicely and his enthusiastic attitude and impressive research program landed me in Peru for my dissertation research.
