I am a broadly trained aquatic ecologist with an active international research program. My research seeks to describe and quantify how animals and their microbial symbionts (microbiomes) alter microbial community composition and ecosystem function within the environment, and how these dynamics are influenced by environmental variability. I seek to answer these questions using a range of approaches from field-based surveys to multi-scale experimental manipulations. In my research, I prioritize the use of open source software and technologies and emphasize the open sharing of data, techniques, and methods. I am a rapid adopter of new approaches and can quickly adapt to complex challenges. I am comfortable using a range of analytical methods from detailed environmental biogeochemistry through the characterization of microbial communities using the 16S rRNA gene, shotgun metagenomics and metatranscriptomics.
Positions
2023 to Present - Assistant Professor, Biology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville
2020 to 2023 - Postdoctoral Associate, Biology and Anthropology Departments, University of Florida, Gainesville
2015 to 2019 - PhD Student, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2014 to 2015 - Research Technician, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY
2012 to 2014 - Environmental Consultant in East Africa to Government and Non-Governmental Organizations
2010 to 2012 - MeSC Student, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT
2009 to 2010 - Project Coordinator, Florida International University (East Africa)
2008 to 2009 - Research Assistant, Global Water for Sustainability - GLOWS (East Africa)
Education
2019 - PhD from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.
2012 - Master’s of Environmental Studies degree from the the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
1999 - Bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance / music / criminal justice from the presigious School of Music at Indiana University (Bloomington).
Significant Accomplishments
2019 - John Spangler Nicholas Prize for the best dissertation by an EEB student at Yale University.
2018 - Yale University EEB Graduate Student Symposium, oral presentation award.
2017 - Yale University EEB Graduate Student Symposium, first place graduate poster award.
2015 - Yale University EEB Departmental Retreat, first place graduate poster presentation award.
2012 - Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, second place graduate poster presentation award.
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