Through research, biological field stations, and science policy, I work to better understand and conserve our planet’s biodiversity and natural environments
I am an evolutionary biologist and behavioral ecologist interested in the drivers, consequences, and evolution of animal societies. I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour at the University of Exeter with Dr. Lauren Brent. As part of the ERC funded FriendOrigins project, I study multilevel selection for, and the genetic architecture of, individual and group social behaviors in a long-studied free-living population of rhesus macaques.
I received my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UCLA in 2023. Studying in the Blumstein Lab, my dissertation was on the evolution of individual social position and group social structure with a multilevel selection perspective. I conducted this work in a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots studied since 1962 at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). I am also a Scientist and Instructor at RMBL, continuing my research on the evolution of marmot sociality and teaching Rocky Mountain Wildlife, an undergraduate field course. I serve on the Board of Directors for the Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS), various committees at RMBL, and am an Assistant Editor-in-Chief at the Journal of Science Policy and Governance. |