I am interested in how humans are changing where biodiversity is distributed around the world, and my dissertation research is focused on exploring and understanding global biological change at various spatio-temporal scales. I work with bird communities in isolated forest fragments in the southern Brazilian Amazon to study the mechanisms underlying gradual species loss following local reductions in habitat area. At a broader scale, I use a combination of computational and mathematical approaches to understand how patterns of macroecological change are caused by economic development and trade globalization.

My scientific interests stem from a long-time interest in birds, reptiles, and amphibians, and I approach much of science from an understanding of these organisms. I am an avid birdwatcher, and I enjoy participating in birding competitions, working on my life list when I travel for fieldwork, and exploring nature in the more remote corners of New Jersey (they exist!). Before coming to Princeton, I did my undergrad at Cornell University, where I graduated with a BS in Biological Sciences. At Cornell, I worked with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on various projects, including writing species accounts for South American birds in the Merlin bird ID app. After that, I worked in Pete Marra’s migratory ecology lab at Georgetown University, before moving to Princeton and joining the Drongos.