I began my college work at The College of Wooster in Wooster OH where I double majored in Mathematics and Ecology. Originally, I intended to major in Political Science and potentially minor in Biology. As time proceeded, I realized I was not as interested in Political Science and thought I would major in Chemistry instead. Once again I realized that this was not the route for me and so I was left major-less for a short time before realizing that biology was my strong passion. As part of the biology major requirements we could take an upper level chemistry, math, or physics class. I decided that I had taken enough chemistry and having so far enjoyed all the math I had ever taken I chose to explore upper level math. I enjoyed the upper level math classes and so I continued taking math classes in addition to my other biology requirements.
During the fall semester of my junior year I decided to study abroad in Australia with the School for International Training. It was here that received my first introduction to theoretical ecology. As part of this program, we were to independently intern with a leading researcher in an area that particularly interested them. I worked with Dr. Sean Connolly of James Cook University in Townsville, Australia and head of the Ecological Modelling Research Group.
The capstone experience of my undergraduate work was my senior Independent Study. This thesis required the development of two models to determine the conditions under which flowering plants would be more likely to evolve towards a specialist or generalist pollination syndrome. I developed two models from the ground up, gradually increasing the complexity of the model to more realistically portray natural events. The models, developed under the guidance of my mathematics and biology advisors, utilized elements of stochastic cellular automata, agent-based modelling, and systems of differential equations. The conclusion of my thesis, was a 120 page report (summarizing previous work, detailing the inner-workings of both models, a description of conducting sensitivity analysis, and effectively communicating the results in the context of other studies), a 90 minute oral defense, and a 15 minute presentation to the community.
After attaining my Bachelor’s degree I was accepted into the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology PhD program at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and I immediately started my PhD program. Here I am advised by Dr. Louis Gross, Director Emeritus of the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, and co-advised by Dr. Joseph Bailey, Associate Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I work closely with both advisors to apply my mathematics knowledge to fundamental questions about the dynamics of above and below ground communities. I am developing a theoretical framework that integrates evolutionary consequence of environmental feedbacks, ecosystem engineering, dispersal, biotic interactions, and abiotic constraints to simulate these community dynamics.
Publications and Resume
If you'd like to see my Resume or Publications please click on the link below to download a PDF.