PROFILE:

I am a plant biologist interested in investigating fundamental processes driving species success. I have a particularly strong interest in understanding traits expressed in populations out of control (too few or too many) and how species adapt to their environment. My research works to characterize species trait diversity, life-histories, stress tolerance, habitat patterns, and mechanisms that determine species abundance. To do this, I utilize herbarium and field trait surveys, phylogenetic analysis, niche modeling, and ecophysiological measurements.

I teach seminar, General Biology II (BIOL 106), Flora of Minnesota (BIOL 442), and Plant Ecology (BIOL 443). I aim to encourage curiosity in my teaching and research and want to outfit students with the tools for understanding and investigating how organisms survive in their environment.

I also am the Director of the Darlene and William Radichel Herbarium, an archive of plant and lichen collections.

Send me an email if you have any questions, would like to speak at a seminar or would like to visit the herbarium.

EDUCATION:

• 2013 Ph.D. in Plant Biology, University of Vermont
• 2008 M.S. in Biology, West Virginia University
• 2004 B.S. majors in Environmental Science and Earth Science, with minors in Biology and Chemistry, State University of New York College at Brockport

COURSES TAUGHT:

• BIOL 106 – General Biology II
• BIOL 442/542 – Flora of Minnesota
• BIOL 443/543 – Plant Ecology: Next offering SPRING 2020 (not FALL 2019)
• BIOL 499 – Independent Study

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Botany, ecology, ecophysiology, systematics, trait variation and adaptation, invasive species, plant conservation, prairies, savanna, drought tolerance, population biology, dispersal, environmental science, remote sensing, GIS, environmental policy.