I am a graduate student in the Kimberly Sheldon Lab  in the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

 

I am originally from Oklahoma, which has more ecoregions per square mile than any other state. As a transition zone between the Eastern and Western United States, the land in Oklahoma going east to west changes very dramatically, quickly.

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This prompted me from a young age to be interested in biogeography, the study of why organisms are where they are and why they are absent other places. In particular, I am interested in exploring how host-microbe interactions vary across biogeographical gradients, and how this variation may lead to local adaptation, help explain species distributions, and affect nutrient cycling. Finally, I love natural history and conservation--especially when it has to do with insects or amphibians! My main research questions tie in these interests; please check out my research page if you'd like to know more!