CV

Research Technician

Bothwell Conservation Genetics Lab, University of Georgia

Planned and executed the logistics for a greenhouse trial exploring the GXE defenses and growth of loblolly and longleaf pine when facing brown spot needle blight and drought.

• Selected, cold stratified, sowed, germinated, and transplanted thousands of loblolly and longleaf pine in growth chambers and greenhouses
• Managed and updated a detailed project guide and data on seedling growth and health
• Analyzed preliminary results of mortalities and effective growth strategies
• Isolated and cultured Lecanosticta acicola for inoculation

​​Biological Science Technician Plants

National Park Service, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

• Surveyed for Oak Wilt Disease (OWD) and hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) in high probability areas and for remote sensing ground truthing
• Treated around 90 white ash trees affected by EAB with tree injections using pesticides
• Surveyed for rare plants, such as Pitcher’s Thistle (Cirsium pitcheri), Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridis), and Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica)
• Tested for OWD using branch samples and the AgroLAMP Oak Wilt Detection Kit
• Treated over 100 eastern hemlock trees with tree injections using pesticides and delimited over 200 for HWA prevention
• Mechanically and chemically treated baby’s breath (Gypsophila paniculata) and slender false brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum)
• Set up resistance tests for Beech Bark Disease by applying pads with beech scale

Research Intern (REU, REEF)

The Morton Arboretum

• Analyzed correlations between morphological, environmental, and spatial traits of an endemic and endangered tree species of Baja California Sur, Mexico
• Extracted and quantified DNA from 394 leaf tissue samples of Q. brandegeei individuals and assisted with microsatellite analysis in Geneious

Field Ecology Assistant

Maine Natural Areas Program

• Inventoried 75 Ecological Reserve plots using the MNAP Ecological Reserve protocol for the Bureau of Parks and Lands

Environmental Studies Research Assistant

Colby College, Becknell Lab

• Collected forest inventory data by surveying species abundance, richness, canopy position, and crown illumination
• Analyzed forest inventory data to track changes in above-ground biomass, tree species abundance, and tree mortality across time
• Designed and presented a poster summarizing this research project
• Collected RIEGL VZ-400i Terrestrial Laser Scanner point cloud scans of forested circular plots for extracting plant morphological and structural data and expediting forest inventories

Dual PhD

Michigan State University

Forestry, Ecology Evolution and Behavior

Bacherlor of Arts

Colby College

Environmental Science, Biology (Ecology and Evolution), Statistics

• Honors thesis was identifying the Spread of Invasive Jumping Worms across Maine’s Forests using Soil eDNA

EEB Engagement Fellowship

Michigan State University

F. Russell Cole Student Research Fellowship

Colby College

Mu Sigma Rho

National Statistics Honor Society

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

NSF, The Morton Arboretum

Phi Beta Kappa

Colby College

Dana Scholar

Colby College

Identifying the Spread of Invasive Jumping Worms across Maine’s Forests using Soil eDNA

Colby College Honors Theses

It concerned investigating the spread of invasive jumpings worms using soil eDNA and its relationship to soil chemistry and plant composition.

Identifying the Spread of Invasive Jumping Worms in Maine’s Forests

Worked to track the spread of invasive worms using soil eDNA across the state’s protected forests and examine the relationship between the worms’ presence and plant/soil composition

• Independently designed the protocols and data sheets and collected the site, plant composition, soil chemistry, and soil eDNA data from 57 177 m2 circular forested plots in Maine’s public reserved lands, state parks, botanical gardens, arboretums, and land trusts
• Extracted, amplified, purified, and sequenced COI regions of six earthworm tissue samples and 57 soil eDNA samples using PCR, Agar Gel Electrophoresis, and Oxford Nanopore Sequencing
• Cleaned and mapped sequenced reads against a database of 4,013 reference sequences of jumping (Amynthas spp.) and European worms (Lumbricus spp.) using Geneious
• Performed extensive literature search culminating in writing a literature review on what is known about Jumping Worms in northeastern forest ecosystems
• Wrote and presented honor’s thesis research (136 pg.) and analysis, including maps of sample plots and findings made in ArcGIS