About Me
Defending my dissertation work on April 30th, 2021!
I am excitedly looking for my next step!
I'm a PhD candidate (graduating in May of 2021) studying plant community ecology in the Coastal Plant Ecology Lab at VCU. Broadly, I am interested in how plant communities are being altered by a continually changing climate. My dissertation focuses on observational and manipulation studies of species and trait-based plant community assembly in highly disturbed environments. My research is influenced by my fascination of complex biotic and abiotic interactions across spatial and temporal scales, leading to heterogeneous communities dictated by the amount of physical or biotic stress plants must tolerate. My research contributes to the work being conducted at the Virginia Coast Reserve LTER site. It has also contributed to the Nutrient Network global database initiative.
Education
Virginia Commonwealth University, B.S. 2013
Virginia Commonwealth University, M.S. 2016
Thesis: Emergent interactions influence functional traits and success of dune building ecosystem engineers
Organization Positions
ESA Student Section Liaison Coordinator, 2018-2020