Research interests:
I am interested in using genetic and genomic tools to answer ecological questions relating to how anthropogenic changes are impacting endangered or threatened species. I received my B.S. in ecology and evolution from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before starting graduate school, I worked with the USFS to measure Southern California stream habitats and endangered steelhead trout populations in a study that aimed to determine the effects of increased fires on steelhead populations. I also had the opportunity to work as a crew lead for a greater sage grouse project in the Great Basin of Nevada. After graduate school, I hope to help with the management of endangered species and ecosystem biodiversity by integrating broad ecological perspectives from community, cultural, and academic resources.
Projects:
Dietary niche overlap of Sierra Nevada red fox with coyote, marten, and bobcat reveals key prey species: this project is focused mainly on the Lassen and Sonora Sierra Nevada red fox populations. I used metabarcoding techniques to look at the diet of Sierra Nevada red foxes and compare their diets to coyotes, martens, and bobcats that live in the same area to see how much dietary niche overlap is occurring between these species.
Utilizing eDNA to Assess AIS Expansion in High-Elevation Watersheds: The Lake Tahoe Basin, a high-elevation ecosystem containing many alpine lakes with varying sizes, depths, accessibility, and elevations, provides an ideal setting to study AIS invasion dynamics. Our research plan employs noninvasive eDNA techniques to assess the primary factors influencing AIS spread, specifically aiming to identify factors that facilitate or inhibit AIS expansion in high-elevation ecosystems. We intend to collect data on AIS distribution as well as the presence of native species (e.g. yellow-legged frogs, native fish) throughout the basin. Our goal is to determine whether factors such as high human accessibility, proximity to Lake Tahoe (which has a broad range of AIS compared to smaller alpine lakes), or elevational gradients are most correlated with AIS presence in smaller alpine lakes within the basin. This information can pinpoint alpine lakes that may act as native species refugia from AIS as well as ascertain which alpine lakes are at a heightened risk of AIS invasion in the near future.
To achieve a thorough assessment of AIS expansion in the Lake Tahoe basin, our study is centered around two primary objectives:
- Use metabarcoding to detect known AIS in Lake Tahoe
- Use methods tested in Lake Tahoe to test nearby alpine lakes for both native species and AIS
This project is co-supervised by Dr. Andrea Schreier at the Genomic Variation Lab.