Research

Explore some of my past and current projects below!

The La Selva MetaNetwork: Advancing understanding and prediction of climate vulnerability for tropical species and communities

Biotic interactions play an especially important role in the structure and function of tropical forests. Species survival and distributions are changing under global climate change, leading to changes in the interactions between species. For my PhD dissertation, I am investigating changes in the structure and function of ecological communities in Costa Rica along a 2,900m elevational gradient, spanning La Selva Biological Station, Braulio Carrillo National Park, and Volcán Barva.

Project website

The Scale-Dependent Relationships of Fruiting Plants and Frugivores in Tropical Andes Forests

Plant-frugivore mutualisms are a major driver to biodiversity patterns in the tropics. However, most studies overlook such interactions in biodiversity assessments, by focusing on one metric of biodiversity (taxonomic diversity). In this study, I am analyzing patterns in spatial scale-dependent relationships of taxonomic and functional diversity for fruiting plants and frugivorous birds and mammals in the Tropical Andes to explore how multi-faceted and multi-scale approaches can improve conservation planning in biodiversity hotspots.

(Manuscript in prep)

Seed Bank Predation as a Driver to Plant Population Dynamics

Seed bank dynamics are important for the persistence of many herbaceous plant species in pyrogenic ecosystems. At Archbold Biological Station, I conducted a field study investigating the interplay between time-since-fire and the seed predation of five endemic plant species.

(Manuscript in prep)

Long-term Human Perturbations on the Chesapeake Bay

I studied the salinatization and alkalinization of freshwater within the Chesapeake Bay watershed utilizing the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program water quality monitoring network.

Read "Freshwater faces a warmer and saltier future from headwaters to coasts: climate risks, saltwater intrusion, and biogeochemical chain reactions"

Soil Characteristic Response with Trees to Topographic Variation in a Premontane Rainforest

Under Texas A&M's "Ecohydrology of Tropical Montane Forests – Diversity in Science, Interdisciplinary Breadth, and Global Awareness" NSF-REU, I studied the relationships between topography, soil characteristics, and tree presence and distribution using spatial mapping in a Costa Rican rainforest.

See project abstract

Mesohabitat Affinities of Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Protected Lowland Rainforest Streams

I quantified changes in community structure of macroinvertebrate species and functional feeding groups across stream mesohabitats (pools, glides, riffles, and rapids) in southeastern Nicaragua to inform biomonitoring and conservation efforts in a region with rapidly degrading aquatic ecosystems.

Read "Mesohabitat affinities of benthic macroinvertebrates in protected lowland rainforest streams of southeast Nicaragua"