My fascination with the outdoors started as a child, whether I was camping with my family, exploring my grandparents’ farm, or just watching the insects in my backyard. These experiences sparked my interest in ecology and led me to where I am today. I received my undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College. During this time, my broad interests in the natural world were focused on insect ecology and conservation issues. I spent 4 months in Australia learning about environmental politics, marine biology, and ecology. I also spent a summer studying an endangered plant species in southern MN. I graduated from St. Olaf in 2003 and enrolled in graduate school the following fall. Now, I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. I study how climate change will affect monarch butterfly breeding and migration. Computer models show a northward shift in the monarchs' summer breeding range, which would lead to a longer and faster migration. Currently, I am working on additional lab and field studies to further characterize the impacts of climate change and identify the monarchs' potential response.

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I received my B.S in zoology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 2005. While a member of the 2004 LSSURP program in Minnesota, I worked with Karen Oberhauser and am now in graduate school in the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior program under Karen Oberhauser's advisement. Currently I am working on predator-prey dynamics using monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) as a model system. I propose to identify predators across a wide range of monarch habitat to shed new light on the selective pressures exerted on the immature stages of monarchs by predators and to determine the life stage (egg or larval instar) at which predation is most important to this organism. In addition, I will study the relative importance of interactions with host plants and predators in regulating monarch population densities. My work--involving observational field studies, empirical work, a cooperative network of volunteer citizen scientists, and modeling--will provide the first comprehensive study of monarch population regulation during the breeding portion of their annual migratory cycle.

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I grew up in Dyersville, Iowa (home of the Field of Dreams movie site and also the "Farm Toy Capital of the World") and attended the University of Iowa as an undergraduate. I became interested in plant taxonomy and conservation through summer field courses and an internship with the Nature Conservancy. After graduation, I took a position with the Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service in Florida. I returned to the Midwest in the Fall of 2003 to begin a PhD program at the U.

My research interests are in plant diversity and conservation. I am currently working on a project in the Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) of Costa Rica addressing the resiliency and recovery of fragmented populations. I am focusing on fine scale genetic structure, pollen dispersal, and seedling regeneration of tropical live oak (Quercus oleoides) in this conservation region that is comprised of abandoned cattle pastures and remnant forest stands.

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My childhood was spent tromping through the swamps encircling my parent’s house. Covered in icky sticky mud, I would peer into root-draped, black pools of water formed by the recent fall of a black ash and marvel at the ability of water striders to skate across the water’s surface. I would never linger at these pools for longer than a few seconds because while the striders’ dance fascinated me, I could never overcome my childhood apprehension of the dark water and what might lay inches below its surface. As I’ve grown so has my fascination with nature, and the apprehension I once felt has been replaced by a curiosity about all the unknowns which lay just below the water’s surface.

Science is a discipline devoted to discovering what lies below the surface; be it the human genome or the factors causing the decline of an endangered species. In my research, I will uncover the factors that currently define the edge of black bear range in Minnesota, which until recently has been largely confined to the heavily-forested areas in the northern third of the state. Sightings and kills outside of this region provide evidence of population expansion into areas with less forest cover (mainly agriculture with forested patches). Answering these questions will entail using GPS-collared bears at the periphery of their range (especially in northwestern Minnesota) to assess: 1) habitat use, 2) habitat requirements (e.g., minimum forest cover or patch size), 3) dispersal, 4) movements relative to human settlements and roads, and 5) causes of mortality. These data will provide a more complete understanding of factors affecting bear distribution and enable the development of a predictive model to forecast their future distribution (i.e., how far will the population eventually expand?).

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My interest in all things natural began when I was young when my mother would take my sister and I on long rambling walks in a small sliver of woods in Green Bay, WI called the Baird’s Creek Parkway. These walks would always have a surprise lurking in the mucky water near the train tracks or scurrying away from the worn-down path. In high school I had the privilege of being in the classes of a number of inspiring science teachers. Mr. Rick Berken led me down the path I’m currently on. Not only did he give me an assignment to make an insect collection, which started my passion for entomology, but he also ran an after-school environmental club that made me realize biology was more than just memorizing the names of things. Mr. Berken told us about how a section of Baird Creek Parkway (that I walked as a child) was being threatened by development, and he fired us up to do something about it. We sold Costa Rican shade-grown coffee, grown in Monte Verde, and gave all our profits to a fund to try to save the parkway land. We won a “Young Philanthropists Award” for that effort, and part of the parkway was eventually saved, due in small part, to our effort.

What I didn’t realize as a young person is my passion for critters and the outdoors could be molded into a career. I had the opportunity to work in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico, hiking and counting butterflies for a summer with an inspiring professor, Dr. Paula Kleintjes. When asked why she became a scientist, I remember Paula saying she knew she had to do something to make a living, why not make it a job she enjoyed? Working in a butterfly house at Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek, WI, stirred up my passion to teach and share my excitement about nature with others. Working here at the University of Minnesota, I’ve learned that the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. My education here at the U has been diverse and I am fortunate to have been able to work on a number of projects. I am currently working toward a Masters degree in Entomology studying the dispersal of the multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis. I look forward to learning and growing with the teachers and students I work with this year.

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My involvement in science is founded in a love for the process of inquiry and discovery. Though I was not formally introduced to the scientific process until my undergraduate education, we were old friends. I survived childhood only because curiosity does not, in fact, always kill the kid. My main interests lie in patterns of global biodiversity and the natural processes that produce this diversity. My personal pursuit to study the many forms of life on Earth have brought me to Scandinavia, the Amazon Basin, the Galapagos Islands, the Costa Rican rainforest, the spiny forests of Madagascar and the tropical forests of Papua New Guinea. My current research investigates the close relationship between fig plants and their wasp pollinators. I use many types of DNA analysis and pollination experiments in order to better understand the pollination habits of the wasps and the reproductive consequences of those habits for both the wasps and the fig plants.

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Having always been interested in what and why animals do what they do, I entered college prepared to continue on to veterinary school, the primary animal-centered occupation of which I was currently aware. As part of my undergraduate education, I completed a month-long study abroad tour through Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. During this trip my fascination with the behavior and ecology of wildlife took hold. From diving with a sea lion mom and pups to joining in with a group of meandering llamas to meeting Lonesome George, the last Galapagos tortoise of his species, I realized that the study of behavioral ecology was to become my future.

Upon graduating with a bachelor’s degree, I participated in a number of mammalian field research projects throughout the U.S. The majority of my fieldwork looked at different behavioral patterns of various endangered species. I assisted in studies focusing on reproductive behaviors of the endangered Utah prairie dog, the movement patterns after displacement of the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel, behavioral responses of large ungulates to recreationalists on Antelope Island, and the space use of the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel. Throughout these field research studies I gained experience in animal behavior observation, trapping, handling, tagging and radio-collaring various wildlife. Participation in these field research projects prepared me for returning to school in 2003 to obtain my Masters of Science degree at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. I studied the reproductive suppression in the Cape ground squirrel (Xerus inauris) at field sites in South Africa and Namibia, using fecal hormone analysis and behavioral observations.

I am now completing the first year of my PhD program in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. My dissertation research will be focusing on the relationship between male parental care and acoustically mediated female mate choice in two species of neotropical frogs found only in Guyana, South America.

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I grew up on a farm in rural New Hampshire, where I enjoyed helping raise goats and chickens and working in the vegetable garden. The farm also had a wide expanse of woods, fields, ponds, and rocky cliffs, and through the long hours I spent exploring these habitats I gained an abiding love for the natural world. The rich diversity of plants and animals inspired my curiosity and was the beginning of my passion for science. After graduating from Carleton College with a major in Ecosystem Science, I shared my interest in science through teaching. I was a middle school science teacher for four years in New York state, and then taught outdoor education for a year in Rhode Island, where students visiting from schools could learn about science by hiking in the woods or catching aquatic insects. Now in graduate school, my research interests include studying the diversity of species present in different habitats and how this diversity will be affected by a changing climate. I am currently doing research at Cedar Creek, a long-term research site owned by the University of Minnesota, studying how stable prairie plant communities are under climate change. I look forward to the opportunity to combine my interests in teaching and research, this year and beyond. In addition to my research, I enjoy camping, canoeing, gardening, and cooking.

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While I was a little kid, I always enjoyed studying the water cycle. I think that was actually my favorite part of all my science classes. But I really didn’t become interested in water resources as a career until my senior of college when I decided to do research on the topic of the conflict between peace agreement and water resources in the Jordan Basin. It was at that point that I realize how valuable water resources are. Jacques Cousteau, a French explorer, couldn’t have nailed it better when he stated, “We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.” I realized at that time that water was not just molecules stuck together but also life. However, water and the organisms that it hosts can’t speak for themselves; it is for that reason that I choose to study them and relay my findings to the broader public.

I am currently enrolled in the Water Resources Science program as a PhD candidate. I am studying two biological indicators, Chironomids and Diatoms, to determine how human alterations to waterways have impacted water quality. Specifically, I am researching on the impacts of damming and water-level manipulations on water quality and biodiversity. In the last few years at the University of Minnesota, I have come to realize how important it is to preserve our natural resources. My love for nature really took hold of me then. I hope that I will be able to help protect our waterways for future generations!

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