Experience

Originally from rural southern Appalachia in western North Carolina, I first became involved with research as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina Asheville. I contributed to projects ranging from threatened songbird conservation to invasive planarian ecology, and ultimately found my passion for soil and agroecology. After earning degrees in Ecology and Spanish, I pursued research technician positions in two separate agricultural entomology labs at North Carolina State University and then the University of Georgia, before I ultimately decided to further my education at the University of Louisville. I am currently pursuing a graduate degree as a member of the Mehring Lab in UofL's Department of Biology, studying greenhouse gas emissions from leaf-cutter ant nests.
​To learn more details of my education and training, see my CV below.

Collaborators and Mentors

I've had the privilege of being mentored by and collaborating with a wide community of scientists. Anybody would be lucky to work with the people I've had access to over my academic journey.​

Dr. Andrew Laughlin, UNC-Asheville (undergraduate mentor and first co-author), avian/urban ecology
Dr. Camila Filgueiras, UNC-Asheville (undergraduate mentor), soil agroecology, entomology, and nematology
Dr. Jake Hagedorn, UNC-Asheville (undergraduate mentor), agricultural soil scientist
​Leah Reese, Ball State University (peer, #1 supporter), freshwater ecosystem and community ecology
Dr. Jim Walgenbach, NC State University (former PI and co-author), fruit and vegetable entomology
Emily Ogburn, M.S., NC State University (colleague and co-author), biocontrol and parasitology
Dr. Carmen Blubaugh, University of Georgia/University of Illinois (former PI, mentor, and co-author), soil entomology and agroecology
Dr. Anna Parker, Wake Forest University (mentor), plant-animal interactions
Dr. Andrew Mehring, University of Louisville (current PI and graduate advisor), soil and freshwater ecosystem ecology