Teacher’s assistant
After high school, I worked at a school specializing in students with cerebral palsy for several years while obtaining my associate’s degree from the local community college. Mostly, I worked one on one with a particularly extraordinary student.
Richard Stockton University
Then, I completed an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies. During this time I was formally introduced to ecology through
an NSF REU program at the NJ School of Conservation
a research project funded by a Distinguished Student Fellowship, and
a capstone project surveying vernal pools on campus with peers.
Outdoor Education
After obtaining my undergraduate degree I worked for several years in outdoor education and academic summer camps. I served as
an Instructor at the Battlecreek Outdoor Education Center in Dowling, MI;
the team leader for a group of instructors at an outdoor education center operated by the Houston Independent School District in Trinity, TX; and
the academic director for the Centenary Summer Scholars in Hackettstown, NJ.
Mississippi State University
Then, I obtained a Masters’s degree in Biological Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Gary Ervin. My thesis focused on niche and neutral mechanisms of forest understory plant assemblages. While a student there I
served as the president of the biology graduate student’s association.
University of Florida
Finally I moved to University of Florida (UF) with advisor, Dr. Marcus Lashley. My dissertation focused the relationship between disturbances, resource pulses, and seed dispersal by animals. Over my time at UF, I have mentored undergraduates and published several papers, including the first chapter of my dissertation. I have successfully defended my dissertation and will graduate in December 2022.