I am a disease ecologist and data scientist whose research lies at the intersection of community ecology, evolution, and epidemiology, with a strong focus on vector ecology, invasion biology, and multi-host pathogen systems. My work examines how community composition and structure shape infectious disease dynamics, and how diseases, in turn, affect host physiology and ecological interactions within wildlife systems. I leverage complementary study systems—Daphnia-pathogen communities and Invasive mosquitoes and their parasites—to address broad, cross-scale ecological questions.

I am currently a Quantitative Research Analyst with the Hawaiʻi Cooperative Studies Unit at the University of Hawaiʻi, where I lead data science efforts on a multi-institution collaboration studying mosquito vector dynamics in relation to environmental conditions and community composition. I use statistical modeling, machine learning, and ecological theory to improve vector surveillance and control strategies.

Prior to this, I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Meghan Duffy's lab at the University of Michigan, where I led research on transgenerational virulence—examining how maternal pathogen exposure impacts offspring fitness and disease transmission—and on cross-species transmission potential in natural planktonic communities. My work in this role integrated mathematical modeling, field epidemiology, and laboratory experiments to explore the ecological consequences of infection.

I completed my Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics) at Illinois State University in 2020, advised by Steven A. Juliano. My dissertation focused on how invasive species and community shifts affect pathogen prevalence and dynamics in Aedes mosquito systems. I earned my B.S. in Biological Sciences from Illinois State in 2014, during which I conducted research on mosquito population ecology and independently studied territoriality in bullet ants (Paraponera clavata) at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica.

Research Interests

Ecology of multi-host pathogens, community ecology, invasion ecology, vector ecology, effects of community change on disease dynamics, structural equation modeling, host interaction networks for pathogen transmission, transgenerational effects on pathogen success and host physiology, and co-infections. Learn more...