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Hello!

I am an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in ways of detecting and measuring the diversity of life.

I am currently a research associate at Oregon State University, working closely with the US Forest Service, as a bioinformatics analyst developing ways of detecting environmental DNA in streams. Our methods attempt to observe DNA from organisms (mainly animals) in the water, to gain an understanding of community composition at particular locations.

I earned my doctoral degree in the Botany & Plant Pathology department at OSU, working in the lab of Aaron Liston. As a graduate student I studied botany and plant systematics, specifically working on the genomics and population genetics of milkweeds (Asclepias). You can see some of that progress at the Milkweed Genome Project.

I previously worked as a bioinformatics analyst and e-trainer for the OSU Center for Genome Research & Biocomputing (CRGB). In that position I collaborated the researchers from the OSU community and beyond, assisting with experimental design and analysis of genomic data. As an e-trainer I expanded the training offerings of the CGRB beyond the OSU campus, developing an online course in the R computing language.

Cheers!

June 5, 2021

Publications:

*Authors contributed equally.

One chapter from my dissertation is currently being prepared for publication. This study uses population genomic techniques to study the jewel milkweed, Asclepias cryptoceras, and its two subspecies spread across the Intermountain West. You can access my dissertation here to read more about it.