Education
B.A. Biology. North Central College, 2006-2010
Ph.D. Biology, concentration in Ecology and Evolution. University of Illinois-Chicago, 2010-2016

Research interests
My research interests center on the fundamental constraints and drivers of biodiversity, specifically how diversity relates to food-web dynamics, ecosystem responses to habitat disturbances such as invasive species and resource pulses, and the feedback loops between food webs and ecosystem processes. I have studied the implications of conservation management of biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes, particularly for insects, spiders and related arthropods. I have also investigated how invasive plants can influence the structure and function of soil food webs in forest ecosystems. My current research examines how vegetation structure alters feedback interactions between soil and plant food webs in sub-arctic Iceland.

Research topics of interest
Biodiversity; conservation; ecosystem processes; food-web ecology; insect ecology; lake-land linkages; landscape ecology; invasion biology; soil food webs; urban ecology.

Personal Interests
Chess, fitness training, movies, reading.