I am originally from Sevierville, TN, gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (salamander capital of the world) and home of Dolly Parton. With such beautiful scenery around me growing up and encouraging parents, it’s no wonder that I turned out to be a biologist. I graduated from my Maryville College in Maryville, TN with my Bachelors degree in Biology. During my undergrad, I was able to get field research experience in the Smokies with reptiles. Afterwards, I did my masters work at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. Ultimately, I left the great state of TN for NC to do my PhD work at East Carolina University. My PhD work focused on community ecology in temporary wetlands. Many questions still remain in these systems and are described in more detail under the research tab. 
       My family and I made the epic road trip to Missoula, MT during the summer of 2011 to start my postdoc. That wonderful part of my life took us across the country multiple times and eventually ended in 2014. In 2018, I moved my lab from Southeast Missouri State University to Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. I have an inordinate fondness for ecology, salamanders, bbq (the noun, not the verb), baseball, and fly fishing.

 

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