I am an applied ecologist and conservation scientist with extensive experience leveraging ecological theory, field research, and cutting-edge analyses to support biodiversity conservation. I collaborate with academics, government agencies, foundations, and local communities to design and implement effective, on-the-ground conservation initiatives. My research is highly multidisciplinary, spanning a wide range of taxa and ecosystems, and drawing on diverse fields including experimental and community ecology, urban ecology, animal movement, population biology, and socio-ecology. Broadly, my research focuses on understanding the impacts of anthropogenic stressors on biodiversity, formulating conservation strategies to improve wildlife restoration, and evaluating outcomes of conservation initiatives.  Central to my work is ensuring that conservation outcomes are equitable, and that all stakeholders have access to and say in the decisions that affect their communities.

Currently, I am a Research Ecologist jointly appointed with the Great Plains Science Program and the Conservation Ecology Center at the Smithsonian Institution. Prior, I earned a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley working with the Middleton Lab and Brashares Lab.  At Berkeley, I researched the ecological outcomes of a recovering puma population in southern Argentina to inform ongoing 'rewildling' projects throughout Patagonia and promote human-wildlife coexistence. 

Prior to starting my PhD, I worked in Mexico as a Natural Resource Conservation Volunteer with the Peace Corps. Primarily, I worked with SEMARNAT, the local municipal government, and local farmers’ co-ops to conserve working landscapes by developing and teaching better landscape management practices, monitoring wildlife populations, promoting ancient water-retention practices using agave, planting windbreaks to prevent erosion, and reforesting the communal land.