I'm currently a 5th year PhD candidate in Bryan Carstens lab at Ohio State University. I use terrestrial gastropods as a study system to understand how diverse factors, including climate, geology, and ecology, interact to drive diversification. Specifically, I focus on several species of snails and slugs that are endemic to the mesic forest ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest of North America. These taxa are ecologically diverse and range from large carnivorous snails, to herbivorous and mycophagous slugs, to microsnails that dwell in the leaf litter and feed on detritus. Much of my work involves evaluating and modifying current methods for analyzing genomic data.
Current CV:
Current CV:
| cv_sept2019.pdf |
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Phylogeography
The Pacific Northwest has a compelling geological and climatic history. I use genomic data and phylogeographic models to understand how abiotic factors have affected endemic taxa. By integrating these results with life history and ecological data, I try to understand how species-specific traits influence responses to geological and climatic events. Species Delimitation
Terrestrial gastropods are often understudied, and cryptic diversity may be common. I use genomic data, model selection, and machine learning to investigate species limits in these groups. |
Speciation
Genomic and ecological data suggest several processes may have contributed to speciation in taildropper slugs. For example, ecological speciation is implicated between sister species pairs, and reinforcement is supported between different refugial lineages within nominal species. I aim to test predictions of different modes of speciation in this group using genomic, ecological, behavioral, and morphological data. |
