Black Ecologist Section (Ecological Society of America).
My research focuses on the ecology and evolution of host-microbe interactions. I am broadly interested in the evolutionary ecology of host-microbe interactions with the overall goal of understanding how microbial organisms spread, persist, and affect their host populations.
My current work seeks to understand how host-microbe symbioses impact evolutionary outcomes in host populations. I am utillzing experimental evolution and mathematical modeling approaches to understand how host-microbe symbioses, ranging from mutualistic to pathogenic interactions, modify virulence evolution in changing environments.
I received my PhD in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan under the mentorship of John Vandermeer. Previously, I was a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology working with Mike Boots in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California Berkeley. I am currently a Carolina Fellow for Faculty Diversity and USDA NIFA Fellow at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Previous work examined the effects of multispecies interactions on species coexistence. Using tropical invasive ants as a model system, I investigated the role of direct and indirect species interactions, including competition and parasitism, on native communities.
I study the effects of spatial structure on population dynamics. Many populations in nature exhibit some form of social or spatial structure, but are typically studied as well-mixed systems. My current research seeks to understand the ecological and evolutionary consequences of spatial population structure for disease spread.
My research examines tripartite interactions between hosts, parasites, and endosymbionts. A major focus of this research is on the ecoevolutionary dynamics of symbiont virulence and its effect on host health
Black Ecologist Section (Ecological Society of America).
Programming for Biologists (Instructor of Record)
The Science of Origins (TA).
Genomics in Society (TA)
Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (TA) .
Food, Energy, and the Environment (TA).
Introductory Biology (TA) .