Where is your hometown?
New York City
Where have you studied?
Connecticut College (BA), University of Texas at Austin (MS), University College London (statistics and isotope classes), Portland State University (PhD)
Have you seen a good movie lately?
I don’t usually watch a lot of movies. But I did watch the documentary “Blackfish” recently. It was pretty interesting to me because I used to work at SeaWorld and knew of some of the “problematic” orcas that the movie is about.
Do you have a guilty food pleasure?
Salt & vinegar potato chips
Any secret talents, hobbies or interests?
I don’t know if they are secret…I knit and sew. I can play the violin and cello. I love to sail. I listen to a lot of live music.
What do you find to be one of the most interesting parts of Biology? I love ecosystem ecology – the big picture stuff. I love understanding why ecosystems look and behave the way that they do. I love finding patterns in nature and figuring out the cause of them. I’m much less interested in memorizing small details. You can always look that stuff up. (Except if you are taking BIO206 with me, then you must memorize some details!)
Do you have any current research or work you are excited about?
I’m really excited about my research examining the effects of anthropogenic nutrient loading on estuarine tidal wetlands. I feel like there is a broader application to this work and I may actually discover something that can help conserve these ecosystems and make the world a better place.
What drew you to pursue a career in Biology?
I actually wasn’t interested in biology at all when I started college. I had an amazing professor the spring of my freshmen year (William Niering) in my Introduction to Environmental Science course. He was 70 years old but he definitely “walked-the-walk” in terms of resource conservation, often coming to class in pants he had salvaged from a dumpster. He introduced me to ideas that I had never encountered before. After my sophomore year in college, I worked as a student researcher studying the relationship between land use and water quality in lakes. I loved doing field research, mostly because I got to spend the summer outside in a boat. I was hooked after that.
What is a good piece of advice you would give to a Biology student?
Find something in biology that you are passionate about, that you will stay up late and learn about just for the sake of furthering your understanding.