About Me
I am orginally from Chamberlain, South Dakota. I received my bachelor's degree at Augustana College, in Sioux Falls, SD. While there, I worked as a research assistant and was involved in a variety of research projects in the Integrative Animal Behavior and Conservation Biology labs of Drs. Daniel R. Howard and Carrie L. Hall. The lab group I was a part of used both nicrophorine burying beetles and various orthopteran models to study questions associated with communication, host-parasite interactions, sexual selection, and conservation genetics. In the lab I was involved in animal care and husbandry.
While at Augustana College, I also conducted independent research investigating lepidopteran color spectra preference in particular. My hypotheses consisted of three parts: butterflies will be most attracted to the red wavelength, species of butterflies that live in more tropical environments will have a preference for the red and orange wavelengths, and there will be a small number of species of butterfly that approach the LED light board.
Currently I am a Master's student in Dr. Mary Towner's lab at Oklahoma State University. My research explores my interest in predator/prey interactions and foraging tactics of the brown recluse spider.
In my spare time, I love to camp, hike, and bring along my dog that I recently adopted. When I am able to sneak a trip in, the adrennaline junkie inside me signs up for white water rafting, ziplining, and traveling around the world.