PhD Student
Education
2017 – Present
Ph.D., Entomology, Dept. Entomology, Texas A&M University (College Station, TX)
2013 – 2016
B.S., Environmental Science and Resource Management, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington (Seattle, WA)
Research
I am advised by Drs. Micky Eubanks and Aaron Tarone, investigating the role of ants in carrion decomposition. Ants are one of the most species-rich insect groups on the planet, are often extremely abundant, and ecologically dominant in terrestrial ecosystems and can exploit a diverse array of food, including carrion. In the realm of carrion ecology, Diptera and Coleoptera have been well studied due to their forensic implications. Ants, however, although documented as frequent carrion visitors in many studies, their effect on carrion-feeding insects and the rate of decomposition is vastly understudied. My goal is to quantify the potential importance of ants in decomposition ecology and forensic entomology.