In 2010 I earned a BS in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of South Florida, where I spent over two years as an undergraduate researcher examining amphibian disease ecology and immunology. I was then employed as a research assistant at the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, where I worked on projects related to Lyme disease. Most recently I had the opportunity to manage Dr. Vanessa Ezenwa’s disease ecology lab at the University of Georgia, with a focus on the nematode parasites of ungulates.
 
I’m interested in understanding disease dynamics in complex scenarios. Rarely in the wild is any infection clean and straightforward; hosts may face challenges from multiple infections, varied developmental states, and the presence or absence of a shared life-history with the parasite/pathogen. Amphibians are a model system for this type of exploration, both as a system with an established experimental framework, and as a system in need of ecologically sound conservation.