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Contact Information
Department of Entomology
University of Minnesota
219 Hodson Hall; 1980 Folwell Ave
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108
Education
B.A. Biology/Spanish/Central American Culture & Society,
The Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
M.S. (in progress) Entomology, University of Minnesota
Background
Preserving a state of harmony between man and nature has always taken precedence in my life. Throughout my life, I have found myself distracted by the wonders of insects. I find myself stopping mid-sentence during a conversation with a friend to point out the iridescent beetle marching across a leaf. As a child, I was fascinated by the crawling larvae clinging onto the rocks in the creek in rural Minnesota. Now, as a young adult, I find myself spending hours examining the life cycle of the fig wasp on the fig tree of the Costa Rican jungles.
For my undergraduate career I continued to focus on my passion for conservation biology.
In May of 2009, I earned by bachelor's degree from the Colorado College. At the Colorado College, I had the opportunity to conduct a diversity of independent research projects including analyzing gene regulation in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and looking at the effects of debris flow deposition on river morphology. While in Costa Rica for a semester study abroad experience, I interviewed local scientists, community members, plantation workers, and farmers to determine the effects of the banana plantations on species biodiversity.
In the summers of 2007 and 2008, I worked with the wildlife biologist at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge organizing abnormal amphibian surveys, monitoring wetlands through programs like the Wetland Health Assessment Program (WHEP), and identifying water quality by recording invertebrate and vegetation populations. At the refuge, I had the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Len Ferrington while working on a project which analyzed adult aquatic invertebrate biodiversity in an urban groundwater stream. My interests in aquatic entomology were stimulated while working on the wetlands and streams of the wildlife refuge.
In August of 2009, I joined the Department of Entomology and Chironomid Research Group at the University of Minnesota. My current research project will examine invertebrate production (especially chironomids) in high versus low nitrate forested streams in central Wisconsin. I will be working in collaborating with the USDA Forest Service to examine total aquatic invertebrate secondary production. We would like to see how aquatic invertebrates respond differently to varying nutrient concentrations in impacted streams. Over the last several decades, nutrient loading, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, has increased to surface waters all over the world. Certain aquatic invertebrates, particularly chironomids, may serve as indicator species of high nutrient levels and good biological indicators of water quality.
Project
Invertebrate production in high and low nitrogen forested streams in the north central U.S. (Research Assistantship)
