top of page

I'm broadly interested in understanding the evolutionary processes which give rise to the immense morphological diversity found amongst vertebrates. The majority of my research involves a combination of developmental biology, molecular biology and genomics to understand evolutionary processes at all levels of biological complexity. Most of my work specifically focuses on reptiles, with more of my recent work being on bird development and genomics.

I received my bachelor's degree from the University of California, Davis, where I majored in Evolution and Ecology. At UCDavis, I worked in the laboratory of Dr. Brad Shaffer (now at UCLA), studying population genetics of California tiger salamanders and Australian turtles of the genus Emydura.  During this time, I decided to pursue a PhD in biology and have been negotiating my way through the adventures of an academic career ever since.

My doctoral research focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying sex determination in the cane toad (Bufo marinus) at the University of Queensland in beautiful Brisbane, Australia, under the direction of Dr. Peter Koopman. At UQ, I established a strong foundation and appreciation for the field of developmental biology and have been working in and around this field ever since. After completing my degree, I moved back to California and started a postdoc at UC Riverside with Dr. Jason Stajich, where I picked up new skills and had an eye opening experience with the possibilities of bioinformatics and genomics. I subsequently moved to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where I was an NIH-NRSA postdoctoral fellow studying craniofacial development in birds and nonavian reptiles.

In the last few years, my research has involved both molecular/wet-lab techniques as well as in-silico genomic analyses, focusing on genetic modifications which accompany phenotypic or physiological changes in an organism. In 2015, I started a Research Associate position in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech working under Dr. Joel McGlothlin, where I am characterizing mutations in avian voltage-gated sodium ion channels that allow some species to be resistant to Tetrodotoxin.


Since 2016, I have been an Assistant Professor of Developmental Biology at University of Michigan-Dearborn where my research combines my two interest, developmental biology and genomics.



 

bottom of page