Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program:
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

I joined the Maine Coop Unit and Wildlife, Fisheries, Conservation Biology department in the summer of 2013. I'm originally from Virginia and in my free time I enjoy running, hiking, and kayaking.. Broadly I am interested in population and community dynamics and food web interactions in rivers and streams and those that bridge freshwater and marine ecosystems with an emphasis on fish, but also aquatic invertebrates and microorganisms. My PhD work demonstrated linkages between freshwater and marine ecosystems through the nutrient dynamics of anadromous sea lamprey. Currently I'm exploring other diadromous fishes including American eel and American shad and their migratory movement through fishways and dams. I'm working on developing a Bayesian forecasting model to predict the movement and behavior of outmigrating silver-phase American eel through dams. I work to develop a framework that will assist natural resource managers in the decision-making process of managing and conserving fisheries and ecosystem functions.