I am a developing researcher with a deep passion for science and creativity. I am currently working through my Ph. D. at the University of Washington in the Department of Biology. Growing up I have always loved the outdoors and throughout my childhood into my adult life I have been obsessed with collecting natural objects: rocks, plants, seeds, shells, animals (both dead and alive), you name it. I probably picked it up at one point and put it in my pocket. My collections gave me insight into how much diversity there is in the natural world. This obsession inspired my career path and has afforded me the ability to stay in touch with that child-like curiosity that started it all. Broadly, I am interested in what ecomorphological mechanisms lead to differences in diversity across taxa. As a proud member of the Santana Lab, a mammalogy lab, I have started my graduate career investigating what makes bats so diverse. My background is in Marine Biology and until recently I studied the functional morphology of fish. However, my true passion is ecological morphology and if the taxa are interesting in this area, I want to study them!
This blog is for anyone who would like a peak into the behind-the-scenes of science, would like to know what it is like to be in graduate school or just likes animals as much as I do!