About Me

Welcome! I am a broadly trained evolutionary ecologist, and my research focuses on the interface between global environmental change, ecology, evolution, and conservation genetics. I am currently an NSERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Manitoba, working jointly for Polar Bears International and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. I study the genomic evolution of polar bears to better understand the impacts of climate change on their capacity for adaptation. I use cutting-edge genomic and bioinformatic tools to assess adaptation and patterns of current and historic population structure of polar bears to help inform conservation and management strategies.

I completed my PhD in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto in 2021. During my PhD, I explored how urbanization alters ecological processes that feedback to influence evolution of populations, particularly between plants and their pollinators and herbivores. My research expertise includes observational data collections, quantitative literature reviews, field experiments, and genomics, and I have a diverse skill set that includes field methods, advanced statistical analysis, GIS, and bioinformatics. I have complemented my empirical research with several perspective pieces that provide roadmaps for future research in the field and call for integration of human socio-economic practices into urban evolutionary ecology research.

Originally from Newfoundland, I now live in Ontario, where I enjoy walking my dogs and baking sourdough bread.