Welcome! I completed my PhD in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto in 2021, and I am currently a postdoctoral researcher with Polar Bears International and the University of Manitoba.
I am a broadly trained evolutionary ecologist, and my research focuses on the interface between environmental change, ecology, evolution, and conservation genetics. During my PhD, I explored how urbanization alters ecological processes that feedback to influence evolution. My postdoctoral research broadens the scope of my research by investigating the conservation genetics of polar bears in response to climate change.
I study the ecology and evolution of polar bears to better understand the impacts of increasing climate change in the North. I use cutting-edge genomic and bioinformatic tools to assess adaptation and patterns of current and historic movement of polar bears to help inform conservation and management strategies. I earned my BSc specializing in wildlife biology from the University of Guelph, then continued on to complete a PhD at the University of Toronto on urban evolutionary ecology. My PhD research combined field experiments, natural populations surveys, and next generation sequencing and genetic analyses to understand the role urbanization plays in shaping the ecology and evolution of species and their interactions with one another. Originally from Newfoundland, I now lives in Ontario, where I spends my free time trail running with my dogs and baking sourdough bread.