I grew up with a love for the natural world and have been obsessed with wild animals from a very young age. When I learned that I could be have a career as a wildlife biologist, I never looked back, going on to earn a wildlife bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIUC) in 2018. Luckily, I had many opportunities to help out on research and management projects both at SIUC and with agencies throughout the United States, getting the chance to work with a wide variety of species and seeing how conservation work gets done on the ground.

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elk

My next step was a master's program at the University of Kentucky (UK) with Drs. Matt Springer and John Cox, where I worked on the ecology of reintroduced elk (wapiti) on the reclaimed minelands of central Appalachia. This project got me involved in a ton of animal capture and on-the-ground tracking, and allowed me to work with telemetry data and learn how to use them in spatial models. I credit my time at UK with sparking my deep fascination for wildlife-habitat relationships and solidifying my love for mammal herbivores.

After that, I began my doctoral work with Dr. Dan Thornton at Washington State University (WSU), studying the responses of snowshoe hares to intensive silviculture. This project has given me an incredible look at the intricacies of forest ecology and management through the eyes of the hare, and checks all the wildlife technique boxes: live capture, telemetry, camera trapping, and vegetation work. I can confidently say that I've grown the most as a scientist during my time at WSU, and I know that I'll still be thinking intently about hares for the rest of my life.

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