I am a natural historian at heart. 

Natural history provides us with the background information to pose sound and interesting ecological and evolutionary questions. This relationship was what drew me to this field, and it is from this intersection that my interests arise.

I work as the Collections Development Manager at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library. I have three broad facets to my work: research, outreach, education, and collections development. I've tried to outline some of my research interests and ongoing projects here. 

Research

My main research interest is in understanding why species occur where they do, and why they look how they do. I use phylogenetic comparative methods and synthesize field, museum, and citizen science data on the behavioral, ecological and morphological attributes of organisms to address fundamental questions of biodiversity.

Outreach and Education

A team of us at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, particularly the Macaulay Library and eBird, have been designing and teaching workshops focused on how to use eBird and Merlin to be a better bird watcher and steward for your local environment. These workshops are sometimes combined with Macaulay Library-led sound-recording workshops, depending on the audience. I also mentor Cornell undergraduates on independent research projects of mutual interest.

Collections Development

We at the Macaulay Library are working on a number of fronts as we continue to develop the collection in terms of breadth, depth, and utility to the public. My personal foci are: partnering with other media collections to bring older/inaccessible multimedia online, leading field expeditions to gather lacking media specimens, and improving our capacity for researchers to access and interface with our media.