I am a plant-insect ecologist broadly interested in how species interactions respond to environmental context. My research as a graduate student at Florida State University focused on how herbivores and pollinators influence growth and reproduction in their shared host plants, and how they respond to changes in plant traits. As a postdoc at the University of Maryland, I worked in organic agro-ecosystems to address how pests, natural enemies, and weeds respond to cover crops and tillage. I am currently a postdoc jointly working in the Vegetable Entomology lab and in Matthew Grieshop’s Organic Pest Management lab, exploring how management of floral resources and attract-and-kill tactics can improve pest management in asparagus. The asparagus miner (Ophiomyia simplex) is a specialist pest on asparagus, damaging stems and acting as a passive vector for Fusarium infection. I am working on management of floral resources to encourage natural enemy populations without simultaneously encouraging miner populations. The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a generalist pest whose abundance can be reduced with attract-and-kill tactics. I am working on a project to address how attract-and-kill devices might be optimally deployed in asparagus fields.

Curriculum vitae