Bog Turtle nesting ecology and conservation biology
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My M.S. work with Dr. R. A. Seigel was incredible - I had the opportunity to study the rare and beautiful bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii). This incredible species is found sporadically throughout the American mid-Atlantic and New England in wet meadows and fens; because these wet meadows and fens are often filled to make way for human development, this species is currently listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. When I started my M.S. work back in 2012, there were surprisingly few studies of the nesting ecology and nest site selection of this species. I studied these aspects of the bog turtle's ecology using radio telemetry and thorough nesting surveys. While most of this work is published, I am currently working on a multi-state nest site selection study as well - so stay tuned for that!
Predator-prey interactions in the Anthropocene
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As part of an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) course during my PhD, I collaborated with John L. Orrock, Peter W. Guiden, Savannah L. Bartel, and Amy A. Shipley on a theoretical exploration of how predator-prey interactions may be altered under novel conditions during the Anthropocene. I would love to use this as a launching point for future work!
Snake abundance and diversity in restored prairies
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I was lucky enough to advise Lizzy Hucker in her undergraduate research on snakes in restored areas! While we caught lots of fox snakes, red-bellied snakes, common garter snakes, and Dekay's brown snakes, we caught a huge number of smooth green snakes in particular! We are hoping to write up some of this work soon.
