Venezuela 2008

EDUCATION:

Boston University, Bachelor's of Arts in Biology (2004)
Minor in Spanish

I first joined Dr. Thomas E. Martin's long term study on life history traits of passerine birds in 2006 as a nest-searcher in the Venezuelan Andes. In 2007 I was invited back to Dr. Martin's project as an assistant field supervisor. Upon completion of the 2007 field season in Venezuela, I began work full time at the MTCWRU, University of Montana as a laboratory supervisor. In 2008 I supervised the Venezuela project during our final season.

Before joining Dr. Martin's lab I worked as a field assistant on several projects in Latin America. My experiences and observations in the field developed my interest in evolution, eco-immunology, physiology, and conservation.

In Fall of 2008 I began my graduate studies as part of the Montana- Ecology of Infectious Disease IGERT Graduate Traineeship Program at The University of Montana (http://meid.dbs.umt.edu/about/index.php). I am interested in parasite-host interactions and how immunocompetence is integrated into general life history strategies. Specifically, I'm interested in whether embryonic development rate determines immunocompetence of adults. I will start my first field season this summer of 2009 in Arizona.