I value wildlife conservation, the well-being of animals, and environmental justice. Through my career, I aim to address gaps in snake conservation and evolution knowledge and contribute to management strategies that benefit both ecosystems & communities.
As an undergraduate at Stetson University, I was a biology major & environmental studies minor. I helped launch a chapter of the Food Recovery Network to reduce food waste & support local food banks, organized sustainability events & service projects through the Environmental Club, & organized events for the Stetson Organization of Native American Revitalization.
Stetson is where I developed a foundation in field & laboratory research and animal husbandry. In my first year I worked as an animal keeper at a bird rescue center and aquarium. The first data I collected, outside of laboratory courses, was for senior student's project comparing the use of visual and video encounter surveys for fish diversity. My second experience with research was on horseshoe crab reproductive behaviors. In my third year, I joined the Reptile Research Lab run by Dr. Terry Farrell, where I assisted with projects on pygmy rattlesnake ecology and physiology (I first met pygmy rattlesnakes ~7 yrs ago!). I also worked as an animal keeper at the Medtoxin Venom Laboratory + Reptile Discovery Center run by Carl and Mara Barden.
Post graduation, I primarily worked at Medtoxin Venom Laboratory before moving to the southwest to be a field technician for Gila monster and rattlesnake surveys in New Mexico and Arizona. In the fall of 2022, I joined the Savage Lab.
Stetson is where I developed a foundation in field & laboratory research and animal husbandry. In my first year I worked as an animal keeper at a bird rescue center and aquarium. The first data I collected, outside of laboratory courses, was for senior student's project comparing the use of visual and video encounter surveys for fish diversity. My second experience with research was on horseshoe crab reproductive behaviors. In my third year, I joined the Reptile Research Lab run by Dr. Terry Farrell, where I assisted with projects on pygmy rattlesnake ecology and physiology (I first met pygmy rattlesnakes ~7 yrs ago!). I also worked as an animal keeper at the Medtoxin Venom Laboratory + Reptile Discovery Center run by Carl and Mara Barden.
Post graduation, I primarily worked at Medtoxin Venom Laboratory before moving to the southwest to be a field technician for Gila monster and rattlesnake surveys in New Mexico and Arizona. In the fall of 2022, I joined the Savage Lab.
TEACHING experience
Stetson University
- Peer instructor for Biology II
- Teaching Assistant for Ecology and Evolution
- Graduate Teaching Assistant for Biology II
- Graduate Teaching Associate for Ecology
- Graduate Teaching Associate for Herpetology
some of my favorite quotes from women in conservation
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"I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift."
"To love a place is not enough. We must find ways to heal it."
―Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
“We have a responsibility toward the other life-forms of our planet whose continued existence is threatened by the thoughtless behavior of our own human species."
― Jane Goodall, Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey
“The bottom line answer to the question about why biodiversity matters is fairly simple: The rest of the living world can get along without us, but we can’t get along without them.”
― Sylvia A. Earle, The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One
“But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.”
― Rachel Carson
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The credit for the drawings in this section are listed below. They were all downloaded from Phylopic.org
Rattlesnake. Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy (2023) | Bufo gargarizans gargarizans Cantor 1842 Steven Traver (2012) | Buteo buteo (Linnaeus 1758) Christos Barboutis (2013)
Drosera spatulata Labill. T. Michael Keesey (2024) | Convallaria majalis L. Guillaume Dera (2023) | Iris pseudacorus T. Michael Keese (2022).
Rattlesnake. Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy (2023) | Bufo gargarizans gargarizans Cantor 1842 Steven Traver (2012) | Buteo buteo (Linnaeus 1758) Christos Barboutis (2013)
Drosera spatulata Labill. T. Michael Keesey (2024) | Convallaria majalis L. Guillaume Dera (2023) | Iris pseudacorus T. Michael Keese (2022).