Naturalist, biologist, biodiversity data scientist
I am a PhD student in the Spribille Lab at the University of Alberta with research ongoing in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ / Amiskwacîwâskahikan / Treaty 6 territories (northern central Alberta), and within the territories of the leey’qsu, lekwungen, lhaq’temish, musqueam, pune’luxutth’, quw’utsun’, shts’um’inus, squamish, tsleil-waututh, snuneymuhw, tla’amin, tsawwassen, and W̱SÁNEĆ nations (southern coastal British Columbia).
My investigations harness a variety of methods to analyse the processes underlying biodiversity change at multiple scales. Toward this end, I study a great diversity of organisms, linking ecological theory with field studies and experiments to improve understanding of the trait-environment relationships that underlie niche dynamics in space and time.
Presently, my work focuses on the fascinating worlds of lichens and the physiological dynamics of symbioses under stress.
As an advocate for community science, I also have a special interest in the development of frameworks supporting a networked, community-based approach to biodiversity research and monitoring. This work began with the Biodiversity Galiano project and continues through the organization I co-founded with friends and colleagues: the Institute for Multidisciplinary Ecological Research in the Salish Sea (IMERSS).