About Me

I am currently a PhD Student in the Comita Lab at the Yale School of the Environment, based in New Haven, CT, U.S. My research focuses on the resilience of regenerating tropical dry forests to disturbances like extreme weather events, fire, and deforestation.

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Originally,  from Alexandria, V.A., I graduated with B.A.'s in Biology and Spanish language and culture from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2020, with a minor in Botany and Microbiology. As an undergrad, I had the opportunity to research the temperate forests of Ohio and the mangrove forests of Costa Rica, intern in a plant physiology lab at the University of Salamanca, as well as volunteer for various wildlife conservation programs in Thailand, South Africa, and Ecuador.

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I continued my education by earning a Master's degree from James Madison University, where I researched socioeconomic and ecological trade-offs in cattle pastures in the tropical dry forests of Pedasi, Panama and the temperate oak-hardwood forests of Rockingham County, Virginia, U.S., under the mentorship of Dr. Heather Griscom. Following my M.S., I worked with Dr. Paulo Brando as a Research Associate at YSE. As an R.A. I researched the impacts of compounding disturbances (i.e. fire, anthropogenic climate change, deforestation, etc.) on forest health and resilience in the Brazilian Amazon. ​​

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Now as a PhD Student in the Comita Lab, I am returning to Panama, where I aim to integrate my background in ecology, social science, and remote sensing to investigate questions regarding the resilience of regenerating dry tropical forests on the Azuero Peninsula, employing functional ecology and ethnobotany. See some of my current projects here.