Research

Overall Research Interests

My research interests are in forest ecosystem conservation and protection from regional to global levels, and I study at the intersection of remote sensing, forestry, entomology, chemistry, and biometrics. My work seeks to explore the spatial-temporal ecological linkages between abiotic (e.g., windthrow, lightning, fire, drought, and extreme weather events) and biotic (e.g., insect pests and pathogens) disturbance agents in forest ecosystems, as this may allow for more informed management decisions and mitigation of large-scale forest losses.

Postdoctoral Research

Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, April 2021 – Present

Regional assessment of catastrophic wind damage (tornadoes, downburst, and hurricanes) through the development of sampling protocols and impacts on ground-dwelling arthropods and tree physiology.

Funding Sources: USDA Forest Service

Graduate Research

Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, January 2016 – April 2021

My research focused on prediction and monitoring of bark and woodboring insect populations and their impacts on pine forests, which has direct implications for sustainable forest management practices.

Interspecific communication between the sympatric bark beetles Dendroctonus frontalis and D. terebrans
Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of Dendroctonus frontalis and D. terebrans to resin odors of host pines
Kairomonal activity of 4-allylanisole as a synergist for bark beetles
Through space and time: Predicting Dendroctonus frontalis numbers under changing climate conditions
A comparison of modeling techniques used for presence-only data
A machine learning approach: Predicting forest pest and pathogen outbreaks
Interpolation of large environmental data obtained from weather stations and satellite data for use in ecological models

Funding Sources: D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, USDA Forest Health Protection and Southern Research Station, and Plantation Management Research Cooperative (PMRC)

Undergraduate Research

Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia

Research Technician in the Gandhi Forest Entomology Lab: April 2016 – December 2016

Interactions between tree physiology and subcortical beetles in longleaf pines
Chemical and biological control of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Adelges tsugae (Hemiptera: Adelgidae)
Effects of radioactive and heavy metal contamination on insect carrion communities
Pine health and management plans for southern pine forests – Studied possible problems causing a decline in tree health, as it relates to both Heterobasidium and Leptographium fungi
Phenotypic plasticity in an eruptive bark beetle and its value in predicting outbreaks.

Biology Department, University of North Georgia

Biology Department Assistant: January 2015 – May 2016

Effect of wound depth on decomposition rate and species composition of carrion-feeding Arthropods
Calliphoridae larval development in the Southeastern United States piedmont region
Arthropod species composition for a bioassessment at UGA Thompson Mill Forest (Georgia Arboretum)
Assessment of aquatic invertebrate communities located on granite outcrops of North Georgia and their interactions with endemic flora.
Diptera as vectors of antibiotic resistant bacteria to livestock

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