College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Background:

I am from Knoxville, Tennessee, about an hour away from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Being from a landlocked state, I grew up with a love and fascination with the ocean. This eventually led me to the University of Florida where I received a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in 2020. While at UF I volunteered for graduate students at the UF Aquatic Pathobiology Laboratories. These projects included habitat selections for Caribbean spiny lobsters and Florida stone crabs, examining possible hybridization between two species of stone crabs, and habitat selection of juvenile lobsters in response to global warming. After graduating, I worked as an observer in the West Coast Groundfish Observers Program. In this job I got to observe in several types of fisheries including shrimp, live reef fish, longline, and bottom trawling. This experience is what piqued my interest in population dynamics, stock assessments, and sustainable management thus leading me to pursuing my M.S. at MSU. 

Research:

My research will use a walleye age-structured population model along with a safe operating space model to evaluate how different fish population indicators vary with and without a critical transition point.  

Areas of interest:

Fish Population Dynamics, Stock Assessments, and Sustainable Fisheries Management