Research
My research spans many disciplines and contexts, with a broad focus on carnivore and conservation ecology. Main projects, both completed and ongoing, are highlighted below.
Human-wildlife dynamics & socioecological systems
For my PhD in the Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, I use transdisciplinary methodologies to explore human-lion dynamics across scales, with much fieldwork in Laikipia, Kenya. I am exploring socioecological patterns of human-lion dynamics across the lion’s African range through literature review. I will also zoom in to investigate the detailed effects of individual and demographic variation on these dynamics among lions and people in northern Laikipia via integrated ecological and sociological fieldwork (e.g., GPS tracking, remote sensing, social surveys), as well as spatially-explicit statistical analyses. Finally, I will utilize socioecological systems approaches to create and test predictive models of human-lion dynamics across multiple landscapes. This work is advised by Dr. Andrew Davies and done in partnership with Laikipian communities, Lion Landscapes, WildCRU, and multiple Kenyan institutions.
With the 2018 Watson Fellowship, I explored biophilia and felid conservation around the world for one year. I delved into socioecological questions such as if scent “bio-boundaries” could deter predators from ranches, how major cities differed in their incorporation of wildlife, and what constituted viable ecotourism. The experiences accrued from visiting 17 countries are impossible to describe briefly. However, some highlights included: patrolling with anti-poaching elephant teams in Indonesia; tracking lions and African wild dogs using radio telemetry, then identifying individuals from unique markings, in Botswana; training with scat detection dogs, analyzing livestock guarding dog demographics, and assisting with ex situ cheetah conservation in Namibia; searching for Iberian lynx in Spain; interviewing victims of human-wildlife conflict and learning about the tiger reserve system in India; observing trust between individual pumas and people in Chile; examining tourism impacts and documenting jaguar nocturnal behavior in Brazil. Throughout my fellowship, I collaborated with communities and organizations such as WWF Indonesia, Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, Cheetah Conservation Fund, WildCRU, Centre for Wildlife Studies, and Panthera.
For my honors thesis at Rice University, I studied the effects of logging activity on jaguar habitat use in multi-use landscapes of the Selva Maya, Belize. Fieldwork included working with a multicultural team to implement a large-scale camera trap survey in remote rainforest. With camera trap data, I modeled jaguar occurrence in relation to various logging and landscape features to understand the fine-scale effects of selective logging on jaguar habitat use with generalized linear models. Our findings suggest that jaguars avoid specific logging areas, which can inform conservation management for the mutual benefit of people and wildlife. This research was advised by Drs. Amy Dunham and Marcella Kelly.
Relevant awards: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Harvard Graduate Prize Fellowship, Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Distinction in Research, Wagoner Foreign Study Scholarship, Rice Undergraduate Scholars Program grant, Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium Top Natural Sciences Poster
Carnivore ecology
In addition to the carnivore ecology work included above, I have surveyed carnivore species in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem of Tanzania. I worked with Maasai rangers to employ camera trapping, path sign surveys, and traditional ecological knowledge to determine felid species occurrence, along with prey and competitor species presence. We identified four main elements affecting local felid populations: land use history, habitat fragmentation, high human activity, and interspecific competition. This independent study project was completed for graduation from SIT Study Abroad’s Wildlife Conservation & Political Ecology program.
In summer 2016, I also monitored puma populations in New Mexico, USA with the Furman Cougar Project.
Relevant awards: SIT/Houston International Study Abroad Scholarship, Rice Undergraduate Scholars Program grant, Rice Owl Edge Summer Experience Grant
Primate behavior & evolution
I conducted computational research as a 2019-2020 Helen Fellow in the Division of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History. I built statistical models linking bone morphology to locomotor ability in primate species. Using regularized structural equation modeling, I determined which femoral morphological traits could best predict hip abduction measures among multiple taxonomic and locomotor primate groups. This study, performed in collaboration with Drs. Ashley Hammond, Clint Collins, and Carol Ward, demonstrated that different bony trait combinations impact hip abduction in different primates and developed a novel method for identifying biologically important structure-function relationships.
Throughout my undergraduate education, I conducted independent research in great ape behavior at the Houston Zoo. I secured permissions, funding, and partnerships to investigate object curiosity in orangutans through the experimental introduction of novel and familiar objects. Through video analyses and statistical modeling, our team (including Ilana Nyveen, Dr. Amy Dunham, and Dr. Zarin Machanda) found that orangutans have a higher affinity for novel objects, which may have contributed to their tool use development.
Relevant awards: BridgeUP: STEM Helen Fellowship, Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology Karel F. Liem Student Poster Award finalist, American Society of Mammalogists Grant-in-Aid of Research
Other collaborative projects
During the first two years of my PhD, I have contributed to projects examining the use of artificial intelligence in predicting human-wildlife conflict, factors that constrain or enable endangered species biologists, and effects of megafauna on rainforest structure/function in the Congo Basin. In 2015, I evaluated the evolved relationships of morphological and behavioral variation in Peromyscus mice with Emily Hager and Dr. Hopi Hoekstra at Harvard. I also participated in a study of urban pocket prairie biodiversity in Houston, USA, which led to the establishment of a native prairie on Rice’s campus.