Background and Research Interests
Before moving to Germany to start my PhD, I spent eight years working as a field biologist for the Long-Term Coral Reef Monitoring Program in Guam where I developed an interest in the structure and function of modern ecosystems. During this time, I also studied evolutionary biology at the University of Guam where I applied phylogenetic comparative methods to understand the evolutionary history of photosymbiosis in scleractinian corals. This led to an interest in the long-term outcomes of symbiosis. During my PhD I developed and applied novel methods to quantify compositional changes in ecological communities. As a postdoctoral researcher at HIFMB, I now develop and apply mathematical models to understand mutualistic networks with a focus on the symbiosis between reef building corals and dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodinaceae. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how the network of associations between corals and their symbionts interact with the spatial dynamics of each group to influence the community composition of coral reefs.
Vita
Present: Postdoctoral Researcher at The Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity.
2024: Awarded Doktor der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. nat.) from the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
2019: Awarded Master of Science in Biology from University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam.
2013-2019: Research Assistant and Marine Biological Technician for the Guam Long-Term Coral Reef Monitoring Program.
2012: Awarded Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN, USA.
Selected Publications
Dissimilarity analysis based on diffusion maps [1]
Evolutionary patterns of photosymbiosis in scleractinian corals [2]
Coral bleaching impacts in Guam [3]