Lionfish Dispersal
Using otolith microchemistry to track dispersal of lionfish between deep and shallow habitat.
Learn MoreAquatic ecologist interested in the intersection
between trophic and community ecology.
I am a PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Pete McIntyre in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell. I am broadly interested in the distribution of aquatic species across landscapes and understanding how that distribution is shaped by trophic interactions. I utilize stable isotope ecology to measure the niche size and overlap across aquatic organisms, and examine energy flow across benthic and pelagic food webs. My work also focuses on the use of long-term community data and both fine- and broad-scale spatial data to characterize communities, temporal population trends, habitat use, and species assemblages.
Recent Work
Non-native predators in montane lakes
Using community data from the Adirondack park to determine patterns of species assemblages.
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Fine-scale habitat use of native littoral fishes
Using a two-decade long study of fish communities in Adirondack lakes to examine habitat use and species associations.
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Trophic diversity of native minnows
Using stable isotopes to examine the trophic diversity, niche overlap, and diet specialization of native leuciscidae.
Learn MoreUsing otolith microchemistry to track dispersal of lionfish between deep and shallow habitats.
Lionfish are a highly successful marine invader that negatively influence the native communities and trophic structure of Caribbean food webs. Highly flexible in terms of habitat use, these fish inhabit a wide range of depths and habitat type. In turn, large populations of lionfish persist in deep-water refugia. We examined the connections between deep and shallow populations of lionfish using d13C and d18O of otoliths.
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Using community data from the Adirondack park to determine patterns of species assemblages
Sportfish are commonly introduced into montane lakes to encourage recreational fisheries. Often, montane lake fish evolve in the absence of highly-piscivorous, nearshore-predators. So, these introductions create novel environments where small-bodied taxa usually decline in abundance, shift in assemblage, or are extirpated. Here we leveraged community data from over 1,100 lakes in the Adirondack Park of upstate New York to examine assemblage patterns across this landscape. We combine this assemblage data and stable isotope food webs to ask questions about how rarity and cooccurrence influence trophic niches.
Using a two-decade long study of fish communities in Adirondack lakes to examine habitat use and species associations.
To restore native fish populations and bolster a lake trout fishery, the Adirondack Fishery Research Program has been removing smallmouth bass from two Adirondack lakes for more than two decades. During this time, fish communities have been monitored throughout the littoral area of these lakes. To understand how these taxa are distributed throughout the varying habitat, we combine these long-term datasets on catch per unit effort (CPUE) with data on the size structure of the community and habitat surveys of both lakes.
Using stable isotopes to examine the trophic diversity, niche overlap, and diet specialization of native leuciscidae.
Native minnows are an important component of biodiversity on both national and regional scales. Leuciscidae are the most species rich group of fish in the United states and have an equally interesting and diversity range of trophic strategies. This project focuses on using stable isotopes to uncover the foraging niches of minnows that are native to upstate New York. We explore the trophic diversity, niche size, and species trophic overlap through the use of d13C and d15N.
Education and Resume
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