BA Gettysburg College, 2009
PhD Stony Brook University , 2015
Academic Focus
demography, food web ecology, freshwater ecology, marine ecology, conservation, seabirds
Courses Taught
Welcome to Our Oceans Through Data! We live on an “ocean planet” and the ocean plays a central role in all aspects of our life–from the oxygen we breath to the global transportation of goods. Yet, in many ways, the ocean remains a mystery to us. We have, for example, mapped the Moon, Venus, and Mars at a higher resolution than much of the ocean floor. In this class, we will use real-world data to explore the ocean’s complex chemical, geological, biological, and physical processes and how these processes shape our daily lives. These data will come from satellites orbiting our planet, from robots roaming the deep ocean, and from citizen scientists reporting on local ocean conditions. Understanding our ocean is incredibly timely, as it is both heavily impacted by and key to mitigating global crises like food scarcity and climate change.
Introduction to current ideas in theoretical and empirical ecology. A quantitative approach is used to examine population dynamics, competition, predator-prey interactions, life-history strategies, species diversity patterns, community structure, energy flow, biogeochemical cycling, and the biosphere. Course provides a foundation for further work in environmental studies. Three class hours and laboratory. Prerequisite: ES 196 or one year of college science.
Analysis of the ecology of marine systems. The open ocean, estuaries, salt marshes, beaches, mud and sand flats, seagrass beds, rocky shores, coral reefs, and deep sea are examined. Problems of pollution, beach erosion, and the management of declining fisheries is also presented. Quantitative field work in a variety of coastal habitats is conducted on a required field trip to Duke University Marine Laboratory and the Outer Banks barrier island chain. Three class hours and laboratory-field work. Alternate years. Prerequisite: ES 211.
Fisheries are an important source of protein and income for the growing world population and are incredibly diverse, ranging from small-scale, subsidence-based to large-scale, commercial operations. Although the amount of fish caught in marine and freshwater systems has remained stable since the 1980s, a growing number of species are considered overfished. This course covers the history and impacts of fishing, the current state of global fisheries, the scientific methods used to assess fish stocks, and the scientific and policy tools used to sustainability manage fisheries. Prerequisite: ES 211