My research
I am currently pursuing my PhD under Dr. Katie Wagner at the University of Wyoming. Broadly speaking, I am interested in work done at the intersection of evolutionary biology and conservation biology that stands to benefit both fields. I started working with population genomic data during my undergraduate studies and have a deep appreciation for the kinds of questions it can answer. My research has thus far focused on the evolution of riverine fish in the context of anthropogenic disturbance.

Cutthroat trout evolution

My dissertation is the result of a multi-agency collaborative effort to understand the current genetic status of wild Yellowstone cutthroat trout in order to better prioritize & execute restoration and conservation initiatives. To date, we have collected over 5,000 tissue samples from over 175 wild populations of Yellowstone cutthroat trout, other cutthroat trout subspecies, and other members of the genus Oncorhynchus.

This research has three primary goals
  1. Describe the current status of wild Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations, especially with regards to genetic diversity and introgression from inter- and intra-specific sources.
  2. Describe the history of Yellowstone cutthroat trout through phylogenetic and biogeographic investigations using molecular data.
  3. Utilize techniques in riverscape genomics to better understand any environmental drivers of population diversity and divergence that could improve restoration prioritization and implementation.
I feel incredibly lucky to be partnering with so many excellent people from so many different agencies & organizations to make this research useful to managers and evolutionary biologists alike.

Fish hybridization

My master's thesis research focused on assessing the effects of factors potentially mediating hybridization between native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri) and introduced Rainbow Trout (O. mykiss) in Wyoming's North Fork Shoshone River. By working with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Dr. Annika Walters' lab at the Wyoming Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, I was able to use a plethora of ecological and genomic data to glean insights unobtainable by each data type on its own. This project increased our understanding of why hybridization outcomes are often variable and context-dependent, as well as provided population managers with valuable information about the drivers of cutthroat trout persistence in the face of rampant hybridization. This research has been published in Molecular Ecology.

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A juvenile Oncorhynchus sp trout
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Rainbow trout (top), Rainbow x Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout hybrid (middle), and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (bottom)

In addition to my thesis research, I also evaluated the degree of hybridization between native Sauger (Sander canadensis) and introduced Walleye (S. vitreus) in Wyoming's Bighorn/Wind River. This work is done in partnership with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and aims to identify where the two species hybridize across hundreds of miles of river, determine if certain Sauger life-histories are more susceptible to hybridization, and assess manager ability to phenotypically identify hybrid individuals.

Rapid evolution in invasive guppies

I started this work as an independent research project with Dr. Pete McIntyre during my undergraduate studies. Together with Dr. Sean Schoville, we used population genomic data to characterize the invasion and subsequent evolution of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) across the Hawaiian Archipelago. In addition to securing enough funding to obtain the genomic data, I carried out all population structure, demographic modeling, and genotype-evironment association analyses for the project. This project has culminated in the production of a manuscript  for which I am the first author.