Biography:

Education

2002 Ph.D. Harvard University Biology
1999 M.A. Harvard University Biology
1997 B.A. University of Michigan Biology, Honors

Employment

2005-present Assistant Professor, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
2002-2005 Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Fellow, University of Michigan Society of Fellows.
1999-2000 Research Assistant, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Northern Hemisphere Biogeography, Drs Jianhua Li and Robert Cook
1997 NSF sponsored workshop in microtechniques, Harvard University Herbaria
1997 Research Assistant, University of Michigan Herbarium (specimen identification, database administration, type verification), Professor William R. Anderson
1996-97 Curatorial Assistant, University of Michigan Herbarium (collections management)
1996 Summer Intern, California Academy of Sciences, Geographic revision of the Mexican Pseuderanthemum (Acanthaceae), Dr. Thomas Daniel
1996 Research Assistant, University of Michigan Biomechanic Laboratories, Geriatric studies on gait and incontinence, Professors James Ashton-Miller and Albert Shultz
1991-94 Internships related to product design and biomechanics, General Motors Corporation (Environmental Engineering, Skilled Trades, Product Engineering, Ergonomic Engineering, Controls Engineering, Quality Engineering)

Field Experience

2008 Plant collection of Malpighiales, Bahia, Brazil
2007 Plant collection of Rafflesiacae, Malaysia
2007 Plant collection of Malpighiales, Bahia, Brazil
2006 Plant collection of Viscum album (Santalaceae), northern California.
2003 Plant collection of New World Malpighiaceae, Bahia, Brazil
2001 Plant collection and pollination ecology of Old World Malpighiaceae, Madagascar
2000, 2001 Plant collection and pollination ecology of Acridocarpus (Malpighiaceae), Tanzania, East Africa
1999-2000 Plant collection and pollination ecology of Acridocarpus (Malpighiaceae), Ghana, West Africa
1999 Plant collection and pollination ecology of Acridocarpus (Malpighiaceae), Cameroon, West Africa
1999 Ecological zonation in high Andean ecosystems, Venezuela, with Professor Peter Ashton
1998 Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS); Tropical Plant Systematics, Costa Rica
1995-96 Plant collector, Floristic inventory of Mt. Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo, for Professor John H. Beaman (NSF Award Number DEB-9400888)

Dissertation

Title "Phylogeny, systematics, and biogeography of Acridocarpus and other Old World Malpighiaceae."
Advisor(s) Donald H. Pfister, Asa Gray Professor of Biology, Harvard University, 2001-02
Michael J. Donoghue, G. Evelyn Hutchinson Professor, Yale University, 1997-00

Abstract:

Climate change and its influence on the evolutionary pattern of species loss and non-native species invasion in Thoreaus woods

Climate change has led to major changes in the phenologythe timing of seasonal activities, such as floweringof some species but not others. The extent to which flowering time response to temperature is shared among closely related species might have important consequences for community-wide patterns of species loss under rapid climate change. The American conservationist Henry David Thoreau initiated a dataset of the Concord, Massachusetts (USA) flora that spans ~150 years and provides information on changes in species abundance and flowering time. When these data are analyzed in an evolutionary (i.e., phylogenetic) context, they indicate that change in abundance is strongly correlated with flowering time response: species that do not respond to temperature have decreased greatly in abundance. Because flowering time response traits are shared among closely related species, our findings suggest that climate change has affected and will likely continue to shape the phylogenetically biased pattern of species loss in Thoreaus woods. By extension, we can also use these kinds of long-term phenological observations to gain insights into the potential effects of climate change on non-native species invasions. Invasive species are known to wreak havoc on native ecosystems, yet predicting the rise of non-native species to invasive status remains problematic. In the United States alone their impact exceeds $120 billion in damages and has been thought to contribute significantly to the endangered or threatened status of several hundred native species. Along these lines, our recent analyses suggest that climate change may indeed be playing an important role in facilitating non-native species naturalization and subsequent invasion.