OPPORTUNITIES: My research is designed to incorporate students and to produce work with implications for conservation and learning. I encourage my students to approach their research in a way that provides practical, integrated outcomes. For students interested in mammalian ecology and evolution, opportunities in my lab include answering questions on the relationships between functional traits and environmental variables, morphology and evolutionary history of faunal taxa, and impacts of humans on mammalian communities. For students interested in science learning, opportunities in my lab include answering questions related to the offerings of informal learning institutions and other place-based learning environments as means for effectively increasing environmental stewardship. Students interested in joining my lab should email me a statement of their research interests and goals.
Current People
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Alex B. Shupinski is a postdoc who joined the lab in the fall of 2024. She received her PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in paleoecology. She is passionate about using the fossil record to better predict future ecological changes and help inform conservation strategies. Specifically, Dr. Shupinski largely focuses on mammalian dynamics over space and time. She is currently conducting species distribution modeling on Bison to help predict their future habitat suitability across North America with the changing climate.
Sarah Gheida is a MS student who joined the lab in Fall 2023. She has a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University and four years of experience working in wildlife management and conservation. Prior to joining the lab, Sarah worked as a Managing Biologist with Hallux Ecosystem Restoration on Kaua‘i to research and remove invasive predators within threatened seabird colonies. Her thesis is now focused on analyzing demographic and morphometric data from the Kaua‘i’s free-roaming cat populations in order to inform management decisions.
Ariel Tonesi is a MS student who joined the lab in Fall 2024. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biological Science with a minor in Geology from UC Davis. During her undergraduate studies, Ariel worked as a Paleontology Monitor in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, before transitioning into museum-based work. Her hands-on experience with Cenozoic fossil resources and her involvement in museums, sparked her interest in pursuing a master's in hopes of learning more about fossil mammal communities, their environmental contexts, and their responses.
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Former Students
Charlie Bruce, MS 2025
Dunya Alshayban, MS 2025
Dunya Alshayban, MS 2025
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Michael Sketel - recent Georgia Tech graduate
Jadyn Sethna - PhD student at University of North Carolina Minna Wong - Program Manager, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation James Pippin Katherine Pinson - student at University of Texas Dallas Emily O'Dea - Associate Engineer, AuthenticID |
Kyle Brown
Maria Ferraro John Seekins Casey Wilkins - high school teacher Will Harris - Common Descent podcast |
