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

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.
​​Julia Schap is a postdoc who joined the lab in the fall of 2026 and is co-sponsored by Dr. Melissa Kemp at UT Austin. She received her PhD in biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Schap is a conservation paleobiologist primarily focusing on small mammal community responses to changing climate. Her work uses the fossil record to explore how communities have responded to changes in the past to help anticipate how these communities will respond to modern and future changes in climate as well as human impacted landscapes.
​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.​
Audrey is an MS student who joined the lab in Fall 2025. She earned her BS degree in biology at Emporia State University. Her experience is in land stewardship and research which has included focus groups on birds, amphibians, and bison.  Currently she studies resource gaps between USDA-NRCS and bison producers through surveys.
McKenzie is a MS student who joined the lab in the spring of 2026. She earned her bachelor's in Zoology with a minor in Ecology and Conservation Biology from Texas A&M. Prior to joining the lab, she worked as a veterinary technician gaining diverse hands-on experience with multiple species. Her experience volunteering at the Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections at Texas A&M led her to pursue a master's in morphology and paleontology in the hopes of a future in collections management. 

Former Lab Members

Dr. Ashlynn Smith, Postdoc 2026, Assistant Professor, Louisiana Tech (starting Fall 2026)
Sarah Gheida, MS 2025, Biological Science Technician (Wildlife), USDA APHIS
​​Charlie Bruce, MS 2025, Field Paleontologist, Paleo Resource Specialists
Dunya Alshayban, MS 2025
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