I am a behavioral and physiological ecologist, zoologist, and field biologist, and I specialize in hummingbird biology. I recently (May 2023) completed my PHD in ecology and evolutionary biology with Ken Welch at the University of Toronto. My thesis focused on how hummingbirds use an ability called torpor (like an overnight hibernation) to save a bunch of energy, so that they can survive and thrive in a wide range of ecological conditions. I am broadly interested in the behavioral and physiological strategies animals use to manage their energy-budgets to persist and thrive in extreme environments and ecological conditions. I have had a life-long passion for pursuing immersive experiences in wilderness, learning about the integrative biology of natural areas, and sharing my knowledge and wonder with students and fellow nature-enthusiasts.

 

I grew up in Somers, New York, wandering my neighborhood forests and subconsciously developing a sense of biophilia, an innate connectedness with nature. I have since watched those forests shrink and disappear, as housing developments and shopping centers consumed the semi-rural landscape of my youth. I began to understand the complex biological and socio-economic impacts of these anthropogenic landscape alterations as I specialized in urban ecology during my undergraduate studies in Los Angeles. In addition to lectures, labs, and field courses, I participated in several research projects, from annotating a database of invasive plant species, to isolating bacteriophages in the lab, to evaluating least tern conservation management initiatives in the field. On my first day searching for the banded crows that prey upon endangered least tern nests, I began to realize that a career in field biology would allow me to merge my passions for experiencing nature and learning about biology.

 

This endeavor gradually manifested into my PHD focusing on hummingbird physiological ecology. On an undergraduate study abroad course in Costa Rica, I became enthralled with hummingbirds, and I continued to use the remote monitoring techniques that I learned there to observe hummingbirds at artificial feeders back in Los Angeles. When I graduated, my interests in hummingbird behavior led me to a remote field site in Ecuador where I served as a field assistant to a PHD student who first exposed me to the phenomenon of torpor, an extreme low-metabolism state that hummingbirds use to save energy at night. When I returned to Los Angeles and gained a postgraduate mentorship and research fellowship, I designed, acquired funding for, and organized a team of field assistants for a project that used thermal imaging cameras to monitor torpor use in wild nesting hummingbirds. This experience confirmed that field biology was the perfect way for me to engage with my love for nature while also inspiring biophilia in others through a collaborative and integrative approach to research.

 

In the past five years, I designed my PHD thesis, completed four five-month-long summer field seasons at two Southern Ontario field sites, and developed my scientific analysis, writing, and communication skills. I have taught (and learned from) hundreds of undergraduates in lab, lecture, and independent research courses, and mentored full teams of assistants in each of my field seasons. I have also explored a wide range of environments throughout Southern Ontario, from hiking and running through urban forests, to backpacking and canoeing through crownland and provincial parks. During my summer field seasons, when I wasn’t troubleshooting research equipment or trapping hummingbirds, I wandered the forests, foraging for wild edibles, learning to identify plants, quietly stalking wildlife, and pondering the seasonal and long-term dynamics of the landscape. The more time I spend in the field, the more I appreciate and am amazed by the diversity of such ever-changing environments, especially in the context of rapidly encroaching human activity and urbanization.

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During the last field season of my PhD, I realized that though I was thrilled to be at the cutting edge of understanding torpor, what drove my enthusiasm for science was experiencing Nature firsthand by immersing myself in wilderness, and sharing the knowledge revealed to me about the integrative biology of organisms and ecosystems to promote stewardship and preservation of natural environments. So I decided to take some time away from the traditional academic enviornment to travel through and live simply in wilderness, allowing Nature to guide me to my next stage. 
 

Unfortunately though, as I was finishing one chapter and looking forward to melding my passions for studying, experiencing and sharing nature, I was hit with some serious and debilitating health issues associated with tick-borne disease. I spent 2022 fighting a slow, terrifying decline into hell while writing and eventually defending my PhD thesis. At the start of 2023, I could not imagine living until 2024. Utterly neglected by the traditional medical system (I can not say how many times I was told "I don't know, but its not Lyme, go to another specialist"), I mustered just enough energy and mental clarity to find a lyme specialist who listened to my story and began treating my condition. By August 2023, I was well enough to pack up my car and hit the road towards New Mexico.

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Since, I have traveled throughout the southwest US, living in wilderness and at off-grid sites. Sheltered by these magical desert landscapes, I continue to recover my health, reinvigorate my sense of biophila, rediscover my spirituality, and reevaluate my career goals. It has been a long and tumoltuous year since starting treatment, and I still have quite a ways to go until I'm back at 100%. I'm not living the life of thrilling adventures that I envisioned before I got sick, but I AM living a version of it.

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So for now, I seek to live immersed in nature, facilitate conservation research, and guide fellow nature enthusiasts to learn about, connect deeply with, and become stewards of natural environments. Thus, I am actively seeking opportinuties to develop my life as a field biologist, naturalist, and wilderness educator.

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