Human population growth has dramatically impacted modern ecosystems. My goal is to study the effects perturbations such as urbanization, extirpations or climate change have on ecosystems in order to advance conservation biology.
I work to understand ecological and evolutionary processes at multiple temporal, geographical and taxonomic scales. The recent fossil record documents a long-term natural experiment on the effects of environmental and ecological change on ecosystems and taxa that were already around before the expansion of human civilizations. Thus, merging ecology and paleontology offers a unique perspective on conservation biology and provides an important tool for understanding the cascading effects of losing both taxonomic and functional biodiversity.
Read more about my research projects here!