Hitchhiking parasites in the Panama Canal
Through the Fulbright program, I’m examining if parasites are using the Atlantic needlefish to “hitchhike” from marine environments into the Panama Canal. To find needlefish, I work with local fishermen during night fishing trips on Lake Gatún.
A deadly frog pandemic
Through the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, I spent the summer (2021) at Blue Oak Ranch Reserve studying chytrid fungus, a global amphibian pandemic. I received highest honors for my undergraduate thesis examining the role of the invasive American bullfrog in chytrid fungus transmission (2022).
Vampire bats and rabies
My undergraduate research investigated the role of land-use change on rabies transmission between vampire bats, cattle, and humans in Costa Rica (2020-2022). Although summer field work was canceled due to pandemic travel restrictions, I analyzed blood samples with microscopy and assisted in a meta-analysis of wildlife disease literature.
Georgia coast geography, politics, and fishing culture
Through a research course at Emory University, I spent a week on Georgia’s coast (2019) combing through archives at local libraries and historical societies as well as interviewing fishermen to investigate the history of Georgia’s shrimping industry. My work contributed to A Working Census of Georgia’s Waterfronts, published by Georgia Sea Grant (2021).
Georgia Civil Rights cold cases
In a course at Emory University, I investigated unsolved racially motivated killings for the Peabody Award-winning podcast Buried Truths. My specific line of inquiry researched the role of local white-owned newspapers in failing to report violence against Black Georgians and their relationship with the national media during the Civil Rights Era.
Parasitic microbial interactions
During a lab course at Emory University, I studied host-parasite interactions in fungus-farming ants. Certain species of ants farm fungi to eat, but often parasitic fungi will infect their cultivars. Through this course, my group designed a study to investigate defense mechanisms in the farmed fungi against the fungal parasites.
Long-term ecological monitoring
For six summers (2016 - 2020), I worked as a field technician at a local research group called the Clinch River Environmental Studies Organization (CRESO). I participated in aquatic turtle surveys, box turtle telemetry and tracking, wetland monitoring and management, and snake surveys. I presented 30 years of aquatic turtle data at the 2017 Tennessee Herpetological Society Conference.
Gene regulation in fruit flies
Through a genetics course at Emory University, my classmates and I investigated potential histone locus body factors in fruit flies using publicly available genome sequences. The findings from our class resulted in a publication, where the students were listed as co-authors.