My research focuses on red macroalgae in Alabama's freshwater streams. Alabama has incredibly diverse freshwater ecosystems, and macroalgae are important but understudied members of these systems. I will use field surveys and population genetics to better understand the diversity and distribution of macroalgae. I'm equally interested in science equity and communication and plan to engage community scientists in this work.
These organisms have complex haploid-diploid life cycles with a range of mating systems, from inbreeding to outcrossing, making them ideal models to study effects of the mating system on genetic diversity, and to test predictions about the evolution of sex.
Prior to beginning graduate work at UAB, I earned a bachelor's degree in Marine Biology at the College of Charleston where I studied the adaptation of an invasive species of seaweed (Agarophyton vermiculophyllum), then spent two years in the Philippines as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Coastal Resource Management sector.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Stacy Krueger-Hadfield