Bio
I'm currently a PhD candidate at Wake Forest University, studying the foraging behavior of a seabird, the Nazca booby, in the Galápagos Islands. I use GPS units and accelerometers —mini activity trackers — to see where a bird searches for food and understand what factors, like environmental variables, affect where a bird forages. I earned my Bachelor's from Kenyon College in Ohio, and then did five years of seasonal field jobs before starting my PhD. I worked in wetlands in Ohio and Colorado and forests in Guam and South Carolina, but I found a driving passion for seabirds while working on remote islands in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. When I'm not working on my research, I love baking, spending time outdoors, or taking pictures of birds. Two years ago, I started writing for Massive Science and progressively became more interested in science communication. It's a dream come true to write for National Geographic this summer!