Microbial ecology for critical mineral exploration
In collaboration with mineral exploration companies, I am investigating whether soil microbial communities can be used as a tool to identify subsurface mineral deposits. The premise is that microbes living in soil reflect the chemical and geological features of their local environment, meaning their presence, absence, and relative abundance can serve as biological indicators of underlying mineralization. The goal is to reduce exploration risk and minimize environmental impact by improving how companies prioritize drilling, which is the most costly stage of any mineral exploration program.
Global biodiversity change
I research widespread temporal changes in phylogenetic diversity across species assemblages worldwide. Using large-scale biodiversity databases and computational approaches, I investigate how human pressures (including habitat loss, climate change, and species extinctions) are reshaping the evolutionary history embedded within ecological communities. By tracking these changes across biomes and taxa, my work aims to quantify what we stand to lose, and inform conservation priorities at a global scale.
Coral reef ecology
I’m interested in understanding what drives diversity and shapes interactions among organisms in coral reef ecosystems. Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse and threatened environments on Earth, and understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes that structure their communities is critical to protecting them. My work in this area draws on both field-based observations and large datasets to explore how reef communities are assembled and how they respond to environmental change and human impact.
Conservation genomics & population prioritization
When resources are limited, deciding which populations to prioritize for conservation is a critical challenge. Using genomic data from yellow warblers and lodgepole pines, we tested whether genome-wide genetic variation is a reliable proxy for adaptive genetic variation in guiding these decisions. The results suggest that the two approaches yield mostly similar prioritization rankings, which means practitioners may not need the added step of isolating adaptive loci before acting. These findings have practical implications for how genomic data is applied in conservation planning.
Social spiders & their parasites
For my MSc at UBC with Dr. Leticia Avilés, I studied community ecology in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with a focus on social spiders and the parasites associated with them. Social spiders offer a fascinating system for exploring questions about cooperation, group living, and host-parasite dynamics. This work deepened my interest in the ecological and evolutionary forces that shape species interactions within communities.
