I am originally from the Greater St. Louis area, but graduated from Union University in Tennessee with a Bachelor’s degree in Conservation Biology. Since graduating I have worked in New York, Indiana, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan doing various conservation work from vegetation monitoring, prescribed fire, sea turtle nesting protection, Whooping Crane monitoring, and wildlife rescue on construction sites. I am earning a Master’s of science degree at under the direction of Dr. Tracey Tuberville and Dr. Clark Rushing. My graduate research, based at the Ivanpah Desert Tortoise Research Facility, will focus on the effectiveness of head-starting in Mojave Desert Tortoises as a mitigation tool to increase juvenile survival. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Kurt Buhlmann (SREL) and Dr. Brian Todd (University of California-Davis). I am interested in research that informs practical conservation strategies for endangered and threatened species, wetland and landscape ecology, and public education of conservation.