About

Education and Work Experience

Current: Research Assistant Professor and Instructor, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

Research Scientist, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach FL

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

PhD in Environmental Toxicology, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS

B.S. in Biology, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS

Research Interests

My research interests are centered broadly around the ecology and evolution of invertebrates and benthic communities with a focus on host-symbiont physiology. My interdisciplinary research projects couple several subject areas such as molecular ecology, microbiology, molecular phylogenetics, oceanography, bioinformatics, and statistical analysis to elucidate the ecological forces that structure communities (macro and micro), explore host-symbiont evolution, and tease apart the intricate interplay between ecological and evolutionary forces in the structure and function of symbiotic microbial communities.  I am also a genuinely curious person and I love involving students in my research as they often ask the most interesting questions.