• Postdoctoral Researcher, Behavioral Ecology Team, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
• Ph.D., Environmental & Conservation Sciences, North Dakota State University
• B.S., Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University

I am interested in understanding how organisms use cues in their environment to appropriately time reproduction, and how those decisions influence behavior, physiology, and fitness. One area of my research is studying how seasonal changes in olfaction may confer fitness advantages or costs. For example, birds that build nests with specific, odorous herbs can reduce the presence of bacteria and increase offspring size. However, not only is activation of the olfactory system energetically expensive, even at its resting state, the system has a high energy demand compared to neural activity in other parts of the brain. If natural selection acts upon the olfactory system, organisms could shift seasonal timing to adapt to a changing environment.

I conduct my research in a free-living population of dark-eyed juncos. Birds are an important model system for several reasons. They are easy to study because they are abundant and diurnal, allowing us to study them under natural conditions. They also form social pair bonds, exhibit biparental care, and until recently, were considered anosmic (or unable to smell). Now that we know this isn't true there are many opportunities for examining the role of olfaction on nesting behavior, parental care, reproductive success, and more.