Current highlights:

• Assistant Professor in Plant Ecology/Genomics at Vancouver Island University

• I teach units including Plant Ecology, Conservation Biology, Terrestrial Ecosystems, and Genomics & Bioinformatics

• I currently work and collaborate on projects ranging from genomics of eucalypts and mountain pine beetle, to speciation mechanisms in Platanthera, to dietary metagenomics in Vancouver Island Marmot

• Associate Editor for Ecology and Evolution

• Academic Editor for the scientific journal PeerJ

• Adjunct at The University of New England (Australia)

• Adjunct at the University of Northern British Columbia (Canada)

• Councillor for the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution

• Board Member for the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation

• Recipient of the 2020 Vancouver Island University Provost Early Career Research Excellence Award

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Historical highlights:

• I obtained my PhD from the University of Tasmania (Australia) in 2010 after investigating the ecology, evolutionary relationships and conservation genetics of native orchids in Australia. 

• I was a postdoc at the University of Alberta (Canada) investigating the genomics of mountain pine beetles with Prof. Felix Sperling as part of the TRIA project.

• I was a postdoc with Dr Rose Andrew at The University of New England (Australia) using genomic methods to understand woodland eucalypt speciation and diversification.

• I was awarded a highly competitive 3-year The University of New England Postdoctoral Fellowship.

• Honorary Research Associate at the University of British Columbia (Prof. Loren Rieseberg).

• I have been employed by several government and NGO institutions. For example, I have worked at the Tasmanian Threatened Species Section, Royal Tasmanian Botanic Garden, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI), and the Government of Alberta to manage projects, develop policy, and help conserve biodiversity.