Research

RESEARCH

Environmental Racisim & Evolution in Eastern Gray Squirrels

Environmental Racism is the practice by which environmental policy making deliberately targets communities of color, thereby exposing these communities to higher levels of toxins and pollutants. These environmental policies have profound effects on the people, wildlife, and landscape in these communities. I am investigating the impacts of environmental racism on Eastern Gray Squirrel population dynamics (gene flow and genetic drift) in St. Louis, Missouri, a city with a long history of segregation and environmental racism. I am also investigating how squirrels are adapting to the urban environment within St. Louis city.

Evolution of Feral Pigeons

I am currently using pigeons as a model to understand gene flow, genetic drift, adaptation, and the contribution of fancy and racing pigeons to feral populations in the Northeast Megacity (Boston, MA to Washington, DC). While this work is ongoing, a portion of this research has been published in Evolutionary Applications and Animal Behaviour.

Bias in Participatory Science Data

Participatory science, also known as community science or citizen science, is a collaborative form of data collection in which the public, in partnership with science professionals, collect data and/or conduct research. I have been exploring biases in urban participatory science datasets with Dr. Cesar Estien. A framework for understanding this bias as been published in People and Nature. We have also tested for bias in Oakland, California; St. Louis, Missouri; and Baltimore, Maryland, three US cities with a long history of segregation. This research was published in Ecology and Society.

FID in Urban Animals

Flight Initiation Distance (FID) is a common measure of the willingness of an animal to take risks and should increase as predation risk decreases and decrease as escape costs increase. My work on FID in urban pigeons and squirrels has been published in Animal Behaviour and the Urban Naturalist, respectively.

Phylogenetics of Elephant-Shrews

For my Masters research, at San Francisco State University in conjunction with the California Academy of Science, I assembled the first molecular phylogeny of giant sengis (also known as elephant-shrews). Giant sengis are small-bodied mammals that range from central through eastern Africa. This work has been published in Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution. Additionally, I worked on classifying and naming the replacement genus for the North African sengi, Petrosaltator.