• Ecology
• Global Change
• Invertebrates
• Marine Biology
• Plasticity

I am broadly interested in studying the role of the environment in shaping marine invertebrate traits. Some of my current projects include investigating thermal tolerance through gene expression plasticity to enable selective breeding in a staghorn coral along Ningaloo Coast, Western Australia and investigating the role of temperature on the establishment of the microbiome and consequences for larval infection in the purple sea urchin. Further, I am interested in how increased temperature impacts the upside-down jellyfish’s sleep-like behavior.

Publications:

Genomic signatures of coral adaptation and recovery following a mass mortality event – Science Advances, 12/2024

Enhancement of coral heat tolerance using selective breeding along the Ningaloo World Heritage reefs – Proceedings B, 1/2025

Presentations:

2025

The role of temperature on the establishment of the microbiome and consequences for larval infection

Texas A&M University Student/Postdoc Research Conference, College Station, TX – Poster

2024

Investigating the natural variability of molecular responses to thermal stress in Acropora tenuis larvae from Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

University of Houston Southeast Texas Evolutionary Genetics & Genomics (STEGG) Symposium, Houston, TX – Poster

Texas A&M University Computing Symposium, College Station, TX – Poster

Texas A&M University Biological & Chemical Symposium, College Station, TX – Poster

Symbiont communities of juvenile Acropora hyacinthus remain stable following a mass mortality event in Mo’orea but contribute to bleaching severity

Texas A&M University Ecological Integration Symposium (EIS), College Station, TX – Poster

Texas A&M University Student Research Week, College Station, TX – Poster

Texas A&M University Darwin Day, College Station, TX – Poster

Texas A&M University Student/Postdoc Research Conference, College Station, TX – Poster

2023

Symbiont communities of juvenile Acropora hyacinthus remain stable following a mass mortality event in Mo’orea but contribute to bleaching severity

Texas A&M University Eco-Evo Retreat, Austin, TX – Talk