Welcome! I'm an assistant professor of Biology at Sacred Heart University. I'm a behavioral ecologist and physiologist who studies backyard birds. I study how outside environments like early-life adversity or social competition get 'under the skin' to affect behavior, physiology, morphology, and fitness. I love sharing science with others - as a teacher, mentor, and outreach-er. My current & upcoming courses include Biology of Animal Social Behavior, Anatomy & Physiology labs, and Genetics & Evolution lab.
I recently finished a postdoc in Kim Rosvall's lab at Indiana University, where I studied the evolution and mechanisms of aggression in female songbirds. I studied several highly aggressive species and one peaceful species to ask (1) what's going on in female brains when they are aggressive, and (2) whether the brain's response to aggression has evolved similarly or differently across species.
My doctoral research was in Susan Alberts' lab at Duke University. That work asks how early-life and adult environments - both social and physical - are associated with physiology, morphology, and behavior. I did this research using data from a population of wild baboons in Kenya observed by the Amboseli Baboon Research Project.
Here are some photos from my bird research, as well as some throw-backs to my work on baboons, lemurs, and red squirrels. All animals were studied and handled with proper permits. For bird work, this includes a permit from the USGS Bird Banding Lab.
I recently finished a postdoc in Kim Rosvall's lab at Indiana University, where I studied the evolution and mechanisms of aggression in female songbirds. I studied several highly aggressive species and one peaceful species to ask (1) what's going on in female brains when they are aggressive, and (2) whether the brain's response to aggression has evolved similarly or differently across species.
My doctoral research was in Susan Alberts' lab at Duke University. That work asks how early-life and adult environments - both social and physical - are associated with physiology, morphology, and behavior. I did this research using data from a population of wild baboons in Kenya observed by the Amboseli Baboon Research Project.
Here are some photos from my bird research, as well as some throw-backs to my work on baboons, lemurs, and red squirrels. All animals were studied and handled with proper permits. For bird work, this includes a permit from the USGS Bird Banding Lab.
Tree swallow pair hanging out on their nestbox
Win-win: Babs gets peanut butter, I get photogrammetry validation data
Watched lemurs for a few weeks. Main finding: they're extremely photogenic
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Baby bluebirds!
Baboons & Kilimanjaro
Hard-earned red squirrel poop
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Holding the last bluebird nestling of our 2025 field season!
Taxi, Eider, and Luxin had their first offspring within months of each other
Setting up for a morning of barn swallow mayhem with Liz Aguilar and Jess Dong
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