Research Interests:
Growing up in the mountains and spending most of my time outdoors, I was the kid who frequently brought snakes and frogs home in his lunchbox. Since those days I have received my Bachelors of Science degree in Ecology and Evolution from California Sate University Fresno. From there I came directly to the University Of Hawaii.

During my graduate research career I aim to address questions concerning conservation. Hawaii, being the most geographically isolated land mass in the world, has many species endemic to the islands, and many fragile ecosystems in need of attention. This makes Hawaii a unique training ground for students, like myself, in the field of ecology and conservation biology. I am attracted to questions that need an integrative approach, combining molecular techniques with ecology to answer complex questions regarding species diversity, distributions, and behavior.

I am currently working on conservation genetics of the endangered Hawaiian Tree Snails. I am hoping to carve out my dissertation research with these organisms.