Overview
I am currently the Director of Academic Engagement for the Natural & Quantitative Sciences in Duke's Academic Advising Center, where I serve as a specialized advisor for our STEM undergraduates. I am also Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Biology, where I teach, mentor, and research.
My research is on the ecology of lemurs in Madagascar, with a central focus on mechanisms of local adaptation in sifakas and biogeography of mouse and dwarf lemurs. Prior to my current position, I was a postdoctoral associate at the Duke Lemur Center and graduate student in Duke's Ecology Program. My dissertation research was on the role of the gut microbiome in facilitating folivory as an ecological strategy in lemurs.
My research is on the ecology of lemurs in Madagascar, with a central focus on mechanisms of local adaptation in sifakas and biogeography of mouse and dwarf lemurs. Prior to my current position, I was a postdoctoral associate at the Duke Lemur Center and graduate student in Duke's Ecology Program. My dissertation research was on the role of the gut microbiome in facilitating folivory as an ecological strategy in lemurs.
Recent Publications
The gut microbiome of Madagascar's lemurs from forest fragments in the central highlands.
Journal Article Primates; journal of primatology · February 2025 The gut microbiome is now understood to play essential roles in host nutrition and health and has become a dominant research focus in primatology. Over the past decade, research has clarified the evolutionary traits that govern gut microbiome structure acr ... Full text CiteFood deprivation is associated with telomere elongation during hibernation in a primate.
Journal Article Biology letters · February 2025 Telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes, progressively shorten due to incomplete mitotic replication and oxidative stress. In some organisms, transient telomere elongation may occur, for example, when individuals have an energy surplus to counter str ... Full text CitePrimate hibernation: The past, present, and promise of captive dwarf lemurs.
Journal Article Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · October 2024 The dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleus spp.) of Madagascar are the only obligate hibernators among primates. Despite century-old field accounts of seasonal lethargy, and more recent evidence of hibernation in the western fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
NSFDEB-NERC: Integrating computational, phenotypic, and population-genomic approaches to reveal processes of cryptic speciation and gene flow in Madagascar's mouse lemurs
ResearchPostdoctoral Associate · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2022 - 2026CSBR:Continued Support of the Duke Lemur Center for the Study of Primate Biology and History
ResearchPostdoc Scholar · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2020 - 2023DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH: A comparative study of gut microbiomes in folivorous lemurs: Effects of captivity, habitat, and evolutionary history
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPI-Fellow · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2018 - 2019View All Grants