Background

I grew up in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee (USA) and earned a B.A. from the University of Colorado in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a Minor in Statistics from Iowa State University in 2003. My research interests include landscape ecology, conservation biology, ornithology and quantitative science. I have long-term field research in the Everglades (USA) and in southern Africa, where my team blends applied field ecology with quantitative modeling to address the biodiversity crisis. I have published over 145 scientific articles and am the lead author of the book, Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling (2018, Springer). While based at the University of Florida (2007-2024), I received over $12M USD in funding from a wide range of sponsors, including the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Agriculture, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. In 2024, I was the recipient of the Distinguished Landscape Ecologist Award from the International Association of Landscape Ecology. I am a committed teacher and mentor, having mentored over 40 graduate students and postdocs. I moved to Cambridge in 2024 to accept a position as the Miriam Rothschild Professor of Conservation Biology. I am part of the Conservation Science Group in the Conservation Research Institute.