A Brief Overview

  I was born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico. I began birding before I could talk, and spent my childhood telling everyone I'd be an ornithologist one day. There was little interest in or understanding of nature amongst my peers in the Permian Basin, but I was cheerfully adopted by the Roswell Audubon Society ( I was their youngest member and my mother, who brought me, was their second youngest). 

  In college I had the good fortune to be advised by Dr. Peter Meylan, who converted me into a herpetologist and inspired a love of phylogenetics. I have worked or volunteered in the field of herpetology for over 20 years. In that time I have conducted independent research (Reserva Cloudbirdge, Florida State University), worked for NGOs (Archbold Biological Station), universities (Eckerd College, Florida International University, University of British Columbia, Florida State University, Warren Wilson College, University of New Mexico), and the US government (USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education). I am currently a lecturer in the Department of Biology at the University of New Mexico.