(see my Publications page for a complete list and pdf's)

Professional Experience 

Fall 2012-present:
Assistant Professor, Division of Biology, Kansas State University

2011 - 2012:
Research Associate, Centre for Applied Conservation Research, Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia
Supervisor: Dr. K. M. Martin

2009 – 2011:
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC, Canada) Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario
Supervisor: Dr. C. G. Guglielmo. Collaborator: Dr. D. W. Winkler (Cornell)

2007 – 2009:
Helen Battle Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario.  Supervisors: Dr. C. G. Guglielmo (UWO), D. R. Norris (U. Guelph)

Academic Training

Dec 2006:
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona. Ph.D. (minor: School of Natural Resources). Advisors: Dr. J. L. Bronstein and Dr. C. J. Conway

May 1990:
University of British Columbia, B. Mus., viola performance, 1st Class, GPA 3.8

Grants, Fellowships, and Awards

 Awards:

American Ornithologists' Union Ned K. Johnson Young Investigator Award 2011
Organization for Tropical Studies Best Student Paper Award in 2010
University of Arizona Alumni Association Outstanding Instructor Award, 2011

Research Grants:

Academic Keys Future Faculty Award ($1000), 2012
National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration Grant (PI; $18,500), 2008 – 2009
NSF–Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant ($12,000), 2004-2005
Silliman Memorial Research Award (five separate awards totalling $5,850), 2001-2005
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Research Award (six separate awards totaling $4,650), 2001-2006
Center for Insect Science Research Award ($2,000), 2004
American Ornithologists’ Union Alexander Wetmore Memorial Research Award ($1,800), 2002
The Explorers Club Research Grant ($1,200), 2001
Tinker Foundation/Latin American Studies Research Grant ($650), 2001
University of Arizona Research Training Grant Research Grant ($1000), 2001

Fellowships and Scholarships:

NSERC Post-doctoral Fellowship (two years; $80,000), 2009-2011
Helen Battle Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Western Ontario (two years; $70,000), 2007-2009
Organization for Tropical Studies–REU Program Mentor Fellowship (two summers; $1600), 2005 & 2007
American Ornithologists’ Union Tucker Award (conference travel; $250), 2005
Women in Science & Engineering (conference travel; $600), 2006
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (scholarships & waivers over six years; $79,575), 2000-2006
NSERC Post Graduate Fellowship (two years; $38,200), 2002-2003
University of Arizona Research Training Grant Graduate Fellowship (one year; $12,105), 2001-2002
University of Arizona Graduate College Fellowship (one year; $23,100), 2000-2001
Maurice Taylor Scholarship in Music, Hawk Eilertson Scholarship in Music, John S. Chappell Memorial Scholarship in Music, British Columbia Government Challenge Grant. 1987-1989

Seminars and Presentations

Invited Research Seminars:

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 1 Feb 2013
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Souther Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, 30 Nov 2012
Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta, BC, 21 Feb 2012
Department of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 13 Feb 2012
Department of Biology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, 2 Feb 2012
Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 18 Jan 2012
Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 30 Nov 2011
Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 21 Nov 2011
Department of Zoology & Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 13 Oct 2011
Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 21 Mar 2011
Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 17 Feb 2011
Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN, 2 Dec 2010
School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, 19 Nov 2010
Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA (Grad-Nominated Speaker), 21 Oct 2010
Cornell University, Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA, 5 Oct 2010
Cornell University, Department of EEB, Ithaca, NY, USA, 6 Oct 2010
Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 29 Jan 2010
Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada, 2010 & 2008
La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, 2008 & 2007
Spanish-language presentation to Costa Rican National Parks personnel, conservationists, and land managers.  San José, Costa Rica, 15 Nov 2004
Center for Latin American Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, 10 Nov 2001

 Invited Conference Presentations

The Wildlife Society, Portland, OR, 14 Oct 2012
CAnMove Ecology and Evolution of Partial Migration in Animals symposium, Lund University, Sweden, 31 Aug 2010
American Ornithologists’ Union, Philadelphia, PA, 15 Aug 2009
NCCR International Conference on Plant Species Concepts and Evolution, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1 Feb 2008

Contributed Conference Presentations

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, San Francisco, CA, 4 Jan 2013
North American Ornithological Congress, Vancouver, BC, 17 Aug 2012
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Charleston, SC, 7 Jan 2012
American Ornithologists’ Union, Jacksonville, FL, 28 July 2011
Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI, 8 Aug 2008
American Ornithologists’ Union, Laramie, WY, 10 Aug 2007
North American Ornithological Congress, Veracruz, Mexico, 6 Oct 2006
Ecological Society of America, Memphis, TN, 7 Aug 2006
American Ornithologists’ Union, Santa Barbara, CA, 26 Aug 2005
Ecological Society of America, Montreal, Canada, 9 Aug 2005
Southwestern Association of Biologists, Portal, AZ, 27 Oct 2003
North American Ornithological Congress, New Orleans, LA, 26 Sep 2002
“Birds of Two Worlds” Symposium, Smithsonian Institution, Shepherdstown, WV, 8 Mar 2002

Educational and Outreach Presentations:

Nature of Biological Things (non-majors) class, Physiology of Migration (upper-level majors); University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. 2009, 2010, 2011
Animal Behaviour class, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada, 2007 & 2010
Environmental Biology class, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, 2006
Four, 1-hour presentations to groups of 7^th grade students, Desert Sky Middle School, Tucson, AZ, USA, 2006
Presentations to school children through the University of Arizona/NASA Space Grant Science Speakers Program, Tucson, AZ, USA, 2005
Animal Behavior class, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, 2005
OTS-La Selva REU program and OTS graduate courses, Costa Rica, 2002, 2003, 2005

Teaching and Mentoring
 
Instructor:

Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario
Senior Capstone Seminar in Biology. Spring 2009
Techniques in Physiology and Biochemistry, Fall 2007

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
Ornithology, Spring 2007

Teaching assistant and Lab Instructor:

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
Environmental Biology (3^rd year non-majors), Spring 2006
Animal Behavior (senior/grad level), Fall 2005
Ornithology (senior/grad level), Spring 2005
Ecology (core 3^rd year level) (teaching award for this course), Fall 2001

Mentor and Field Course Instructor:

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, Summers 2007 & 2005
Two (of 3) mentored students published their research projects and are now pursuing academic careers in biology

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Spring 2006. Directed undergraduate honors research thesis

Organization for Tropical Studies Tropical Biology. Feb 2002 & 2003. Guest faculty member, OTS Tropical Biology graduate field courses, Dr. C. R. Nufio, coordinator

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona and Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario. 2001-2009. Mentor to > 35 assistants from Costa Rica, Colombia, Spain, Australia, Canada & USA in the field

SERBO (Oaxaca) and IHNE (Chiapas). 1999 & 1997. Teaching assistant, tropical plant field courses, Dr. B. L. Boyle, instructor

Other Relevant Skills

Leadership,  Service & International Experience

Co-PI: NESCent catalysis group proposal "Genome-enabled Research on Manakins", July 2012 (funded Sept 2012, meeting Jan 2013)

Co-PI: NCEAS working group proposal "Tropical forests on elevational gradients: prospects for hyperdiverse landscapes in a changing climate", Jan 2010 (not funded)

Reviewer: Journals: Animal Behaviour, Auk, Biol. J. of the Linnean Society, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Condor, Ecology,  Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Field Ornithology, Journal of Tropical Ecology, Oikos. Granting agencies and publishers: NSF, EPA, National Geographic, Princeton University Press

Bird guide: tour leader for Victor Emmanuel Nature Tours in Mexico (2001-2005)

Founder and organizer: graduate student discussion series (U Arizona, 2001–2003), avian research discussion forum (UWO, 2007–2008)

Languages: native English speaker, fluent Spanish (reading, writing, spoken), some French and Portuguese (reading)

Research assistant: forest community inventories in Mexico, Ecuador, and Costa Rica (tropical plant ID, collection, herbarium work; part time 1990-1994)

Student-led cross-disciplinary applied research: helped organize and participated in “Students Integrating Academics and Conservation effort in Desert Grasslands”, Los Fresnos, Mexico (http://eeb19.biosci.arizona.edu/siac/) 

Research Highlighted in Popular Press