I am a PhD candidate in Fred Janzen's lab at Iowa State University.
I am interested in understanding how animals avoid predation and how the risk of predation affects aspects of life history. Animals can spend their entire lives avoiding predators, but if antipredatory behaviors cost mating opportunities, are they worth it?
I am especially interested in the defensive behaviors of reptiles. As these animals have evolved and diverged, so have their relationships with the environment and their predators. Given this, I am interested in how these animals have evolved ecologically and behaviorally to fill the niches we find them in today.
