Biological Sciences: Integrative and Organismal Biological Sciences - PhD
Research Topic: Biogeochemical cycling, microbial communities, and the burying beetle.
The Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus sp.) has a unique life history in that they rear young on vertebrate carcasses they have submersed beneath the soil. My research focuses on how the unique life history of the Burying Beetle influences the microbial community in the soil and its biogeochemical processes. In addition, I am broadly interested in the physiological mechanisms regulating the energetics of parental care, and how the environment interacts with species to influence their internal nutrient utilization during energetically expensive behaviors.
