Lindsay M
- Research Program Mentor

PhD at Brown University

Expertise

Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Tropical Ecosystem, Biogeochemistry, Environmental Science

Bio

I am interested in understanding how species interactions influence how ecosystems function and respond to global change. Most of my work focuses on tropical rainforests and how a particular family of trees work with bacteria to create a form of nitrogen (an important building block of life) that organisms can use. I use a combination of greenhouse and field studies to ask how the environment influences how these organisms interact and understand what implications this has on how those ecosystems work. Outside of my research, I am interested I like to spend time outside (hiking and camping), baking breads or trying new recipes, and reading fiction. I am also a big Boston Celtics fan and try to watch as many games as possible! One of my favorite aspects of my job is mentoring people and helping them develop their ideas and projects.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Do positive interactions help species' resilience to change?

A literature search of recent papers exploring how mutualistic interactions influence species' resilience under variable environmental conditions will be conducted. A student will take the results of this literature search and create and R shiny app, where users can explore patterns in the data from this literature search. For example, they can see if there is an increase in species' resilience to particular environmental stressors (heat, drought, etc.) or only in particular environments (marine, forests, desserts, etc.).

Coding skills

Languages I know

Spanish

Teaching experience

I have TA 3 courses at Brown University and designed and taught my own course on Plant Mutualisms at Wheaton College. I have mentored 7 undergraduates in lab work, senior thesis, and project development. Two undergraduates I have worked with have published first author publications.

Credentials

Work experience

Harvard University (2021 - Current)

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education

Colgate University

BA Bachelor of Arts (2016)

Geography and Environmental Biology

Brown University

MS Master of Science (2019)

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology