I am an Assistant Professor of biological anthropology at Ithaca College (B.A., New York University, 2002; M.A., Louisiana State University, 2005; University of Oregon, 2011). My research lies at the interface between anthropology, public health, and reproductive ecology. Broadly, my research interests  include applying a biocultural framework and life history theory to aspects of human skeletal biology, bone health, paleopathology, and dental anthropology.
     My current research specifically focuses on the physiological and cultural strategies that humans adopt in order to meet the high costs of reproduction; these strategies are further shaped by local environmental and ecological conditions. My dissertation, entitled "Reproductive Trade-Offs in Skeletal Health and Physical Activity among the Indigenous Shuar of Ecuadorian Amazonia: A Life History Approach," examines tradeoffs in energy use during various female reproductive states, as well as behavioral adjustments (e.g., activity  patterns) made by females and males to meet high reproductive demands. A major component of my research uses calcaneal ultrasonometry technology to investigate the relationships between female reproductive factors and skeletal health.
     Since 2007, I have conducted fieldwork in Amazonian Ecuador as research coordinator of the Shuar Health and Life History Project. The project focuses on a number of different dimensions of health, subsistence, economy, and demography among the Shuar forager-horticulturalists.