I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in biological sciences at Idaho State University. I earned an M.S. in wildlife resources from the University of Idaho, and a B.S. in wildlife biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The topic of my thesis research at the University of Idaho was the response of elk and mule deer to fuels reduction in a dry forest ecosystem, and I have published a number of papers on that subject. My research interests are centered on interactions between large mammals and their environments, and I am currently studying the behavioral responses of large herbivores to a changing and variable climate, and the physiological mechanisms that drive those responses.