I am a postdoctoral scholar with Gretchen Daily, Paul Ehrlich and Peter Vitousek in the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. My current research is on the potential use of Acacia koa forestry as a tool for conservation on private land in Hawaii. This project is a case study for integrating conservation biology, economics, law, and policy to make conservation both effective and profitable outside of protected areas.

I have also led and contributed to research on the foraging behavior, habitat selection, mating strategies, and territoriality of forest birds on nine projects in both tropical and temperate systems. I have a strong interest in the behavioral ecology of forest birds, and I am particularly excited about research that integrates conservation biology and policy towards the recovery of rare species.

I graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont in 1997, and I finished a PhD at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2004. My research was on the foraging, nesting and territorial behavior of the Akiapolaau (Hemignathus munroi) in old growth forest and in young plantations. My results suggest plantations could be a beneficial tool for conservation on private land. I have also reported on Akiapolaau sap-feeding behavior, a new example of convergent evolution between Hawaiian finches and mainland woodpeckers.