Research lab group or TA: Both
Lab Narrative: In March 2015, Dr. Nelson took his Humans and Nature class to the Provo River near Heber, UT to see a river restoration project. It was quite possibly the most inspiring field trip taken by any biology class in the history of the world. Luckily, I was a student in that class. Shortly after, I joined Dr. Nelson's lab and worked for him as a BIO100 and Environmental Humanities TA. I primarily researched the impacts of the Provo River Restoration Project by sampling the restored river for aquatic macroinvertebrates and comparing diversity/abundance measurements to samples taken before the restoration project began. Our results were published in Western North American Naturalist, showing that aquatic insect diversity has not returned to pre-restoration levels of diversity or abundance. I am currently researching plant evolution and conservation as a PhD candidate in the Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology Department at Columbia University. I live in New York City with my wife and 2 awesome daughters.
Started in the lab: September 2015