Research Focus:

I investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of multiple dimensions of biodiversity across heterogeneous environmental conditions. A large part of my work is based on comprehensive, multi-year resurveys of the birds and mammals in desert-montane systems in the Northern Great Basin of North America. Using modern field surveys and museum collections, I investigate temporal community dynamics of small mammals across elevational gradients in response to a century of landcover and climate change. Additionally, I use empirical field data to investigate the area–heterogeneity tradeoff in functional diversity across communities of disparate taxa (birds and mammals). I also study biodiversity and the resiliency of communities at the macro-ecological scale. Specifically, I use remotely sensed datasets and multivariate techniques to understand the degree of spatial dimensionality (co-variation among multiple biodiversity dimensions) of passerine birds across the North American continent, with an emphasis on the potential role of topographic complexity as a correlate and/or driver of functional, phylogenetic, and taxonomic diversity. My extended interests in biodiversity have led me down other research paths, including work in fields such as paleobiology, taphonomy, and even analyses of the behavior of birdwatchers. Lastly, I am an avid birder myself and you will usually find me skulking around staring through a pair of binoculars at our feathered friends.