Lecturer

I teach a variety of courses in spatial analyses, including Introduction to R, Resource Selection Analyses, Raster Data Processing, and Species Distribution Modeling.  Over the past few years, courses taught include:

• Mpala Research Center, Nanyuki, Kenya – Introduction to R, Google Earth Engine, and Spatial Analyses.  In collaboration with the Institute of Primate Research and the National Museums of Kenya
• Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA – Spatial Ecology, Geospatial Analysis, and Remote Sensing for Conservation
• Giant Panda Base, Chengdu, China – Introduction to R, Linear Regression, and Resource Selection Functions
• AniMove Fundamentals, Frankfurt, Germany – Resource Selection Functions

Teaching Assistant and Guest Lecturer:

As a graduate student at Colorado State University, I taught:

• ESS211: Fundamentals in Ecosystem Science
• NR592: Introduction to R
• LIFE320: Ecology

Mentoring:

Since joining the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute as a post-doctoral researcher in 2015, I have actively mentored a number of students, interns, and post-doctoral researchers.  The backgrounds of these individuals is diverse, with citizenship from Angola, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, South Africa, South Korean, Tanzania, and USA.

I have also functioned as a X-labs mentor to a team of talented James Madison University undergraduate students, working towards developing an unmanned aerial system (drone) to safely and effectively dart an animal for veterinary purposes (GPS collaring or biopsy sampling).  Darting an animal is one of the most dangerous activities for a biologist.  Finding safer and more efficient ways to dart an animal could be a huge advance for the field, saving many animal and human deaths.