Bio

I grew up in the suburbs of Lexington, KY and I've had a life long interest in natural history, zoology and biological evolution. I've been lucky enough to be able to pursue these interests as a career. I received my bachelors degree from the University of Kentucky majoring in biology with a minor in anthropology. I liked UK enough to stay, and after a short stint as a lab technician, I went on to graduate school at Kentucky working with Dr. David Westneat. My PhD work was on the breeding behavior of the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens). After graduate school I moved on to a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Geoff Hill at Auburn University where I helped Geoff develop a molecular genetics laboratory. All of my work has made use of molecular genetic tools to study the behavior and evolutionary biology of free-living birds. I worked on various projects in the Hill lab collaborating with and learning a great deal from many of Geoff's students along the way. Following my time as a postdoc at Auburn I was an assistant professor in the biology department at Georgia Southern University where I taught an upper level course in evolutionary biology. As of June 2007 I've been the zoology curator at Cincinnati Museum Center. My move to CMC reflects a shift in my research program to collections-based avian systematics, population genetics and phylogeography of birds in Eastern North America and East Asia. I have a wife and son and supportive extended family who still live nearby in Lexington, KY. My professional interests tend to shape my hobbies and I love birding, keeping tropical fishes, amphibians and reptiles, and nature photography.