I am a Post Doctoral Researcher in the Munshi-South Lab at the Department of Biodiversity, Earth & Environmental Science, Drexel University. We work with urban lichens as a model for urban evolution.

Urban lichens from New York City

I started botanical reseach in 2010 with Professor Shane Heschel. We worked with physiological responses of plants (Impatiens, Protea, and Tamarix) to drought stress. Since then, I have worked with seagrass (Zostera) conservation along the coast of Maine, kelp (Laminaria and Saccharina) population genetics along the coast of Norway, and marine DNA collections along the coast of Massachusetts. I promote community science and natural history collection-based research.

I completed a PhD in the Lichen Herbarium with the Integrative Systematics of Plants and Fungi Research Group at the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway.

Career and Education

2008 - 2012: BA Biology, Colorado College, USA

2013 - 2015: MS Ecology and Evolution, University of Oslo, Norway

2016 - 2018: Collections Associate and Manager, Northeastern University, USA

2018 - 2020: Educator and Researcher, Appalachian Mountain Club, USA

2020 - 2025: PhD Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Norway

2025 - present: Postdoctoral Researcher, Drexel University, USA

Guest Researcher / Visiting Scholar Affiliations

2020 - 2025: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

2025 - present: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, USA

2025 - present: University of Oslo, Norway

Updates

31 May 2026 New Public Github Repository “GlobalSpeciesRichness_Psora”

18 May 2026: New blog post “iNat -> GBIF -> Publication”

21 Apr 2026: New blog post “The Urban Lichen Toolbox”

20 Apr 2026: New blog post “Tales of Change Through the Lens of Lichens”

13 Apr 2026: Registration is open for “Lichens, Biofilms, and Stone” at Eagle Hill Institute, July 5 - 11, 2026.

09 Feb 2026: New blog post “Cover Image on American Journal of Botany”

31 Jan 2026: Thank you, @metalichen for inspiring this website!

Contact me

ame345 at drexel.edu