I am broadly interested in how organisms respond to environmental change and seek to study these responses across levels of organization (from physiological responses in individuals to population dynamics and changes in community composition). My dissertation research investigates the effects of temperature variability on the life history, population dynamics, and species interactions of a noctuid moth and agricultural pest (fall armyworm). This work seeks to understand how the magnitude of short-term climate fluctuations would alter pest populations and the effectiveness of biocontrol strategies in a warmer world. While most of my research has involved recording or measuring individual- or plot-level responses in the lab or field, I have recently begun to explore mathematical models as tools to link these responses to expected population-level outcomes.

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, advised by Dr. Kimberly Sheldon. My dissertation investigates the effects of temperature variability on the life history, population dynamics, and species interactions of a globally relevant agricultural pest (fall armyworm). Aside from my Ph.D., I have participated in a few collaborative projects, including an ongoing study on metabolic rate variation across dung beetle species and morphs and a review of microbial ecology studies using macroecological frameworks. Before my PhD, I coordinated field courses and academic outreach programs at the conservation-focused Mpala Research Centre (Kenya) as their Princeton in Africa Fellow, and contributed to research on acacia ant community dynamics. I continue to engage in my passion for science education by mentoring undergraduate researchers, and participating in community science initiatives and conferences. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University in 2016, where I conducted senior thesis research on the influence of microenvironmental factors on the distribution of an insect vector of Chagas disease.

The Phillips lab seeks to understand patterns and processes underlying speciation and diversification. In particular, we address several key questions:
-What are the causes and consequences of speciation and biodiversity?
-How does biodiversity manifest in isolated systems? (islands, mountains, caves)
-How connected are the cave and aquifer systems in Georgia and Florida? (e.g. if you are a salamander!)
-How does connectivity/lack thereof impact speciation in the southeastern US?
We are also excited to explore various evolutionary and ecological phenomena (especially in a genomic context) as members of the lab have worked on diverse animals including reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and mollusks! If you are interested in any of our work, please reach out!

Dr. Phillips is a genomic naturalist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Valdosta State University. His research interests include many aspects of molecular ecology and genomic evolution. He loves observing his study organisms (mostly herps, also land snails, some fishes) in their native habitats and is immensely fortunate to have conducted research in a variety of theaters from the caves of the Ozarks to the fjords of Iceland, to the famed Galápagos Islands where he searches for elusive land snails. ORCID: 0000-0003-3974-4309

My primary area of research is environmental fluid dynamics, with an emphasis on fluid-biological interactions in coastal environments. Current studies include the effects of flow and turbulence on nutrient exchange in coral reefs, larval transport in estuaries, chemical dispersion in the coastal ocean, and wave dynamics. I also study biomechanics of marine organisms, including olfaction and mechano-sensing in lobsters, crabs, crayfish, and larvae.

I am a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia.

Our laboratory is interested in answering integrative questions concerning the evolution and ecology of coastal invertebrates by using an interdisciplinary approach that combines comparative genomics, molecular biology, population genetics, evolutionary ecology, and field studies. We utilize species in the phylum Cnidaria (sea anemones, corals, and jellyfishes) as models because of their ecological importance and phylogenetic position. Our focal species is the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, which has emerged as a model cnidarian species due to availability of a sequenced genome, ease of culture in the laboratory, and distribution in estuarine habitats throughout North America.

I am a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a co-Director for the CIPHER Center at UNC Charlotte.

I am broadly interested in ecophysiology, toxicology, aquatic ecology, and invertebrate zoology. My doctoral work is concerned with the physiological costs and ecological consequences of injury and regeneration in annelids. In particular, I am investigating how the loss and absence of particular body parts impacts biological function and distinguishing these effects from the costs of regenerating those same body parts. These effects have included altered tolerance to environmental stressors, reduced reproductive investment, and decreased lifespan. Linking experimental results to ecological significance of injury, including repeated injury, remains a focal challenge of my work. I am also engaged in projects to determine how environmental factors, both biotic and abiotic, may affect the prevalence and severity of injury and the consequences injury may have on freshwater annelid populations and the communities in which they exist.

I am currently a PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences program at the University of Maryland, College Park in the laboratory of Dr. Alexandra Bely. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2013, where I was mentored by Dr. Terry Snell. I was born and raised in the Atlanta, GA area. Powder Springs Elementary spelling bee champion of '02. When not teaching or working on my dissertation, I enjoy writing and playing music, being in nature, cooking, reading (politics, philosophy, & horror mostly—and a little bit of science, too), and writing fiction.

My work focuses on the effects of climate change on marine organisms living in their natural environments. I use models to translate our current lab-based understanding of physiological tolerances of organisms to characterize and test organism performance in marine environments using ecological experiments and systems thinking (ecological modeling). The main pillars of my work are to 1- measure environmental stressors and food availability in marine environments. 2- use laboratory experiments to build models of expected effects on marine animals. 3- test these lab-based models in marine environments. I use a combination of field experiments, laboratory studies, mechanistic modeling, and statistical techniques.

I am currently a research contractor with NOAA Fisheries studying the physiological ecology of the Atlantic surfclam in New England.

A neurobiologist by training, I study the mechanisms of sensory-driven behavior. My current postdoctoral work uses bioacoustics, neurophysiology, and molecular approaches to examine the mechanisms of auditory processing and its development in frogs.

Postdoctoral fellow in the Hoke lab at Colorado State University

I am generally interested in how animals move and sense in their environment. My current research explores the macroscale principles of chemoreception in batoid fishes, specifically how their nasal morphology influences odorant capture at differing Reynolds numbers. Additional questions I have pursued and published on include: the material properties and mechanics of stingray jaws, the kinematics of rigid-body boxfish swimming, guitarfish taxonomy and systematics, and the ecology of fishes living in restored reef habitats.

I am a PhD student at UCLA where I collaborate interdepartmentally with biology and mechanical engineering.