Mail address:
Biology Department
Wartburg College
100 Wartburg Blvd.
Waverly, Iowa, USA 50677

Publications (PDF)

Research interests:
My behavioral research has focused on vocal and olfactory communication, feeding and energy budgets/reproductive strategies. I have had the pleasure of working with several species of captive and wild primates and mice. I am particularly interested in how olfactory communication (e.g. scent marking and urine washing) varies with characteristics of the sender and receiver (e.g. gender, sexual experience, social rank, etc.) and social environment (e.g. aggressive, sexual, etc.). I am also interested in the degree to which abiotic (e.g. daylength, rainfall, etc.) and biotic factors (e.g. group size, territory size, etc.) influence feeding behavior, particularly in social animals. Additionally, I am intrigued by animals’ use of specific energetic strategies (as measured by energy intake and energy expenditure) to cope with their environments.

My current collaborative research focuses on exploring the potential variation in a tallgrass prairie plant and insect community in areas where bison wallows occur vs. nonwallow areas. Dr. Johanna Foster and I work with undergraduate students to collect data for this project at Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, IA.

455/456 research:
Mate preferences in mice
Olfactory communication in mice
Feeding behavior in mice

Personal interests:
I love the comic strip “Get Fuzzy” and my favorite activity is to hike with my husband and our two four-legged kids!