I joined the PERL team in the fall of 2008 and began work on neurogenesis in Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus o. oreganus) in the Carrizo Plain area of the central coast of California. Specifically, my Masters research is investigating seasonal and sex differences in the amount of new cell birth in the medial cortex of the brain and how such differences relate to spatial ecology of rattlesnakes. Other research interests include relationships between hormone levels and ectoparasite loads, as well as thermal and spatial ecology of reptiles.