about me

Currently, I serve as the Scientific Director of the Cayo Santiago Biological Field Station in Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico. I completed my Ph.D. in the Psychology Department at Yale University, working with Dr. Laurie Santos of the Comparative Cognition Lab, and my undergraduate degrees in Evolutionary Biology & Ecology (B.S.) and English (B.A.) at the University of Rochester in New York

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My research is broadly driven by two questions: how does social cognition and behavioral development differ in human and non-human primates, and how do animals learn from other animals and how is that different from how we learn from one another. For the most part, I answer the first question with monkeys and the second question with canids like dogs and dingoes, but there is some overlap depending on the specific question.


Outside of research, I am always looking for science communication opportunities. At present, I am a contributing member of the Priamte Learning in Action network. Throughout graduate school, I served as a science education and outreach docent with the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. In my free time I co-founded a Puerto Rico based dog rescue called Punta Santiago Dogs (501c3) with Drs. Christine Fleener, and Lauren Petrullo, and enjoy diving, running, hiking, and reading.


For more information about me, you can access my c.v. here or you can contact me at [email protected]