I received a bachelors (B.S.) in biology from the College of Idaho and a doctorate (PhD) in biology from UCLA. From 2010 to 2016, I was Museum Curator / Chief of Paleontology at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon. In 2016, I started a new position at East Tennessee State University as Assistant Professor of Geosciences and Research Curator at the Natural History Museum & Gray Fossil Site. My research has mainly focused on the paleoecology and evolution of mammals, primarily rodents and carnivorans, as well as systematics and biostratigraphy. Some ongoing projects include: 1) descriptions of fauna and paleoecology of the Gray Fossil Site, 2) using ecometrics of small mammals to estimate past climate, and 3) examination of how mammals responded to past climate, habitat, and topographic changes over time. To date I have published/submitted 25 peer-reviewed papers.