About me 

I am a PhD student in the Entomology and Nematology Department at the University of Florida, and I work in the Kawahara Lab of insect systematics at the Florida Museum of Natural History, home to one of the largest collections of butterflies and moths in the world. I am fundamentally interested in how butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) became one of the most diverse groups of insects and aim to both describe and document Lepidoptera diversity as well as understanding factors underlying their evolution. My research focuses on the taxonomy and systematics of moths in the family Erebidae, one of the largest lepidopteran families with over 25,000 species. To date, I have largely focused on the subfamily Erebinae. My work consists of taxonomic studies describing diversity using morphological data and phylogenetic research informed by next-generation sequence data clarify relationships within this diverse and poorly understood group of moths and lay a foundation for future evolutionary studies.