About
 I am a PhD student in the Montgomerie Lab at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. We are part of the ecology, evolution and behaviour group in the Department of Biology at Queen’s. |
| Last updated: April 2011 |
BiographyI was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. Growing up, I was fascinated and completely baffled by the idea of evolution by natural selection. I remember reading about it for the first time in a children’s book in the basement of the local library and hardly believing that it could be true. |
 Fascination with evolution eventually led to a BScH in biology from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Currently, I am working on my PhD in biology at Queen’s in the Montgomerie lab. I came to Queen’s for the legendary winds of Kingston because I love sailing. I have competed for a number of years in the Olympic 470 and Laser Radial classes, and am a past member of both the Canadian National and Youth National teams. My Olympic goals in the 470 class never did pan out, but happily I realized that coaching sailing is far more rewarding, and entertaining, than competing. I spent a number of years coaching the youth racing teams at the Royal Hamilton and Kingston Yacht Clubs in the summers. During the colder months, I managed to stay on the water by training and competing with the Queen’s Sailing Team. |
 These days the demands of lab work and an ever-expanding vegetable garden leave little time for messing about in boats. However, I’ve found that teaching undergraduate students about animal behaviour and the biology of sex brings many of the same joys that coaching once did. Back to top |