Courtney Reed

I am a PhD candidate working with Dr. Tyler Kartzinel in the Department of Ecology, Evolutionary, and Organismal Biology at Brown University and a graduate affiliate of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society. 

 

I went to UNC-Chapel Hill for undergrad, where I majored in Economics and particularly enjoyed my classes on game theory. Through reading and chatting with professors, I learned that the math and theory I enjoyed in economics is the same that we use to explain eco-evolutionary dynamics in nature. Excited to combine my love of math and nature, I switched to evolutionary biology for my Master’s research, where I worked with Dr. Hopi Hoekstra studying reproduction in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).

 

My Ph.D. research asks how habitat structure and predation risk interactively affect morphology and foraging behavior in a small mammal community in a Kenyan savanna. I also ask how these local processes scale up to affect morphological diversity across the gerbil subfamily (Gerbillinae), a speciose clade with ranges across Africa and Asia. I use a combination of field experiments, micro-CT scans, and molecular tools in my research.

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