About Me

I graduated with my Masters in Natural Resource Sciences with a Specialization in Applied Ecology from the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s School of Natural Resources (December 2018). During my program, I recieve the School of Natural Resources’ Chancellor’s Fellowship and Teaching and Research assistantship. My research was with the Fontaine Lab (https://sites.google.com/site/tjfontaineunl/TJ-Fontaine) and is currently under review for publication.

Before my graduate career I earned my Bachelor’s of Science in Biology with a specialization in Conservation and Ecology from Bowling Green State University. During my undergraduate career, my honors thesis investigated the trade offs of arthropod interaction with toxic algal blooms on the beaches of Lake Erie. Preliminary results suggest that several arthropod taxa have a positive association with water toxicity and diversifying effects with beached primary material. Results should be published in the near future!

A few of the most influential ecological concepts that have shaped how I think about ecological systems include ecological stoichiometry, trade-offs (e.g., evolutionary trade-offs in life history strategies, ecological trade-offs in resource use), adaptation,  bottom-up and top-down chain effects, adaptive management, and scale and context dependence interactions.

With proficiency in four languages (English, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese), I eventually want to participate in international collaborations on ecological and conservation issues. I have experience with a wide array of taxa including birds, reptiles, amphibians, plants, chemistry (e.g., stable isotopes, water chemistry), algae, insects, and other arthropods.

If you are interesting in learning more about my research or interest in collaborating with me, contact me through email. Thank you!

2 thoughts on “About Me”

  1. First off I want to saү awesome blog! I had a quick qᥙestion wһich I’d likе to
    ask іf you do not mіnd. I was interested
    to know how you center yourself and clеar your heaⅾ before writing.
    I’ve һad a hard time clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out.

    I do enjoy writing however it just seems like thе
    first 10 to 15 minutes are generally lost simply juѕt trying
    to figurе out how to Ьegin. Any ideas or hints?
    Kudos!

  2. Thank you!

    I completely understand how hard it is to ‘getting your ideas out’ in writing. Unfortunately, there is no one right way, but there are better and worse strategies. I am not sure what you are writing so I can give you only general advice. Here are some of the strategies that I find helpful:

    1. Write your main argument down first. I usually need to spend some time typing, erasing, and editing this (these) sentence(s) before I am satisfied. Keeping your eye on the prize (thesis) of whatever you are writing will help what you need to write and stay on topic.
    2. Write the pieces that you are excited to write about. You will be productive by putting those pieces down and clearing your mind away from those pieces so that you can focus on the less exciting parts of whatever you are writing.
    3. Just start writing. Writing is the hard part, but even if your writing is not very good at first, you can always edit. You will never write perfectly the first time. Accept it. Good writing is the result of good editing, not good first draft writing.
    4. With point 3 in mind, save a lot of time for editing. Don’t be afraid to delete the pieces that you like but are don’t work well with your whole project. One of my professors advised me to ‘kill my babies’: delete the phrases I was attached to at the beginning of the writing process to make the final product flow better.
    5. Relax: your writing is a living document, which is always ripe for improvement. So just write. And keep editing. (The blog that you read and commented on was the result of years of gradual editing and it will continue that way as I gain experience and change as an individual and professional.)
    6. Get in the habit of writing. Force yourself to write the parts that you ‘have writer’s block’ about. It may not be easy or fun but most of the time ‘writer’s block’ is an excuse. Some things will take more time to work through and write and that’s okay. Just keep writing. Writing is a skill, and just like any other skill, with practice you improve how well you write, how quickly you write, and how much you enjoy writing.

    Some editing tips:
    7. Reread your work. Some of my philosophy and critical thinking background taught me to connect each thought explicitly, clearly, and without any tangential thoughts so that my writing will flow from one idea to the next with intentional connections. Reread your work as if this was not your work to see if you can follow the flow. Ask someone to read it and point out logical gaps or tangential ideas.
    8. Omit needless words.

    I used to not like writing, but now I enjoy writing because I now view it is a tool to work through my thoughts. My change in attitude towards writing was gradual as I needed to write more and realized how I could unjumble my thoughts when I am forced to coherently connect my thoughts on paper/ computer.

    To summarize: Take a moment to decide on your thesis, write it down, keep writing, and then edit a lot.

    Hopefully you will find this helpful.
    Thanks for contacting me,
    Nadya

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