I am a Norwegian/American ecologist with a particular interest in combining theoretical modeling and empirical data analysis to improve our understanding of nature and how to preserve it. I strive to uncover the mechanisms behind patterns seen in natural populations. My current research is focused on those individuals in a population that don’t breed in a given year (nonbreeders) and how they influence population processes. This project is funded by a Marie Curie Fellowship.

I obtained my BSc, MSc and PhD from the University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. The latter involved research under the guidance of Profs. Bernt-Erik Sæther and Steinar Engen at what is now the Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics. My PhD thesis focused on effects of mating systems and sex ratio on stochastic population dynamics and genetics. After obtaining my degree I continued to work at the centre as a researcher. During this time I studied inbreeding avoidance in house sparrows, demographic autocorrelations and their effects on a moose population, as well as developing an integrated population model for Svalbard reindeer.

My current project on nonbreeders combines theoretical modeling with empirical analysis of data from Green-rumped parrotlets in Venezuela and European shags on the Isle of May in Scotland. I will be spending two years in the Beissinger lab before moving to the University of Aberdeen in Scotland for the final year of my Marie Curie project. While in Aberdeen I will be working with Dr. Jane Reid, as well as researchers at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Edinburgh. You can see me talking more about my project here.