I am a Postdoctoral Fellow (NSF-PRFB) interested in the connections between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems—especially, in how energy and contaminants move across ecosystem boundaries. My research focuses on the quantity and quality of these transfers, with a particular emphasis on emergent aquatic insects as vectors. These insects transport both essential nutrients, like long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), and harmful contaminants, such as mercury, to riparian terrestrial predators. I use a combination of field and laboratory studies to investigate when, where, and how these movements occur. Riparian spiders, primarily Tetragnatha spp., are a focal taxon in my work. Because they consume emergent aquatic insects as their main prey, spiders reflect the nutrient and contaminant profiles of those insects, making them effective sentinels of aquatic-to-terrestrial resource transfer. My current work also explores how global change drivers—like drought and climate change—may alter the timing, magnitude, and ecological impacts of these resource flows, with a continued focus on LC-PUFAs and contaminants such as mercury.