Hi, I’m Eric

I’m a PhD Candidate at North Carolina State University, working under the direction of Dr. Krishna Pacifici. My graduate research is a multi-scale assessment of distribution and recruitment for the Neuse River Waterdog (Necturus lewisi) in eastern North Carolina. This secretive and data-limited species was designated as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 2021 and my collaboration with United States Fish and Wildlife Service and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission aims to address the species’ recovery needs through a quantitative understanding of population responses to threats and management actions.

My research is born from a desire to understand how aquatic freshwater species interact with a human-disturbed landscape and how that knowledge might inform management and conservation decisions, particularly for data-limited and imperiled species. Answering this falls at the intersection of natural history, landscape ecology, geospatial analysis, hydrology and geomorphology, and statistical inference, creating a holistic approach towards wildlife research and management.

I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences from Penn State University in 2014. I spent the following 4 years working as a research technician on projects ranging from timber rattlesnake movement ecology, to forest vegetation community structure, to stream restoration and most prominently, for 2 years as Lab Manager for the Miller Applied Population Ecology Lab , which grew my love of amphibian population ecology and conservation.

Outside of salamander research, I’m a passionate naturalist who takes time to smell the spring ephemerals and struggle over warbler song ID. Other recent obsessions of mine include backpacking, woodworking, disc golfing, and beer brewing; all of which are hobbies easy to cultivate in my North Carolina home.

Thanks for stopping by!