Lab Members

Postdocs

Collin Edwards
I joined the Crone Lab as a Post Doc in 2019, immediately after earning my PhD from Cornell University. Broadly, I am interested in combining fieldwork with mathematical models and simulations to answer interesting ecological questions, particularly those relating to plant and insect population dynamics. In my free time, I enjoy blacksmithing, archery, martial arts, reading, and amateur photography.
Email | Website

Genevieve Pugesek
My aspiration is to conduct impactful research and advocate change in conservation strategy. I am broadly interested in community ecology and conservation genetics as they relate to agroecosystems. I am particularly interested in pollinators, as the ecosystem services they provide are significant to both ecological and agricultural systems. After completing my Ph.D. studies, I would like to conduct research centered on the establishment of populations of feral organisms and their impact on ecological communities. Though underappreciated, understanding the impacts of this ongoing change is relevant to conservation of biodiversity.
Email

Research Associates

Leone (Lee) Brown
Leone (Lee) Brown has returned to the Crone lab where she was previously a postdoc 2013‐2015. She is currently a Research Associate on a DoD SERDP project, Will climate‐mediated phenological shifts affect population viability? A test with butterflies on Department of Defense lands. She is also contributing to a DoD Legacy grant studying population declines in western monarch butterflies. Her interests include population ecology (particularly of birds and butterflies in response to anthropogenic change), movement ecology, landscape ecology, conservation biology, translational ecology, and the intersections of art and science.
Email

Graduate Students

	Brendan D. Carson, MS After studying ecology and anthropology at the University of Michigan, Brendan spent several years teaching experiential ecology to middle school students in Texas and California. He earned an MS in entomology at Michigan State University in 2013, and then worked as a Research Associate and Lecturer at Loyola University Chicago. While at LUC, Brendan helped pioneer innovative research in wetland management and restoration in the Great Lakes and provided mentorship to aspiring young environmental scientists. In 2018 he joined the Biology department at Tufts University to earn a PhD studying under Colin Orians and Elizabeth Crone. "There is nothing I enjoy more than sharing my love of the natural world with others, and I feel privileged to be able to spend my life working towards understanding and stewarding life on this planet." Email
	Nick Dorian I am a PhD student in the Crone Lab funded by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. I am interested in the population ecology of pollinators in the context of a changing environment. Specifically, I study the demographic consequences of climate-induced phenological mismatch for plant-pollinator interactions. I am also an avid naturalist and have previously worked with bumble bees in Massachusetts and California, stingless bees in Costa Rica, songbirds in The Bahamas, and endangered butterflies in Florida and New Hampshire. I graduated with my B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studied from Tufts in 2016. Email \| Website
	Sylvie Finn I am a PhD student in Elizabeth Crone's lab studying bumble bee ecology. I am broadly interested in how organisms time their life cycle events in the context of changing environments. I am particularly interested in investigating these questions in bumble bees, as many elements of the bumble bee life cycle remain a mystery. Ultimately, I hope to use natural history and ecological research to inform conservation. I received my B.A. in Biology with a concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from Skidmore College in 2018. Previous work includes pollinator landscape ecology at the University of Wisconsin, forked fungus beetle social network ecology at the Mountain Lake Biological Station, and African Forest Elephant bioacoustic analysis at Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology. When I'm not outside looking at insects and flowers, I am usually baking bread or singing (or both). Email
	James Michielini I'm currently studying the relationship between phenology and abundance of Massachusetts butterflies in the Crone Lab. We know that different organisms respond differently to anthropogenic changes like global warming and so we're essentially looking at how butterflies are changing their flight timing in response and how that affects their populations. To do this we're using citizen science data to see if butterfly species emerging earlier in the spring and persisting later in the fall are being seen more often. Email
	Nathaniel ("Atticus") Murphy I am a PhD student in the Crone Lab. I am interested in how animals move around in heterogenous landscapes and using field measurements of these movements to create useful, conservation-relevant models. To address these questions, I use wild populations of a declining and iconic native butterfly, the monarch. I also have interests in urban ecology and am working on several projects related to habitat creation through urban pollinator gardening. Email

Research Assistant

Leslie Spencer
I am a post-bac Research Assistant in the Crone Lab working on a DoD SERDP project related to butterfly phenology and climate change. I am fascinated by human/nature interactions particularly related to pollination ecology and land-use change. I received my B.S. in Biology and a minor in Food Systems from Tufts in May 2021. My previous work includes studying orchid bees in Costa Rica, predicting the pollinator-friendliness of coffee farms using spatial models, and studying native bees and wildflowers in Minnesota prairies. In my free time, you can find me hiking, camping, growing (and eating!) food, picking flowers, and biking along the Charles.

Lab Manager