About Me
I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Oregon, advised by Dr. Samantha Hopkins, and a Predoctoral Fellow in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian Institution working with Dr. Stewart Edie and Dr. Kay Behrensmeyer.
I received my B.S. in Evolution and Ecology from The Ohio State University and completed an undergraduate thesis on the evolution and ecology of bite force in geomorph rodents under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Calede.
Research Interests
- Methods in paleoecology: Developing computer vision methods, particularly convolutional neural networks (CNNs), to determine dietary ecology in extant and extinct small mammals.
- Community paleoecology: Investigating functional shifts in small mammal communities of western North America across the Oligo-Miocene, a time marked by significant tectonic activity, climatic change, and ecosystem transitions.
- Dark data: Utilizing unpublished fossil specimens ("dark data") in museum collections to improve our understanding of species diversity.
Publications
- Flores, Deanna F., Ball, Madeline P., Famoso, Nicholas A., and Samantha S.B. Hopkins. In review. "Additions to the Lonerock small mammal assemblage from the John Day Formation of Oregon, USA." Journal of Paleontology.
Curriculum Vitae
My full CV is available as a PDF here.