Ashley double majored in Biology and Wildlife Science at Virginia Tech. She joined the Hopkins lab in 2011 as an undergraduate volunteer helping with freshwater turtle husbandry. She also worked as a volunteer for Sarah DuRant’s project while examining the effects of incubation temperature on wood ducks.
Ashley gained more research experience on a REU project funded by the National Science Foundation (Research Experiences for Undergraduates). She worked with Dr. Dana Hawley in the Biology Department at Virginia Tech. Her research examined changes in corticosterone and various cytokine levels in house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) during the course of an infection with the bacterium Mycoplasma gallisepticum.
In the summer of 2012, Ashley rejoined the Hopkins lab as a field technician on the Kingston coal ash spill project. After graduating in Spring 2013, she started a Ph.D. program at Oklahoma State under Dr. Sarah DuRant. Ashley’s broad research interests include maternal effects, disease ecology, and ecological immunology.