My interest in conservation biology was sparked as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, where I investigated the impacts of non-native, eucalypt trees on native biodiversity. As a Ph.D. student, I examined the impacts of species invasions on plant diversity at local and global scales, while as a postdoc, I explored how biodiversity has changed on oceanic islands around the world as a consequence of species invasions. At Brown, I have continued to investigate the impact of species invasions, but most of my research effort is now aimed at understanding species extinction dynamics, species responses to climate change, and climate adaptation strategies that can conserve natural resources.