they/them/theirs
find me on twitter [at] mtn_ash
e-mail ​me at zemenic1 [at] msu [dot] edu
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Greetings! I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Forrestel Lab at UC Davis and the Weber Lab at Michigan State University.  I'm the Director and co-founder of Project Biodiversify and also work at Rocknasium :)

I did my PhD in the Ecology Graduate Group at UC Davis in the Rosenheim Lab with lots of support from the Vannette Lab. I am a community ecologist and working to make biology courses equitable and inclusive, and like thinking about ecological networks, community assembly, plants, insects, and microbes.

​Outside of academia, I enjoy a nice spectrum of activities from adventuring outside to relaxing with friends and family. 
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​Positionality statement
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I am a white, able-bodied, non-binary person from the Great Lakes State. I grew up in a privileged and academically-supportive household, which I attribute to most of the opportunities I've been able to experience in my science career. I believe that given the opportunity, everyone has the capability to critically examine the world we live in and contribute to our scientific knowledge base. It is my goal to use the privileges I have to enable folks from all backgrounds and identities to do so. Concurrently, I hope that by being open with the difficulties I have faced in science/society and other emotional hardships I have experienced in my life, I can provide a safe, empathetic, and supportive environment for students to feel empowered and thrive in, whatever their background may be. Read here on the importance of declaring/recognizing positionally.

​Why i love ecology
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Exploring and understanding the interconnectedness of life on earth is what gets my science juices flowing. 

​I am endlessly fascinated by the diverse natural histories of organisms that inhabit earth, and have a special fondness for peering into the tiny world of insects.

I am further grateful to be living in a time in which we can use fancy technology to dig even deeper into the micro-cosmos to understand how and why bacteria and fungi enable and mediate the interactions we observe everyday.

 other things i love to do

Bake tasty muffins

Adventure with Cosmo

Attempt to fathom spacetime

Play outside