Kelsie is broadly interested in the genetics of adaptation, diversification, and conservation biology. She earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University in 2021, where she studied the underlying genetic architecture of hybridization, speciation, and population declines in Australian grass finches. As a PhD student and NSF graduate research fellow in the Edwards Lab, she hopes to explore the role of epigenetic-mediated gene by environment interactions in adaptation to unpredictable and arid environments in order to predict the adaptive capacity of species that are subject to these current environmental challenges with climate change.