About Dr. Swartz

I am an ecologist and assistant professor in the department of Environmental Studies at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. My research supports the reconciliation of biodiversity conservation with human wellbeing in landscapes where people life, work, and play. I love studying ecology in human-shaped environments like farms, cities, and backyards.

I grew up in Virginia near the Blue Ridge Mountains where I spent my summers and time after school wading in the creek near our house catching tadpoles and fish. Ever since then, I've been fascinated with plants, animals, and ecosystems. I completed my BS in Biology at Messiah College where I worked with Dr. Erik Lindquist studying the conservation of amphibian communities in vernal pools. In 2018, I earned a MS in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My MS research in Dr. Jim Miller’s Ecology and Conservation Biology Lab focused on the amphibian communities of human-constructed farm ponds in southern Iowa. I completed my PhD in Biology with Dr. Jocelyn Behm in the Integrative Ecology Lab at Temple University.

I’m a huge bird nerd! Check out my eBird Profile here! In my free time I also enjoy biking, hiking, camping, foraging for mushrooms, and spending time with my spouse and our two cats.