I research conservation-focused taphonomy and paleobiology in terrestrial systems using small mammals as indicators of broader ecological changes. My goal is to use taphonomic methods to quantify changes in both taxonomic and functional diversity in the Great Basin, analyzing rodent death assemblages found in caves that also contain records of human activity at the end of the Holocene. Contrary to the common belief that anthropogenic impacts to ecosystems began with the Industrial Revolution, humans have been altering environments for much longer. I aim to understand how environmentally sensitive organisms have responded to the intersection of anthropogenic impacts and climate change over millennial time scales.