Courtney was involved in the project "Finding Alternatives to Control the Invasive fly Philornis downsi" since 2013 when she was studying for her Masters at University of Missouri- Saint Louis. Her research was focused on evaluating whether this invasive parasitic fly is a vector of diseases of birds or insects.

After graduating, Courtney worked with CDF to find a solution for Philornis downsi and since then spent numerous hours trying to help us understand its reproductive biology and how it interacts with Galapagos birds.