About

I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and attended public schools. When I started my undergraduate degree I was initially in the Humanities department as an international relations and public policy major, which required a foreign language track. I switched to the Mellon College of Science after one semester, but continued studying Mandarin Chinese throughout my undergraduate career. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, I accepted a research technician position at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in the Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapies Division. Although most of the patients that came through our lab had genetic disorders,  I attended weekly research symposiums and became acutely aware of the prevalence of environmentally caused ailments.

 

I am passionate about complex systems and problem-solving, and decided to tackle the root of many health issues, pollution. I took night classes in minerology, geology, and management of environmental non-profits. After almost 4 years in medical research, I started my PhD at the University of Pittsburgh in Geology and Environmental Science.  I find the interplay between environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, and health to be excitingly complex and urgently problematic.

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Alaska is at the forefront of global environmental change. I moved here to bare witness to climate change and play a role in the necessary transition to a circular economy. My current work has pivoted towards more applied research, but I will always continue to study the impacts of warming and pollution on lifeforms of all shapes and sizes.