For my full CV, please email me.
Employment
Cleves Lab (Carnegie Institution for Science)
Visiting scientist February 2023 – July 2023
BIOL 308: Ecological Dynamics (McGill University)
Teaching assistant Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2023
Kline and Connolly Labs (STRI)
Fulbright scholar October 2021 – August 2022
Vollmer Lab (Northeastern University)
Bioinformatics intern June 2020 – September 2020
Karp Lab (UC Davis)
Research associate May 2018 – May 2019
Cate Lab (UC Berkeley)
Undergraduate research assistant January 2017 – August 2019
Rice and Wheat Blast Project
Visiting scientist February 2023 – July 2023
- In collaboration with Dr. Phillip Cleves’ lab, we explored how symbiotic algae’s thermal sensitivities are driving divergent coral microbiome dynamics under thermal stress, using the emerging coral model system Aiptasia.
BIOL 308: Ecological Dynamics (McGill University)
Teaching assistant Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2023
- Develop and deliver course tutorials to approximately 85 students per term, with a particular focus on how the mathematical models presented are linked to sustainable development and resource management. Additionally, I develop and grade assignments and exams, and support student learning via weekly office hours
Kline and Connolly Labs (STRI)
Fulbright scholar October 2021 – August 2022
- Awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to conduct part of my PhD research at STRI, in collaboration with Dr. David Kline and Dr. Sean Connolly, both leading and conducting field-based surveys of our marked coral colonies in Panama’s Tropical Eastern Pacific, as well as employing marker-based sequencing and theoretical ecology approaches to characterize the microbial diversity of these reefs.
Vollmer Lab (Northeastern University)
Bioinformatics intern June 2020 – September 2020
- Established Symbiodiniaceae (symbiotic photosynthetic algae) taxonomy from Pocilloporidae corals’ sequences available on NCBI, via the statistical software R and the Compute Canada servers, and linked Symbiodiniaceae community composition to environmental parameters (i.e. degree heating weeks) via generalized least square (GLS) models and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA).
Karp Lab (UC Davis)
Research associate May 2018 – May 2019
- Designed a protocol using Giemsa-Wright stain to analyze blood smear samples from birds, and then performed white blood cell differentials and haemoparasite counts to quantify avian health.
Cate Lab (UC Berkeley)
Undergraduate research assistant January 2017 – August 2019
Rice and Wheat Blast Project
- Genotyped CRISPR-Cas9 generated lines of wheat (Triticum aestivum) via genomic DNA extractions and sequencing, to determine if the genes associated with the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae and bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas spp. susceptibility had been fully knocked-out
- Prepared and executed experiments using the CRISPR-Cas9 system to engineer baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to degrade cellulose like bread mold (Neurospora crassa) for biofuel production.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Biology: Neotropical Environment September 2019 – Present
McGill University and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)
NSERC CREATE in Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainability (BESS)
Supervisors: Dr. Rowan Barrett (McGill University) and Dr. Sean Connolly (STRI)
Bachelor of Science, Environmental Sciences | Minor in Science and Math Education (CalTeach) 2015-2019
University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
Honors thesis: Bird Health in California's Central Coast: Using Immunological Parameters to Understand the Impact of Land Use and Life History on Avian Communities," supervised by Dr. Claire Kremen
McGill University and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)
NSERC CREATE in Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainability (BESS)
Supervisors: Dr. Rowan Barrett (McGill University) and Dr. Sean Connolly (STRI)
Bachelor of Science, Environmental Sciences | Minor in Science and Math Education (CalTeach) 2015-2019
University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
Honors thesis: Bird Health in California's Central Coast: Using Immunological Parameters to Understand the Impact of Land Use and Life History on Avian Communities," supervised by Dr. Claire Kremen