I am currently a PhD student and NSF-GRFP Fellow in Dr. Santiago Herrera's research lab at Lehigh University. My research will bring me to hydrothermal vents in the Eastern Pacific and to deep-sea coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. I'll be using genomics to study the dispersal, recruitment, and connectivity of benthic invertebrates. 

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I grew up in metro-Detroit and later moved to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to attend Northern Michigan University, where I studied ecology and mathematics. Upon graduation, I was a guest student at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where I fell in love with larval ecology and the deep sea. Conducting science at great depths requires creativity and an understanding of electronics, so I then gained skills in robotics as a laboratory technician at Harvard University. 

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Throughout my graduate education, I hope to make STEM education more equitable by holding universities accountable in becoming anti-racist institutions. I also aim to bring the ocean to young aspiring scientists in land-locked regions of the US.

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This blog serves as a window into life as a budding marine biologist and a way to share my journey through graduate school.

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