I am an Environmental Sciences PhD Candidate with Dr. Lori Neuman-Lee and Dr. Virginie Rolland at Arkansas State University. I am interested in how individuals modulate their physiology (primarily immune/endocrine function) under different contexts, like reproduction, illness, and habitat-specific conditions. I aim to understand how these patterns on the individual level impacts population health and dynamics. Broadly, I am interested in the diversity and resilience of animals, people, and the environment. Science communication and outreach is a passion and I integrate this passion into my work.
In Fall 2025, I was featured in The Journal of Experimental Biology as an Early Career Researcher, following the publication of my work, "Sex-specific immune component contribution to Escherichia coli killing ability in Trachemys scripta elegans." My M.S. project with Dr. Neuman-Lee examined immune and endocrine tradeoffs in freshwater turtles in the context of reproduction and I successfully defended it in June 2021! Click here for the link to a paper I just published from my M.S. project. My dissertation project launches from the foundation my M.S. project built and I am excited about the direction my research is headed. Through my project, I found love for both the lab, field, and mentoring. I serve on the BioDiversity Committee, the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion committee of the Biological Sciences department and act as the College of Sciences and Mathematics Graduate Student Representative on the AState Academic Integrity Committee. I managed social media for a professional society, Herpetologists' League and copy-edit Herpetological Review for the Society of the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. I mentor high school students, undergraduate students, and new graduate students. I am interested in pursuing a career in research positions in zoos/aquariums/NGOs or at a non-R1 academic institution. I love my research and I love helping others get where they'd like to be, as well! I came to A-State as a graduate student in Fall 2018 after serving two years as an AmeriCorps member in which I worked with turtles and birds in wildlife rehabilitation and conservation contexts at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. I earned my B.A. in Animal Behavior in 2016 from Bucknell University. During my undergraduate career I joined the Takahashi Lab, which exposed me to research in herpetology. Outside of my scientific interests, I enjoy hiking, cooking, painting, styling an outfit, and adventuring. I love and care for a bowtie-wearing tabby cat, Whiskey, a very vocal aussie-hound mix, Slim, a Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula, Teva, a rescued three-toed box turtle, Cornelia, a rescued yellow-bellied slider, Lemon, a bullsnake, Earl, and a former stray cat, CeCe. I am a former sorority president, a singer (a cappella and choirs), and a first generation student. I grew up in Southern New Jersey, resulting in a love for Philly cheesesteaks, a fast manner of speaking, and a yearning for both city and the sea. |
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