Biography
I grew up in southeast Michigan and graduated from Oakland University in 2017. In 2020, I moved to Knoxville, TN, to start a concurrent M.S./Ph.D. program in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee. Upon graduating from UT in 2026, I moved to West Michigan and started working at ÐßÐßÊÓƵ as an adjunct professor in the Biology Department. When I'm not in the classroom or lab, I love keeping active by putting in meters on my rowing machine and exploring West Michigan's parks and beaches with my fiancé Eric. At home, I'm usually hanging out with my tuxedo cat, Dolomite, hunting for vinyl at local record stores, or diving into a good book—whether it’s a sci-fi epic, a gripping mystery, or a popular science page-turner.
Education
- Ph.D. in Entomology, Plant Pathology, and Nematology (concentration in Bioinformatics, Genomics, and Molecular Interactions), University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2026)
- M.S. in Entomology and Plant Pathology (concentration in Bioinformatics and Genomics), University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2022)
- B.S. in Biology, Oakland University (2017)
Professional Experience
- ÐßÐßÊÓƵ, Adjunct Professor of Biology (2026–present)
- Davenport University, Adjunct Faculty in Biology (2026–present)
Academic Interests
I am broadly interested in the diversification of species and the genomic mechanisms maintaining reproductive isolation between populations. My doctoral research leveraged a large hybrid zone of invasive fire ants (Solenopsis spp.) in the southeastern United States as a natural laboratory. While native Solenopsis populations maintain strict genomic boundaries, invasive populations in the U.S. readily hybridize, offering an illuminating snapshot in time to dissect the genomic architecture of reproductive isolation and rapid adaptation.
Beyond my primary research, I bring broad bioinformatics expertise to interdisciplinary collaborations, with project experience spanning population genetics in ants (Tapinoma), de novo variant calling for crop population structure (frafra potato), genomic benchmarking in conifers (Chamaecyparis thyoides), and metagenomic pipeline development for insect-mediated (black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens) manure digestion.
As an educator, I am fiercely committed to expanding undergraduate research opportunities. During my four years as a graduate mentor for UTK’s Explore BiGG Data program, I introduced cohorts of undergraduate women from diverse geographic and academic backgrounds to population genomics, bioinformatics, and computational workflows. Mentoring these students through an intensive eight-week research lifecycle—from hypothesis generation to final data presentation—remains one of the most rewarding aspects of my academic career.
