I’m a postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University and an avid science communicator with experience as a professional science journalist. In addition to communicating about my own research, I help other scientists promote and explain their science to the general public and also assist in editing grant proposals and manuscripts for clarity and readability. If you want help communicating your science, but don’t know where to start, contact me!
As a PhD student at UC Davis, I studied the factors that control gene expression in plants. In my free time, I explored a diversity of topics from agricultural economics to nutrition through science education and outreach activities. I write and make videos about food and agricultural science issues, exciting discoveries, and my experiences teaching science lessons to K-bacc students. I even helped found a UC Davis science outreach group called Science Says.
My volunteer activities as a graduate student lead to my selection as a Mass Media Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. As a AAAS Mass Media Fellow, I interned as a science reporter at the Washington Post.
I went to graduate school, because I wanted to make discoveries that would help farmers increase the yield, nutritional quality, and sustainability of their crops. While there, I discovered a love for basic science, and innovative ideas for solving the world’s problems.
As an intern working on Monsanto’s BioDirect platform, I gained an appreciation for the potential of biology to replace chemistry in many agricultural and pharmaceutical applications.
As a postdoc in Jean Peccoud’s lab at Colorado State University, I’m exploring a variety of issues related to the increased use of computers in life sciences research as well as gaining experience in synthetic biology and high throughput yeast genetics.
I have continued my science outreach activities as a postdoc. I assist in managing communications through our lab website and twitter account, and by writing stories for The Conversation. I have also served as an Assistant Features Editor for the journal The Plant Cell and am currently serving as the News Editor for the Oxford Journal Synthetic Biology. You can find a list of my peer-reviewed publications here and science news publications here.