I received my Ph.D from the University of Virginia in the Department of Environmental Sciences. I worked with Professor David Carr, the Director of Blandy Experimental Farm, quantifying the effects of elevated ground-level ozone on 8 native and 5 invasive tree species common to mid-Atlantic temperate forests.  

I arrived at Virginia after earning a B.S. from the Honors College at the University of Houston in Biology and Geology (2005).  My Honors thesis work examined how past host-preference affected the future host choice of the parasitic marsh plant Cuscuta indecora. Some of my other work included a collaboration between the University of Texas’s LBJ Wildflower Center on The Pulling Together Initiative, a state-wide program to help the public address issues of invasive plants and pests.

I am currently teaching at The Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, MD.