My Background
Early Years
I grew up in Pearland, Texas, a suburb of Houston. While I’ve been lucky to have opportunities to travel to some incredible places across the country and the world for research and extracurriculars, I’ve always been drawn back to Houston for the incredible diversity of cultures, food, and biology!
Undergraduate
I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Houston, receiving a B.S. in biology. This was where my interest in Evolution and Ecology research was first sparked. I worked with multiple campus labs on various projects ranging from studying the ecology of mud crabs on manmade oyster reefs to constructing and exploring models of evolutionary landscapes. I even had the opportunity to travel to the Galapagos islands to help graduate students there with projects on local fauna and spent a summer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City investigating the phylogenetics and microbiomes of clownfish-hosting sea anemones.
Undergraduate Research Photos
Some of the best pictures I’ve taken (or that have been taken of me) from my undergraduate research experiences!