I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Biology department of UMass Amherst, working in the lab of Lilian Fritz-Laylin. I am a cell biologist, interested in uncovering fundamental principles underlying cellular organization and dynamics. I am currently trying to understand how cytoskeletal networks evolve and diversify, with a particular focus on the microtubule cytoskeleton during cell division. I pursue this question in the emerging model organism Naegleria gruberi, a single-celled eukaryote which last shared a common ancestor with yeast and humans well over a billion years ago, and which has developed unique innovations in its microtubule cytoskeleton and its cell division machinery. My work has been supported by a Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Award (F32) from the National Institutes of Health (NIGMS).

I received my PhD in Biophysics at Stanford in the lab of Julie Theriot, and my MPhil from Cambridge in the lab of Pietro Cicuta. I have been fortunate to work on a wide range of problems in my training, including the influence of hydraulic and electrical forces on cell migration in vivo, and the physiology of bacterial cell size control during my Master’s.

I believe that everyone’s life can be enriched by an appreciation of science or by practicing the scientific method. More must be done to reduce the barriers to accessing scientific knowledge, and to combat the systems of oppression that obstruct the flourishing of anyone in a scientific career. To address some of the barriers faced by first-generation college students interested in STEM, I co-founded Stanford Future Advancers of Science and Technology, an outreach organization that partners students in Bay Area high schools with PhD mentors. Over the course of an entire year, students and mentors work together to design and carry out an original science project that matters to the student. In my 3 years with the organization I saw it expand from 50 students and 20 mentors to 180 students and 40 mentors across STEM disciplines.

Outside the lab I enjoy walks in the woods and improvising on the piano, and I have been recently exploring photography for fun, not just as a research tool.