About

I am a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS), advised by Dr. Mark Scheuerell in the Applied Ecology Lab. Prior to coming to SAFS, I completed my B.S. in Marine Biology at UCLA and worked as a research assistant in the Biological Oceanography Group at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). My research at both UCLA (with Dr. Paul Barber) and at MBARI (with Dr. Francisco Chavez) was focused on marine environmental DNA (eDNA), but on different parts of the eDNA workflow: at UCLA, I was primarily involved in work in the lab itself, while at MBARI my work concerned bioinformatics and data analysis. However, while I found eDNA research to be an exciting field with great potential, my desire to study population dynamics led me to come to SAFS, where I will be employing ecological and statistical modeling approaches to study marine fish populations.

I'm from San Francisco, California, and am lucky to have grown up exloring the West Coast and its beautiful and diverse nature. However, I didn't come to appreciate the wonderful marine ecosystems of the West Coast until I moved away from home. It wasn't until halfway through undergrad that I switched my major to Marine Biology; prior to making the change, I had been an Environmental Science major, with an interest in the environment and ecology but didn't know what specifically I was most interested in. Since that point, I've thoroughly enjoyed learning about and immersing myself in marine ecosystems, both in an academic setting and as a recreational activity. I got SCUBA certified in Monterey in 2019 and recently discovered a new hobby in fishing after learning the ropes through information I could find on the internet.

In my spare time, I enjoy playing music, baking, fishing, hiking, and watching and playing team sports.