In the past two decades, I’ve been on a winding path through different corners of the scientific research and applied-science worlds. While earning my PhD at Harvard University, I researched malaria biology and transmission at the Harvard School of Public Health, working with and learning from fellow researchers and clinicians in immunology, infectious disease, public health, and pharmacology, as well as industry drug development professionals.

I hold a BS in Plant Sciences from Cornell University’s School of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In addition to academic research experiences in plant breeding and field biology, I increased my hands-on experience through internships at a commercial farm in Oregon and at the nonprofit Native Seeds/SEARCH seed bank in Arizona. I’m also a lifelong gardener and plant enthusiast.

Since 2016, as a scientific writer and consultant, I’ve been privileged to work with scientists and engineers in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, bio-manufacturing, and agriculture, as well as with physicians and medical researchers who work within and outside academia. My work as a scientific writer and workshop rapporteur for the National Academy of Sciences has brought me into contact with professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds.

My agriculture-related writing experience includes plant pathology, plant genetics, gardening techniques, and veterinary virology, and I’ve provided scientific mentoring for agricultural researchers internationally through the Gates Foundation-funded AgShare Today project.

In Project Bridge, I am exploring how scientific research can better serve society by providing practical value, by involving members of the public in influencing the directions of science, and by working to correct flaws in the way science works today.

Education
PhD Chemical Biology, Harvard University, April 2015. Dissertation research on malaria transmission; the Marti Lab, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health.
BS Plant Science, Cornell University, January 2008.