Post-Doctoral Research Fellow | The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (2011-2014)

Ph.D. (Organic Chemistry) | The University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA(2011)

B.S. (Chemistry) | The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA (2006)

Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) Program (2015-present): I am an Assistant Professor of Practice and a Research Educator (RE) for the Bioactive Molecules (BAM) Research stream in the UT Freshman Research Initiative. BAM is an undergraduate research laboratory and extension of the Martin Research Group focused on engaging  students in authentic research experiences in synthetic organic, medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. Specifically, our research goal is to design and synthesize small organic molecules that have the potential to bind tightly and selectively to biologically significant proteins. In addition to my role as an RE, I also manage the FRI Ambassador program and a FRI Science Communication course for undergraduate peer mentors to generate engaging creative content related to their stream research to educate the general public. 

FRI Communications Coordinator (2015-present): My role is to raise the profile of the FRI program to improve student, alumni, and community engagement, especially as this relates to development activities. I also manage and create content for FRI social media accounts, the FRI website, as well as FRI news stories and promotional materials related to undergraduate research. I also coordinate facilities tours for visiting faculty, administrators, high school students and teachers, donors, etc.

A-3 Faculty Committee on Committees (2019-22, Chair 2021-22, Vice Chair 2020-21): The function of A-3 University Standing Committee is to advise with the president on personnel for standing committees of the General Faculty and the uses to be made of the committee system; to make recommendations to the Faculty Council regarding changes in composition, functions, and responsibilities of standing committees, including term limits and voting rights of committee members.

CNS Professional Track Committee (formerly NTTF) (2020-2023): The CNS Professional Track Committee aims to strengthen and stabilize the non-tenure track faculty and acknowledge the important role they play in the college’s learning community.

CNS Professional Track Policy & Guidelines Sub-Committee (2020-2023, Co-Chair 2021-22): The P&G Committee focuses on issues related to faculty promotion, third year review, and the evaluation with aims to make the processes more transparent. In addition, this committee works with the CNS Climate Committee to gather useful data to better inform future policy.

Research Collaborator for the UT High School Research Initiative Program (HRI) (2016-present): The UT High School Research Initiative (HRI) program is an inquiry training resource center, providing dual-enrollment research courses and inquiry resources for local Austin high schools. As a Research Collaborator, my role was to act as a resource and generate content and activities related to organic chemistry research in drug discovery accessible for multiple high school classrooms around the Austin area.