A little bit about me… See my CV for all the details.

I started my academic life getting an Associates Degree from a community college in NY in Nursing. How I ended up doing that is a long story for another time… I worked in inpatient Psychiatry, then in the emergency room and ICU before deciding that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life inside. I knew I liked biology, and research, so I decided to move to Ann Arbor MI and get a degree in Biology.

Michigan was awesome, and I had an opportunity to work with some amazing people. Bobbi Low, Beverly Rathke, and Burt Barnes were extremely influential here.. I spent a lot of time in the School of Natural Resources, and learned to love being in the field, and doing research! In fact, I loved the study of the natural environment so much, I decided that grad school was for me, though like most, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

After Interviewing at Emory (Les Real), UC Davis (Ann Hedrick), and U or Kentucky (David Westneat), I decided to come to Berkeley to work with Eileen Lacey. There, I worked first to describe the mating system of Peromyscus eremicus, then on the relationship between sexual behavior and STD’s in 2 Peromyscus species, on monogamous, and one promiscuous. I received a NSF GRF and DDIG, as well as a UC Chancellors fellowship and a MVZ fellowship.

I stayed at Berkeley for my Post Doc, having received a NIH NRSA fellowship. I switched focus a bit to work in genomics, thought I stayed with Peromyscus.

A few random details:

1. I’m an open access advocate: I strive to publish all my work in open access journals, or in hybrid journals where open access comes with a fee. My work has been largely supported by the public, and it does not seem fair to put it behind a ridiculous paywall.
2. Social Media: I use Twitter to communicate with my colleagues, other scientists, and the general public. I envision a world where we all do this. Twitter helped me immensely during my job search, and will continue to provide support in the coming years. I will most certainly use it to communicate with students and in the classroom. You should totally follow me!