I graduated from Missouri State University with a BS in biology and chemistry minor. During my time in college, I participated in two Research Experience for Undergraduates Internships sponsored by NSF which provided exposure to the marine ecosystem and narrowed my interest to intertidal invertebrates. Following graduation, I moved to the Bahamas to work at Tiamo Resorts, an environmentally friendly resort on South Andros Island. After working at Tiamo, I moved back to Missouri and was employed as a chemist at an animal pharmaceutical company.

I am a doctoral student and am funded through an NSF IGERT Fellowship. I study the predator-prey interactions surrounding the Asian shore crab, an invasive species that was recently introduced and has rapidly colonized the intertidal zone of New England. I am particularly interested in how the replacement of the green crab by the Asian shore crab affects the algal abundance and composition on cobble beaches through indirect and direct effects. I also conduct research on the interaction between marine snail and algal epiphyte recruitment.