Experience

Verily

• United States
• Hospitals and Health Care
• 700 & Above Employee

• Scientist

  • Jul 2018 - Present

  South San Francisco I currently work as a biologist and field project manager on the Debug team (debug.com) for Verily Life Sciences. We work on reducing vector-borne disease by controlling mosquito populations through release of incompatible male mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria. I work on an interdisciplinary team and collaborate with software, hardware, and mechanical engineers as well as other scientists.



Penn State University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Graduate Fellow

  • 2013 - 2018

  State College, Pennsylvania Area My PhD dissertation focused on mosquito feeding behaviors and their consequences on mosquito fitness and disease transmission. I received a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges award during my third year of graduate school which allowed me to focus on applied aspects of mosquito feeding behavior including developing alternative diets to replace mosquito blood meals for insect mass rearing applications. Other projects I worked on during my PhD including exploring how… Show more My PhD dissertation focused on mosquito feeding behaviors and their consequences on mosquito fitness and disease transmission. I received a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges award during my third year of graduate school which allowed me to focus on applied aspects of mosquito feeding behavior including developing alternative diets to replace mosquito blood meals for insect mass rearing applications. Other projects I worked on during my PhD including exploring how mosquito immune responses alter host seeking behavior in mosquitoes and result in potential fitness consequences for vectors of human malaria, and mosquito dietary "decisions," looking at how intake of different macronutrients influence mosquito life history traits. I worked in Andrew Read's and Matt Thomas' labs at the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention Recipient (2014,2015) Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Grant Recipient Show less



Rice Magazine

• Intern

  • Feb 2013 - May 2013

  Houston, Texas Area During college, I worked for the Rice Magazine where I interviewed people of interest, wrote news briefs, wrote phote captions, helped manage the twitter account, pitched story ideas, and transcribed interview recordings.



Rice University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Lab Assistant

  • May 2010 - May 2013

  Houston, TX I studied size-dependent predator-prey relationships between species of dragonflies, frogs, toads and small arthropods. I also researched sex-biased dispersal patterns in invasive beetle species. The most intensive projects I worked on involved looking at ant-plant interactions to study threshold costs and benefits to maintain stable mutualisms which resulted in my first publication to the journal Ecology. I also became experienced in using Leica Application Suite software, Microsoft Office… Show more I studied size-dependent predator-prey relationships between species of dragonflies, frogs, toads and small arthropods. I also researched sex-biased dispersal patterns in invasive beetle species. The most intensive projects I worked on involved looking at ant-plant interactions to study threshold costs and benefits to maintain stable mutualisms which resulted in my first publication to the journal Ecology. I also became experienced in using Leica Application Suite software, Microsoft Office software and R.

• Undergraduate

  • Aug 2009 - May 2013

  Rice University, Houston, TX Varsity Cross Country and Track; Editorial Staff for Student Newspaper; Wellness Center Meditation Facilitator; Yoga; Ecology Research; barista at student-run Coffeehouse



The Rice Thresher

• Head Copy Editor

  • Mar 2010 - Feb 2013

  Rice University Management position. Organized worker shifts, managed hiring and training new editors, processing weekly payroll, edited articles for weekly student paper.



Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge

• Research Intern

  • May 2012 - Jun 2012

  Socorro, NM Performed research in the Chihuahuan desert on cacti-insect mutualisms. Work was related to the effects different tending ants have on the pollination of the tree cholla catus.



Texas Children's Hospital

• United States
• Hospitals and Health Care
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research volunteer

  • Dec 2010 - Dec 2011



Baylor College of Medicine

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Intern

  • Jan 2011 - Jun 2011

  Transcribed interviews, collected raw data from patient interviews and created PowerPoint presentations to quantify participant reactions and experiences with the Human Microbiome Project