About Me

I knew I wanted to study STEM from a young age. In middle school I was determined to become an astronaut (I applied for the 2021 astronaut corp but am still waiting for that phone call...) and identified a PhD in Astrophysics as the path to that career. Later on in high school, I became accomplished in piano and decided to attend JMU as a piano performance and physics double major. After having a phenomenal Calculus I teacher fall of my freshman year, I made the switch to major in math with a minor in physics and one class shy of a minor in music.

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I loved almost every math class I took and was fascinated by the idea of using math to solve complex problems in biology. I started an undergraduate research project with Dr. Anthony Tongen in the math department using engineering beam theory to model the highly extensible and elastic fibrin fibers responsible for blood clots. I quickly realized that engineering beam theory breaks down with the assumption of a highly elastic material and knew I wanted to go to graduate school to learn all the math so I could figure out the exact mechanics of fibrin fibers without the initial, limiting assumptions.

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Graduate school was very different from undergrad and I quickly realized that I loved research and applying math to biological programs so I switched from mathematics to bioengineering for my PhD. I quickly learned how beneficial it was for a modeler to known and understand the limits of biology. I also was fascinated by the mechanics of cells, which translate microscopic to macroscopic scales. The forces individual proteins can exert influence how a cell can sense and respond to external forces, which then play into how whole tissues and organs have different mechanical properties (i.e. bone is extremely stiff whereas the brain is extremely soft).

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Since graduate school I have continued to pursue research interests in using math and computers to build tools that help biologists and chemists understand, quantify, and plan experiments. In addition, I lead the JMU Department of Engineering in assessment efforts, math preparedness in students, and pedagogy techniques to build connections between the prerequisite STEM courses. From my personal experiences in being a woman in STEM, I am passionate about and actively participate in many organizations and workshops that educate and offer support to women and underrepresented populations in STEM.