Born and raised in Kansas City, MO, I am a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and a current Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Kansas.

Eight years ago, I left my hometown and embarked on an educational journey across the Midwest. Needless to say, it's been quite an adventure!

I began my undergraduate degree at Simpson College (Indianaola, IA) in 2017, where I was a student-athlete and George Washington Carver Fellow. During my summers, I interned at Kansas State University's Department of Chemistry and at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center (Manhattan, KS). In 2020, I graduated from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with Honors and High Distinction.

In 2020, I moved to Purdue University to study molecular plant-pathogen interactions in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. My research focused on understanding how tomato roots recognize and respond to soil-borne bacterial pathogens at the cellular level. Additionally, my graduate training included intensive professional development in teaching philosophies and practices, as well as membership in several future faculty programs.

Recently, I joined the University of Kansas Center for Genomics to evaluate flagellin-mediated immune responses in maize roots, linking receptor activity to microbiome composition and overall effects of immunity on plant growth and phenotypic plasticity in hybrid maize. This project was funded through the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, and works to translate molecular biology to real-world agricultural applications.

Moving forward, I hope to work at a primarily undergraduate institution with a focus on increasing the representation of Native American students in plant science and other areas of STEM. I hope to put a particular emphasis on the importance of overlapping Indigenous knowledge and growing practices with host resistance studies.