In 2019, I won “Best Article” for Storyfest, the annual competition for the environmental storytelling platform Planet Forward. My article on dumpster diving had received a perfect score. One of the judges, former managing editor of Environmental News Larry Evans, called it “one of the best examples I have seen of the sort of storytelling Planet Forward seeks to encourage.” He also wrote that while I “might not convince you to dive into a dumpster… his story will convince you to consider just how much food is wasted every day in our current distribution system.”

Along with several other grand prize winners, I got to go on a storytelling expedition to the Galápagos Islands with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. While I was there, I wrote a story about the islands’ invasive goat population, and learned a great deal about wildlife photography from a National Geographic photographer.

My curiosity also led me to a lab here in Madison, Wisc., that used a revolutionary approach to physical therapy. In 2016, the Tactile Communication and Neurorehabilitation Lab was only just researching the impacts of neuromodulation in patient recovery, but the results had already been promising enough to catch my interest. I was fortunate to get access to the lab and a former patient to write a cover story for Madison’s most popular weekly, the Isthmus. The lab later reported to me that after my story ran, they saw a 75% increase in volunteers. Thanks to their research, clinics around the world use the Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS) to help neurology patients recover faster.

As a personal aside, I underwent PoNS therapy from February through May of 2024 for my own physical impairments. I can confidently report that my symptoms have vastly improved!

My technical writing experience has primarily been at the intersection of biological research and software development. As a technical writer at the biotechnology company Genentech, my goal was to ensure that scientists have all the resources they need to adopt new softwares easily and without too much disruption to their workflows. Making this happen involved interviewing both scientists and developers to align on goals, creating presentations, templates, wikis, graphics, and newsletters.

While I consider myself a lifelong learner, I also strive to be a lifelong teacher using my passion for sharing the knowledge I’ve acquired. I am an award-winning instructor and I am well versed in creating content in multiple forms.

In my free time, I enjoy writing and acting in short films, performing stand-up comedy, biking around Madison, baking cookies, and woodworking. 

Thank you for reading this far and I hope you enjoy exploring my website!