I am currently a Geology PhD candidate at the University of Kansas, focusing my research on analog materials for Mars and Ocean Worlds using Raman spectroscopy. I obtained my master’s degree from Kansas State University in 2021. During that time, I worked on developing a Raman calibration for chlorite minerals, which also has implications for Mars research. During my PhD and M.S. I also interned at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Origins and Habitability Lab in both the summers of 2021 and 2022. At NASA JPL, I used machine learning to classify different types of spectra (XRD, IR, LIBS, and Raman) from iron minerals to improve identification of these minerals. 

In 2018, I graduated from Kansas State University, accomplishing a remarkable feat as a triple major. I earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry, Geology, and Geography. Throughout my undergraduate years, I was lucky to be a team member on ChemCam (LIBS) on the Mars Curiosity Rover and spent three summers at Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

My career goal, after completing my doctorate, is to work at a national laboratory conducting planetary research on liquid-rock interactions on the surfaces of Mars and/or Titan. I aim to use data sets from current or past missions, participate in spacecraft operations, and/or analyze and characterize astromaterials samples. Once I reach mid or senior career level, I want to be a principal investigator of a science instrument on a NASA Flagship mission or be the project scientist of a mission in NASA’s New Frontiers program. 

On top of my research, I have been actively engaged in science communication since 2013, presenting at or organizing over 80 successful events. These events have reached more than 7,000 participants, contributing to the dissemination of scientific knowledge in an accessible and engaging manner.