Biography

I am an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow working in the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  My expertise is in soil biogeochemistry with a focus on microbial carbon processing.  I am interested in how the physical heterogeneity of soil environments affects local chemistry and ability of microorganisms to decompose and respire organic carbon, thus linking the terrestrial and atmospheric carbon cycles.  My ultimate goal is to improve predictions of microbial carbon processing from spatially and temporally short timescales using field and laboratory work to landscape scales using machine learning and remote sensing.

I received a Ph.D. in Earth System Science from Stanford University in 2020 after completing an M.S. degree in Conservation Ecology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2014 with a focus on biodiversity and ecosystem function.  My alma mater is the College of William & Mary, where I received a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology in 2012.  I have extensive experience TAing inorganic, physical and organic chemistry in addition to soil science courses and have mentored teachers, high school and undergraduate students in both research and professional development contexts.