I was born in Sarasota, FL in 1984 and grew up in Tampa, FL.  I attended Hillsborough High School where I graduated from the International Baccalaureate program while playing 3 varsity sports (basketball, track, softball), participating in show choir, and other various clubs. My high school Chemistry teacher influenced me to pursue Chemistry in college, even though my previous aspirations were to become a psychologist.

 

Wanting to live in a new environment, I attended a private, liberal arts institution, Elon University, in Burlington, NC where I majored in Chemistry and minored in Spanish. I did research with Dr. Karl D. Sienerth in the Chemistry Department on the synthesis and characterization of a novel palladium complex and assaying its catalytic feasibility in carbon dioxide using electrochemical techniques. My extracurricular experiences were quite extensive, ranging from walking-on to the varsity track and field team, being President of the Gospel Choir, an Orientation Leader, radio DJ, to leading a historically African-American sorority, Zeta Phi Beta.

 

In November of 2006, I officially joined the Moore Group and began working in the self-healing group at the Beckman Institute. My previous summer research experiences included working at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton,VA in 2004 for Mrs. Gilda A. Miner in the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch, Advanced Aircraft Materials Group optimizing the photo and thermal cure processes of self-metallizing films. In 2005, as part of the C enter on Polymer Interfaces and Macromolecular Assemblies Program, I conducted research at the University of California at Berkeley for Dr. Matthew B. Francis on the d esign and synthesis of reagents for the construction of protein-based bioimaging agents.

In my spare time, I enjoy running/working out, watching or playing sports, singing, stepping, and watching movies.