Born and raised in the north suburbs of Chicago, I completed an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 2011. While there, I double-majored in Biology and Geology and graduated with Departmental Honors. As an undergraduate, I participated in field research in the Big Horn Basin in north-central Wyoming. I used stable isotopes form paleosol carbonate nodules to develop a novel method for proxying paleo-pCO2 during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. After I graduated from Northwestern, I stayed on at the University as a research technician in the Sedimentary Geology Laboratory. I worked there for two years until I decided to return to graduate school.
In the summer of 2013 I packed up my Subaru and made the long drive to Laramie with my dog, Locy. Almost immediately after I arrived in town, I adopted my second dog, Aspen. Balance between home life and work life is the key to happiness in graduate school. I spend the majority of my freetime hiking with the dogs in the nearby Laramie and Snowy Ranges, enjoying all of the wonderful activities that make mountain life so exciting. I love mountain biking, climbing, backpacking, camping, snowboarding, snowshoeing - you name it!