About

Education

🎓 MESc, 2023 Yale School of the Environment

🎓 B.S., 2020 Wheaton College (IL), Environmental Science

Background

My interest in soil began with gardening on my parent’s small hobby farm on Camano Island, Washington. I loved searching for worms and beetles in my compost and thinking about how they helped my lettuce grow by keeping the soil healthy. Now, many years later, I’m still asking those same questions. How do soil animals contribute to ecosystem function in soil?

In the fall of 2019, I began my research career volunteering in the Soil Ecology Lab at The Morton Arboretum in Illinois while in college. I had just returned from an exciting summer of field ecology classes in the Black Hills and I couldn’t wait to dive into a world that bridged my interests in soil and ecology.

After completing two summers of projects as an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experience Fellow (REEF) at the arboretum, I decided to pursue a master’s with Drs. Oswald Schmitz and Marlyse Duguid at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE). I wanted to sharpen my research skills and make sure a career in academics was a good fit for me before starting on a Ph.D.

My master’s solidified my interest, and I now am a Ph.D. student with Dr. Mark Bradford at YSE.

Thanks for reading!🪲