I am a Ph.D. candidate interested in phytoplankton ecology and the abiotic factors that shape microbial communities. I employ experimental, molecular, and modeling approaches to investigate the role of environmental variables, such as temperature and nutrients, in driving phytoplankton physiology, community structure, and biogeography. My goals with this research are to improve our mechanistic understanding of phytoplankton ecology and our predictive capacity to decipher how communities may be altered with environmental change. I received my Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado Boulder where I studied Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, and pursued research in vaccine biotechnology. Upon graduation, I taught high school chemistry through the Teach for America program.