Serving others has always been a passion of mine. It started with volunteering with my family at soup kitchens in the greater Minneapolis, MN area when I was nine. I always loved seeing the smiles on people's faces when they were served a warm, home-cooked meal.
As I got older, I served in different roles, including with the organization Feed My Starving Children to feed children across the world, North Dakota State University to create sandbags to prevent the Red River from flooding hundreds of homes on the banks of the river, and the Student Government Association and Graduate Student Congress to improve the lives of graduate students at the University of Kentucky. For exact details concerning my service experience, please see my CV on the home page. On this page, you will find stories concerning my more recent service experiences.
As I got older, I served in different roles, including with the organization Feed My Starving Children to feed children across the world, North Dakota State University to create sandbags to prevent the Red River from flooding hundreds of homes on the banks of the river, and the Student Government Association and Graduate Student Congress to improve the lives of graduate students at the University of Kentucky. For exact details concerning my service experience, please see my CV on the home page. On this page, you will find stories concerning my more recent service experiences.
2025 Undergraduate Biology Education Gordon Research Symposium Co-Chair
I had such a great time at my first Undergraduate Biology Education (UBE) Gordon Research Symposium (GRS) and Conference in the summer of 2023, that I ran to be a co-chair for the 2025 UBE GRS, for which I was elected along with Erika Williams. Currently, Erika and I are working on establishing a theme for the symposium, and we are excited to continue planning an exciting symposium that brings trainees in UBE (i.e., graduate students and post docs) together for a fantastic opportunity to present research and network.
If you have yet to hear about the UBE GRS, check out the description for the 2023 UBE GRS here: https://www.grc.org/undergraduate-biology-education-research-grs-conference/2023/
Pictured below is the awesome group of graduate students and postdocs that attended the 2023 UBE GRS. Erika Williams is pictured in the front row, third from the left, and I am pictured in the front row as well, fifth from the left.
If you have yet to hear about the UBE GRS, check out the description for the 2023 UBE GRS here: https://www.grc.org/undergraduate-biology-education-research-grs-conference/2023/
Pictured below is the awesome group of graduate students and postdocs that attended the 2023 UBE GRS. Erika Williams is pictured in the front row, third from the left, and I am pictured in the front row as well, fifth from the left.
Gross Out Camp
This summer, I educated a different crop of students through Gross Out Camp, a science experience for campers entering first through fourth grade (ages 6-10). It’s taught by expert naturalists and instructors with advanced science degrees, and the campers explore their world to discover zoology in the form of local critters!
Pictured here, you can see we took the campers to a creek to look for tadpoles, water snakes, bugs, and plant life. Teaching the campers about different stages of life for frogs, the process of photosynthesis, and about the differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes were among of my favorite lessons.
Pictured here, you can see we took the campers to a creek to look for tadpoles, water snakes, bugs, and plant life. Teaching the campers about different stages of life for frogs, the process of photosynthesis, and about the differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes were among of my favorite lessons.
