My general interest in neuroscience began in an introductory course to brain and behavior. From there I began to explore the relationship between the environment and the central nervous system while volunteering in Dr. Rodney Swain's laboratory at UWM, where I fell in love with science. From there I decided to pursue a Masters degree in Behavior Analysis with Dr. Swain where we used behavioral analytic techniques to examine the cerebellar role in complex behaviors.
During my time in the military I became very interested in traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and how the brain responds to neural insult. This led me to get my doctoral degree at SIU with Dr. Michel Hoane where we examined the effectiveness of several neuroprotective compounds in preclinical trials of traumatic brain injury.
Following my doctoral degree, I wanted to receive more training in cellular and molecular neuroscience so that I could put all of the pieces together. I joined Dr. Marion Buckwalter's laboratory at Stanford University as a postdoc to study the neuroinflammatory response to stroke. With this diverse training background I recently started my own laboratory where we examine the cellular, molecular, and behavioral responses to neural injury like traumatic brain injury or stroke.
On a personal level, I grew up in the Midwest, but I have quickly been adapting to the beach lifestyle in Wilmington, NC. When I am not working vigorously in the laboratory, I enjoy many sports including long distance running, volleyball, snowboarding, and most water sports (wakeboarding, kiteboarding, and surfing).
