I was born and raised in North Carolina. Growing up, I was always fascinated by animals. I would run to the TV on Saturday mornings to watch Steve Irwin. I always knew my career was going to center around animals in some capacity. It wasn’t until I took an animal behavior course in undergraduate where I identified the field that had captured my interest for so long. I went to undergraduate school at North Carolina State University where I did a BS in Zoology. Being an R1 school, I decided to join an anatomy and functional morphology research lab. I completely fell in love and knew that this is what I wanted to spend my life doing.

I moved to Huntsville, Texas to complete a MS in Biology at Sam Houston State University. My thesis was on the cranial variation of the Amphisbaenian genus Zygaspis. Now, I have joined the Kemp Lab at the University of Texas at Austin as a research technician. I am working on the Anolis project where I segment out cranial elements using the software program Avizo. This experience will continue to develop my skills and will help me become a better candidate for a PhD program.