I grew up outside of Cleveland, OH, in a town called Aurora. From there I went south to do my undergraduate at the University of Mississippi, where I picked up my first genetics/molecular biology experience in the lab of Joshua Bloomekatz. My project there involved finding the functional tissue location of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (pdgfra) during early cardiogenesis using zebrafish. I graduated a bit unsure if I wanted to pursue an MD or a PhD, so decided to head west for a technician job in the lab of Nathan Clark at the University of Utah to help me decide. There my work involved characterizing a large set of putative cis-regulatory elements presumed to play a role in eye development, also in zebrafish. It was this project that sparked my interest in the basics of transcription, especially how noncoding elements can work to influence it. Now, as a PhD student in the Genetics, Genomics and Development program I’m co-advised by Cedric Feschotte and John Lis. My work currently (not in zebrafish this time) focuses on utilizing nascent transcription mapping as a method for enhancing causative SNP identification in disease, as well as investigating the role of proteins involved in the early innate immune response. When I’m not in the lab you’ll find me reading, hiking Ithaca’s lovely trails, or playing volleyball (or tennis, basketball – anything I can find a partner for).