Being born and raised in Western Pennsylvania gave me an appreciation for cold weather and a hankering to attend the University of Pittsburgh! It was there where I earned my Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics and my fascination for genomics and development via my work with Dr. Miler T. Lee studying the cis-regulatory role of transposable elements in the Maternal-to-Zygotic transition in zebrafish. Going straight from undergrad into graduate school, I found my fascination for science peaked at Cornell through my rotation work with Dr. Andrew Grimson on neonatal CD8+ T cells in mice and Dr. Cedric Feschotte on transposable elements in humans. Today, I combine my new-found love of the immune system with transposable elements as a co-advised graduate student investigating the cis-regulatory contribution of transposable elements to the mouse adaptive immune system. Otherwise, I spend my time walking to experience the beautiful nature (and cold) of Ithaca, playing D&D, eating, sleeping, enjoying strategic board games, and playing chess, in no particular order.