Bio
I was born in the small town of Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania where I lived on a small farm for my childhood with parents and younger sister; I attended MMI Preparatory School for middle and high school. It was there that I gained my passion for research and teaching under the tutelage of Dr. David Stiller. Each year I was there I presented research at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) on topics ranging from determining friction coefficients for tires to killing termites with antibiotics. I found the scientific process extremely exciting and learned how to present my research to peers. In addition to PJAS, I actively tutored my fellow students in high school. I gained skills on relating subjects to my friends and found out how rewarding it was to master a subject; It was then that I decided I would like to attend graduate school. In addition to those activities I was also a member of Boy Scout Troop 207 where I earned the rank of Eagle Scout with the help of my scoutmaster C. Wayne Oberst. I played varsity tennis all four years of high school and was the valedictorian of my class.
My desire to do research led me to attend the Johns Hopkins University for my undergraduate studies. I decided to study Biomolecular Engineering at Hopkins due to it being a combination of engineering and biology, two subjects I was interested in and it being a unique way to study both. I started working with Dr. Marc Ostermeier in my sophomore year in his protein engineering lab. My research there focused on modification of an artificial protein switch his lab developed and studying its mechanism of allostery. At this point I was hooked and found out how much I would like research to play a part in my career choice. After three years of research I was awarded the department's best undergraduate researcher and Provost's research award as well as a Master's degree. In addition to research, I spent my nights working for the intramural sports program. I decided to attend Cornell University after graduating from Hopkins to continue working on Biomolecular Engineering problems under the tutelage of Dr. Matt DeLisa. Over the past five years I have been research a novel method of fusing proteins together after they have folded to make targeted therapeutic molecules and production of cellulases in E. coli to be used to break down grasses for biofuels. Throughout my undergraduate program, I realized how much I missed teaching and have had the opportunity to be a teaching assistant three times for an undergraduate senior laboratory and bioprocess engineering class. In the bioprocess engineering course I worked with Dr. Abe Stroock at developing the final design project as well as evaluating students on their progress throughout the class, reaffirming my desire to share knowledge with students and strengthening my own pedagogy. Outside of the laboratory and classroom I have several other hobbies including running, playing golf and tennis, and cooking CSA veggies.
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