Welcome to my personal website! đź‘‹
I first became involved with research through Dr. Ryan Wong, a Professor of Biology at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He is broadly interested in trying to understand the contributing factors to variation in animal behavior, particularly on a neural and molecular basis. In the lab, we investigated the mechanisms underlying stress coping styles and related behaviors in zebrafish. I assisted with these projects by feeding and monitoring the zebrafish while maintaining cleanliness in the laboratory per Dr. Wong’s instructions. I also performed water changes and chemical assessments on a weekly basis. I learned how to create a brine shrimp hatchery and maintain the housing system.
I continued to advance my research skills at Northwestern University on the Chicago campus as an animal care technician in the aquatics facility. Under the guidance of Dr. Jacek Topczewski, I learned various skills such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genotyping, via fin clipping, and gel electrophoresis. To expand upon those skills, I transitioned to a research support role at the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease where the goal of my research was to model frontotemporal lobar degeneration in mice. I not only managed the entire mouse colony, but I also performed all husbandry duties such as tail snipping, ear tagging, and PCR genotyping to maintain our transgenic mouse strains. Last year, I was able to present my findings for this study at the Society of Neuroscience.
I currently work as a research technician in the Department of Neurobiology where my duties have expanded to managing a lab and zebrafish colony and being responsible for the training and supervision of the undergraduates for fish care.
When I am not building up a zebrafish army for world domination, I like to hang out with my husband and fur babies at a local brewery or watch a movie.
