About Me

Academic

I received my undergraduate degree in biology from Texas Christian University in 2008, where I helped set up and run the TCU Purple Bike Program and tutored computer science classes. After graduation I worked at TCU as a research assistant with Dr. John Horner studying Sarracenia alata, before moving to Scotland to begin my MSc (master's degree) in Quantitative Genetics and Genome Analysis at the University of Edinburgh.

I received my MSc in the autumn of 2010, graduating with distinction, and took a position as a research assistant with Prof. Andrew Leigh Brown, where I began my work on HIV. Having been won over by the world of viruses, I formally began my PhD studies in the autumn of 2011.

In the autumn of 2014, I began my post-doctoral position with the PANGEA_HIV initiative, creating a stochastic, agent-based model that simulates realistic, customizable HIV epidemics. Datasets generated using this program are being used to assess phylogenetic methods.

Personal

I am very lucky to be a passport-holding American and British dual citizen, able to work and travel freely in the US and Europe. Growing up, I spent about two-thirds of my year in the US and one-third in the UK, meaning I'm very familiar with both cultures.

Though biology is my primary interest, I am very lucky to be able to integrate my love of programming into many aspects of my research, and can happily while away the hours immersed in code. I'm an armchair feminist and sociologist, and very much enjoy a good debate on any controversial topic. I have a fondness for the colour purple, cephalopods, potatoes, and cats.