I am a PhD student at the University of Washington, studying Environmental Micorbiology and Astrobiology.

My dissertation topic is: what are the genetic and chemical mechanisms by which symbiotic plant microbes dissolve mineral nutrients to make them bioavailable to plants, and how can these interactions be leveraged to enhance terrestrial and lunar agriculture?

My background is in microbiology, and I am currently working on how to incorporate plant ecophysiology, -omics techniques (RNA-seq, proteomics, metabolomics, etc.), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (specifically XANES), and geochemistry into understanding how to make regolith-based agriculture a reality using symbiotic plant microbes.

My space biology interests are Space Crop Production, Space Microbiology, and Closed Ecosystems/ Bioregenerative Life Support Systems.