Bio
The road to graduate school has taken me across the country and up and down the West coast. I grew up in Michigan and headed westward after graduating high school. I first got interested in botany at a community college I was attending while waiting to get my residency in Washington state, but chose a different academic route when I began my studies at The Evergreen State College. I do not regret my departure from biology in my early years because my studies at Evergreen gave me a unique creative perspective; I studied social and film theory, American literature and media production. Upon receiving my BA, I relocated to the Bay Area that has been my home since 2002.
Since moving to San Francisco and resuming my study of botany, I realized how much plants inspire and challenge me. I was a post-bac student at San Francisco State University from 2005-2008, and I completed science and math course work in preparation for a graduate program. My time at SFSU gave me a chance to explore many areas of plant biology, but in the end chose to study with Dr. Robert Patterson doing molecular systematics. Courses such as plant taxonomy, plant ecology, wetland ecology, plant anatomy, and plant physiology have given me a strong foundation from which to start my explorations as a graduate student. Aside from hunting for Leptosiphon and Linanthus, dissecting flowers, and microscopy, I also love photography, sewing, and crafting.
I'm currently teaching a general botany lecture/lab at College of San Mateo and a lab for biology majors at SFSU. I believe that my approach to teaching science empowers my student body to more fully understand the core concepts of biology. By employing teaching strategies that encourage participation in the classroom and infusing course material with up-to-date scientific news and case studies, I hope that many of the core concepts I teach my students will not soon be forgotten. The process of designing and teaching lesson plans is also a meaningful process for me. Applying these components of my teaching philosophy to my lesson plan each week makes me a more enlightened educator and scientist. I love to teach!