I grew up in Corning, NY, home of Corelle, Pyrex, optical fiber, and Gorilla Glass. Life in Corning fostered in me an interest in materials science and environmental sustainability, motivating my training as an inorganic synthetic chemist during my undergraduate at Brandeis University. My biological journey began in earnest with my master’s degree in biochemistry at Brandeis, when I became captivated by the efficiency and diversity of chemistry accomplished by protein catalysts as compared to inorganic catalysts. Before coming to MCO, I worked at the Broad Institute in the laboratory of Prof. Feng Zhang, where my research focused on the application of Cas13 proteins as a viral detection tool (SHERLOCK) and for RNA editing (RESCUE). One aspect of the Zhang lab’s research that excited me is the mining of natural diversity to find biological systems, such as Cas13, that can be applied to human problems. I am looking forward to exploring my curiosity about evolution in biological systems – both natural and artificial. Although I am interested in fundamental biological questions, I am deeply concerned by the human-caused degradation of the natural world and hope to connect my research to helping the environment – perhaps addressing environmental remediation through the directed evolution of enzymes and small molecules. Outside of the lab, I love to play and perform chamber music: I am a classical pianist by training and am always looking for new friends with whom to perform! I am often also found on my bike exploring Boston and the surrounding areas, or catching up on sleep in random places.