Assistant Professor at the University of Montana

Field: Chemistry and therapeutic biomaterials

"Even as a child, I always had my own thoughts and ideas, and I never tried to fit in. I followed my heart and passion and tried to learn from all my experiences."

As a kid I was always interested in exploring, learning, and understanding how things work. My mom was a nurse and my father was a dentist, and I used to love hanging out at their work places. My job has me doing lots of different things like teaching college students, performing research experiments in my lab, mentoring students, and writing about research for others to read and learn from.

As a parent of 8-year old twins, both my husband and I try to spend as much time with the kids as possible, even if it involves having them in the lab with us. My extended family includes George, our adopted dog, and a Beta fish named Wally that graciously shares his tank with Mel, our Zebra Nerite snail.

Science helps you understand things and empowers you to challenge the status quo. Most importantly, science is all around us, available to everyone.