I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest where my backyard provided many opportunities to study and enjoy nature. I received my B.A. in Geology at Whitman College analyzing the geochemistry of Columbia River Basalt paleosols. Following graduation, I completed an internship at the U.S. Geological Survey as a member of the physical properties team in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core processing lab. I took a gap year with the Fulbright Program to teach English in Germany before getting my M.S. in Geology at Central Washington University (CWU). My time at CWU was spent chasing paleotsunamis in south-central Chile.
I am currently a PhD candidate working with Dr. Benjamin Horton. My research is focused on understanding both short- and long-term coastal landscape changes caused by natural hazards. I recently spent time in the South Pacific Islands characterizing the overwash sediment deposited by Tropical Cyclone Pam. My other projects take me back home where I study coastal land-level change caused by Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes. The work I do blends well with my love of traveling, learning languages, and photography.