Explainer, 02/2012
to Current
Company Name – City,
State
In this program, high school and college students called “explainers” conduct a number of educational programs geared toward younger visitors on air and space science and history. These programs include hands-on demonstrations, presentations in the observatory, small science experiments, and the maintenance of the program's online help center, Ask an Explainer.
Tutor, 06/2014
to Current
Company Name – City,
State
I Tutor students in biology, calculus, and chemistry courses. The Tutorzone is a study resource based out of Swem Library for the students of the College of William & Mary.
Undergraduate Researcher, 08/2013
to 03/2015
Company Name – City,
State
Dr. Mark Forsyth's lab focuses on the mechanisms through which bacterial pathogens cause disease. The model organism for his research is the cancer- and ulcer-causing bacteria, H. pylori. I manipulated a unique sequence on a gene in H. pylori which responds to changes in pH. I used molecular genetic techniques such as plasmid preparation, DNA isolation, plasmid transformation, bacterial transfection, and qRT-PCR.
Undergraduate Researcher, 02/2015
to Current
Company Name – City,
State
Dr. Christopher Del Negro's lab researches the neural origins of breathing. Specifically, this lab is interested in the interneurons and glia whose precursors express the homeobox transcription factor Dbx1, which putatively drive inspiratory rhythm and breathing movements. At this point I regularly perform immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. I have been working on a project to quantify Dbx1-derived neurons and glia in the respiratory core oscillator, dubbed the preBötzinger complex, in the medulla of Dbx1-reporter mice. Future directions include an exploration of molecular markers that may help sub-classify Dbx1-derived cells and thus identify, more specifically, the cellular rhythmogenic core.
