- I am currently a 4th year PhD student at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB, focusing on applied marine ecology - specifically pollution, conservation/restoration, and economics.
- I am funded by the Harriet G. Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship (via NASA/UNCFSP), which is instrumental in supporting women and minorities pursuing science. Taking part in their last conferences has given me a whole new appreciation for promoting minority-targeted education.
- I spent 2005-6 in the NSF-funded Economics and Environmental Science IGERT program, which trains Economists and Ecologists to speak each others' languages and collaborate. Through this program I received an MA in Economics and obtained the tools necessary to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of Istanbul's restoration of the Golden Horn estuary, a fascinating case study. I hope to apply this training to a future career in research and policy.
- I was funded by the American Meteorological Society in 2004-5 due to my interdisciplinariness, and through this program I spent a week in DC learning about policy and government, which was very cool.
- I graduated from UCLA in 2003, where I majored in Marine Biology and Atmospheric, Oceanic & Environmental Science. I spent 2000-2001 in the East/West (now Three Seas) Program through Northeastern University, which I highly recommend for budding Marine Biologists.
- I went to Palisades High School (Los Angeles, CA), class of 1998.
- Fun (educational) facts...
º My first real research project was completed in Jamaica, nice place to spend a few months.
º In 2003 I represented UCLA at the Council on Undergraduate Research in Washington, D.C. and took the opportunity to talk to my representatives about... sewage!
º My marine biological inspiration was my big brother Dave - we used to smash urchins and feed them to anemones when I was young... the good old days
