Research

As a biology student with multivalent interests in science and music, self-designed research is a core part of who I am and the work that I do.

Characterizing Microbial Diversity in the Bacterial Communities of Double Reeds Dr. Brian Piasecki, Lawrence University

I used IRB-approved human sampling, vacuum filtration, 16S rDNA metagenomics, and QIIME2 software analysis in an attempt to elucidate links between player maintenance habits and the diversity of bacteria that ends up colonizing woodwind equipment.

Snake Systematics Research Assistant, Dr. Robert Jadin, Lawrence University

In addition to assistant with manuscript review in the discipline, I am calculating pairwise distance matrices based on individual snake DNA to identify potential new and unique species of Lachesis vipers on the island of Trinidad

Characterizing the effect of bovine RNase A on viability and growth in S. cerevisiae using CRISPR-Cas9, Dr. Kim Dickson, Dr. Eric Lewellyn, and Tomás Aviles, Lawrence University

We used CRISPR gene editing technology to insert mammalian genes into yeast cells and designed a procedure to examine the effect of this gene editing on yeast cell growth.

Revealing the Voice of Air Pollution Through Sonification of Particulate Matter, Dr. Deanna Donohue, Lawrence University

Created a sound mapping of air pollution data from Fremont, WI using algorithmic composition in the audio scripting software SuperCollider as well as on-site field recordings. This project was designed to engage listeners of all scientific backgrounds with the important issue of air pollution. I went on to present a poster of my work at the LU Research Fellowship and a10-minute talk at the 2025 American Geophysical Union conference in New Orleans last December.

Lawrence University Marine Program, Dr. Bart de Stasio, Bonaire French Caribbean

I worked within a small team of students to design an experiment and utilize UV-blue light photography to investigate the effect of bleaching and disease damage on fluorescence intensity in reef-building corals.