BIOGRAPHY
Before enrolling at MSU as a Ph.D. student in the Plant Biology Program, I spent several years working full-time for a watershed group in Grand Rapids; while working there, I collaborated with civil engineers and urban planners to develop and implement watershed restoration and research. Together, these classes and experiences have given me a solid foundation in a very wide range of scientific fields, with further specialization in several disciplines. Many of my classes combined elements of basic science with what we might consider societal or political topics, e.g. stakeholder engagement in managing ecosystems, global trade and epidemiology, and food systems and policy. As a program coordinator for a watershed group, it was my job to understand my watershed’s hydrology, biology, and ecology so that I could develop and implement restoration plans that target specific nutrient, sediment, and bacterial load reductions.