My dissertation focuses on developing biological tools for the degradation of plastics and other polymers from the protein to the organism level. Through my PhD I have: - Collaborated on the characterization of engineered variants of the poly(ethylene terephthalate) hydrolases from multiple organisms

My work in the lab of Dr. Istvan Molnar focused on the biosynthesis of natural products from desert endophyte fungi and entailed:- Constructing strains of S. cerevisiae capable of biosynthesizing the polyketide 10,11-dehydrocurvularin utilizing the native pathway of Alternaria sp117.- Expression of halogen peroxidases in 10,11-dehydrovurvularin producing strains for the production of halogenated polyketide derivatives- Preparing and giving a talk on the completed work for an oral presentation at the 2019 National McNair conference at UCLA - Preparing and presenting a poster presentation for presentation at the Annual Undergraduate Research Opportunities Consortium (UROC) Research Conference Poster Session.

My work in the lab of Dr. Todd Schlenke in the Department of Entomology at the University of Arizona focused on studying venom proteins of the parasitic wasp genera Leptopalina - RNAi based gene knockdowns in insects ( D. melanogaster and L. boulardi). - quantitative PCR evaluation of gene knockdown

- Created standard and custom media and reagents for use in life science research in laboratories at the University of Arizona- Coordinated delivery and purchasing of products between the facility and customers- Trained new student workers- Performed quality control analysis of facility products- Maintained, calibrated, and operated facility machinery including pH meters, automated plate filling machines, autoclaves, industrial dishwashers, peristaltic pumps, and others.- Performed inventory of facility ready to grab products as well as the inventory of facility reagents for media preparation.