My scientific journey has brought me through numerous labs, working on projects ranging from organo-metallic catalyst synthesis, plastics in marine ecology, and most prominent, inorganic materials development. My undergraduate thesis, written on a novel synthesis of porous vanadium oxide for battery applications cemented my interest in clean energy and using smart materials to achieve that end. After completing my undergraduate degree, I moved to San Francisco with a job offer from Kinestral Technologies. The start-up was only 20 people strong when I joined allowing me the opportunity to grow with the company and to challenge myself through opportunities that would not have been available to me at a larger company. Within Kinestral technologies I performed small-scale R&D research, quality assurance of precursors and final materials, and ultimately I was managing production synthesis. In addition, I was the safety coordinator, a position which helped me to become a more efficient and aware scientist.While my employment at Kinestral technologies was fulfilling, I knew in order to fully realize my potential in the lab I needed to pursue a master's degree. I am currently at the University of Washington in the Material Science and Engineering department working on optimizing electrodes for flexible device applications.