I graduated with highest honors from UC Santa Cruz with a BS in Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics, where my thesis project used CRISPR/Cas9 to immunize Salinas Lettuce from Lettuce Mosaic Virus (awarded the Dean's Award). I also worked as a lab technician in a Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Lab at UC Santa Cruz, where we tested potential water collecting techniques using fog (covered by the New York Times). These experiences taught me the skills needed to conduct research, how to collect and analyze data, and how to lead a team of researchers. Simultaneously, I worked in the UCSC Community Studies department as a web manager and am currently working at a nonprofit cinema technology organization in a similar capacity. My overall work at UCSC earned me Baskin Engineering’s Huffman Prize and I am CSM certified.