Summer Undergraduate Research Experience  >  Research Mentors

My research interests are in environmental analysis. We apply standard methods of analysis to understand environmental contamination and develop new methods that can be used to study environmental problems.

I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia as the child of two educators. I went to Oberlin College in Ohio as a biochemistry major positive that I would go into medical research. There, my interests turned to environmental and analytical chemistry and I soon realized that I, too, was meant to be a teacher. After college, I worked at an educational consulting firm for a year before continuing on to graduate school in environmental and analytical chemistry at Emory University in Atlanta. My research was divided between the chemistry department and the School of Public Health at Emory. Our lab was interested in understanding what happened to chemicals after they were introduced into the environment and what sorts of exposure risks these contaminants presented for people. My research began in following the fate of heavy metals in soil and moved to following pesticides. While finishing my degree, and for a year after graduation, I taught part-time at three colleges in Atlanta for two years before moving to Kirksville. I've been at Truman since the fall of 2002. I also enjoy photography, knitting and hiking.