My research focuses on growing halophilic (salt-loving) microorganisms under laboratory-simulated martian conditions to better understand the potential habitability of Mars and inform the search for life beyond Earth. 

I am a researcher in Dr. Jamie Foster's Astrobiology and Space Biology Lab at the University of Florida and am co-advised by Dr. Scott Perl at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. I am currently pursuing a PhD as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow through the UF Space Life Sciences Lab facility at Kennedy Space Center. 

Previously, I was a Biological Defense Coordinator for the State of Florida, Principal Investigator of the Tampa Bioterrorism Response Laboratory, a Visiting Researcher with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and earned my undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology from St. Petersburg College.