Background

I am a recent graduate from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and I have a degree in aquatic biology. I came into college as a freshman thinking that I would pursue the path of dentistry while majoring in aquatic biology. I had been interested in being a dentist since I was a child, but I always had a passion for nature and had an interest in fish and aquatic systems. As I was exposed to the world of dentistry alongside the word of ecology, I had a change of heart and knew that I had to change my career path and pursue an environmental career instead. Learning so much about any type of ecosystem has been so exciting and interesting to me; I never want to stop learning and exploring, so I am currently pursuing graduate school in hopes to prepare me for a career in which I can help conserve our environment.

Interests

Within aquatic biology, I have been drawn to the ecology and conservation of coral reefs. I worked on an independent research project that involved looking at datasets that show anthropogenic impacts on coral reefs along with coral reef benthic cover globally for my senior honors project. This project, along with my biometry and ecological modeling classes, has spiked my interest in using statistics and modeling in relation to the environment. I hope to advance my data handling experience and combine it with my backgrounds in disease and aquatic ecology for my future career.