About Me

The first 18 years of my life were spent in the city of my birth - Ottumwa, Iowa. It was during this stage of my life that I discovered two of my passions: astronomy and music. I graduated valedictorian of the Ottumwa High School Class of 2003 and began my undergraduate studies in the Fall of 2003 at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA.

While at the U of I, I was a member of the Hawkeye Marching Band Trumpet Section and joined the ranks of the Undergraduate Staff during my junior year. Fortunately, the Hawkeyes played well during my tenure with the band resulting in a free trip to ring in the New Year on a warm Florida beach three years in a row (not to mention witnessing the greatest ending ever to a football game).

During the summer of 2005, I was an intern at the Space Telescope Science Institute (the headquarters of the Hubble Space Telescope) in Baltimore, MD. While living in Baltimore I discovered another life passion: living in big cities. The following summer, I was an NSF REU student at the SETI Institute (SETI stands for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) in Mountain View, CA. In addition to falling in love with the SF Bay Area, I met one of my idols, Jill Tarter, and confirmed the fact that my research interests lie in the field of astrobiology - the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.

I graduated from the University of Iowa in May 2007 with a BS in Physics and Astronomy (with honors) and a BA in Music (with emphasis in trumpet performance). I began my graduate studies in the Fall of 2007 at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, CA and am currently working towards an MS in Physics (with emphasis in astronomy). I plan to obtain a PhD in Astronomy and hope to become a professor in a major research university's Department of Physics and/or Astronomy.