I grew up on Long Island, NY, surrounded by good food and family. I received my B.S. and M.S. in Biology at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. My previous research was on insect biodiversity in the salt marshes of the Long Island South Shore Estuary. I captured and identified around 40,000  specimens for my undergraduate thesis and another 10,000 specimens as part of my master’s work.

I came to Penn State in 2014 to pursue my PhD in Entomology. I worked at the Frost Entomological Museum on parasitoid wasps in North America, focusing on revising the Megaspilid genus Conostigmus (superfamily Ceraphronoidea). As part of my research, I did field work everywhere from Maine to Arizona, and even had the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at the Natural History Museum in London, UK, and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, to image specimens in the collections.

As I continued my PhD, I realized that I really enjoyed science communication, and I started looking for ways to get more experience. Along with contributing to the Frost Curator's Blog, I wrote pieces for Entomology Today, Gradhacker on Inside Higher Ed, and American Entomologist. I even wrote a personal essay that was published in Science Magazine, which was an amazing experience!

I currently work as a Multidisciplinary Proposal Developer at Penn State's Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office (SIRO), where I work with faculty and research offices across Penn State and other institutions to develop large (typically over $1 million), interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research proposals. Some of the things I love the most about my current job are working with my awesome co-workers, learning about the incredible science being done at Penn State, and helping researchers get the funding they need to make that science happen.

In my spare time, I enjoy reading, gardening, and crocheting giant insects. I also enjoy watching movies and crime shows with my wonderful blue-tongued skink, Slinky.

Photo by Carolyn Trietsch (CC BY 2.0). Click for source.