Other Activities
When I'm not doing lab work, I love taking advantage of everything Seattle (my hometown!) has to offer. Check out some of the things I do outside of graduate school:
Science Outreach
As a long-time Seattle Aquarium volunteer I love talking to community members and my family about our amazing Pacific Northwest marine life and what we can do to ensure that it stays around! Of course, I also love talking about brains and participate in Neuroscience Community Outreach at UW – engaging with students during Brain Awareness week and volunteering at the science museum.
Equity in Academia
Having been in academia for many years at multiple institutions, I have seen many times how the structures of universities and academic departments work against the best interests of students, particularly students of color and women. I am lucky to have an amazing group of peers in the UW neuroscience community who are committed to changing the way these structures work and actively uplifting historically suppressed student voices and concerns. To this end, I am working with a small group of students in my program to develop and implement a Student Representation Committee so that we can communally express our needs to program administration and take the full burden of responsibility for change off those most affected by the status quo. I hope that by opening up line of communication, we will be able to more effectively fight the structures that keep academia from being equitable, inclusive, and safe for all individuals.
Art
Through my undergraduate liberal arts education and trial and error, I learned that I am a much more effective (and happy) scientist when I have artistic outlets as well! I write and read a lot of poetry, and I also love to create interactive artistic objects, like homemade books and the neurally-inspired mirror box pictured to the left, which was featured at UW's annual Art Neureau event in 2019.