Biography
My interests involve teaching astronomy, primarily introductory astronomy courses for undergraduates, with the goal of incorporating the latest active-learning techniques for large classes to give students here the best in-person experience possible. I spend roughly half of my time working on the development of these courses, which includes both section lab exercises and online activities. The other half of my time is devoted to the expansion of our online presence where I’m currently developing online versions of our in-person classes to reach more students and provide the same high-quality experience they should expect from our department.
My main focus for the past several years has been teaching, however I occasionally have a (limited) hand in a few small projects involving some of my main research interests – M dwarf-white dwarf binary systems & cataclysmic variables.
I grew up in upstate New York, but eventually grew tired of the snow and migrated to sunny Florida for my PhD. I came to UW for my first postdoc, fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and have been here ever since. When I’m not teaching I spend my time hiking, paddle boarding, kayaking, skiing and backpacking all over the northwest with my little girl, husband and friends. In inclement weather, I put my bartending license to work making craft cocktails and I also enjoy turning grapes into wine!