Academic background:
University of California at Berkeley, College of Engineering, B.S. in Bioengineering
Stanford University, School of Medicine, Ph.D. in Immunology
University of Washington, College of Education, M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction
Highline College, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

Experience:
During my career I have discovered a love for science, research, teaching, and community service. In college, after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that hit the San Francisco Bay Area, I started teaching Standard First Aid as a volunteer for the American Red Cross. In graduate school at Stanford, as I researched the molecular mechanisms of T cell activation and immunosuppression, I continued teaching as a teaching assistant for their undergraduate immunology course. During this time I also designed and taught a course called “HIV, AIDS, and the Immune System” for local high school students through the Stanford High School Enrichment Project. I volunteered for the Association of Women in Science outreach program and the Expanding Your Horizons conference, teaching middle and high school students a hands-on workshop called “Virus Detectives.” I also co-taught Immunology X110 through UC Berkeley Extension. As an advocate for providing students opportunities for growth, I was also an Executive Director of an annual graduate student-led conference called the Western Conference in Immunology and served on the Board of the Midwinter Conference of Immunologists. Upon graduation I moved to Seattle to join the Institute for Systems Biology as a post-doctoral research scientist where I researched the molecular mechanisms of macrophage activation and continued my love for science teaching and community service with the amazing people at the Center for Inquiry Science (CIS), now the Logan Center for Education. Because of CIS, I decided to become a professional science teacher with the goal of helping all students be excited about science and understand, not only how science affects their lives, but also, how they can use it for positive change. I went on to the University of Washington’s College of Education to obtain my Master of Education and have taught BIOL& 100, BIOL& 160, BIOL& 211, BIOL& 212, BIOL& 213, BIOL& 241, BIOL& 242, BIOL& 260, and BIOL290 at local 2-yr colleges, including North Seattle College and Highline College. I am now thrilled to be a full-time faculty member here at Highline College, eager to help students be excited about science and achieve their goals!