This is my 5th year teaching science at Mendon High School and 12th year teaching overall. Science is a part of who I am, and it is immensely fulfilling to share it with our students.  

Prior to teaching, I studied and worked as a science researcher.  At Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, I applied the knowledge and skills I acquired as a graduate student in Structural Biology at SUNY Buffalo to research initiatives specific to the characterization of recombinant proteins. One of the main proteins I worked on was part of the SARS virus, and results were subsequently published in the peer-reviewed journal 'Protein Expression and Purification'.   At Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, I designed and implemented experimental strategies and analysis methods for the study of novel therapeutics that were in the pipeline for FDA approval.  A few years later, I was hired as Technical Director for the High-Throughput Screening Core Facility at the University of Rochester. Working at the University of Rochester put me in contact with the Warner School of Education where I enrolled in the Get Real Science program to become a secondary science teacher.  

When I am not geeking out about science or teaching or both, I am a mom to Captain (7 yrs old), Penny (5 yrs old) and Puck (our beagle).  We spend most of our free time finding new playgrounds, hiking around parks,  visiting the zoo, and tent camping.  

EDUCATION and ACCREDITATIONS 

• Knowles Teacher Initiative Senior Fellow
• Robert Noyce Scholar 
• University of Rochester
  M.S. in Adolescence Education as a Specialist in Biology and Chemistry
• State University of New York at Buffalo
  M.S. in Structural Biology
• St. Bonaventure University
  B.S. in Biology, Minor in Chemistry