About Me
I am currently a Ph.D. student within the Center for Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University. I am a part of the
Spatial Ecosystem Analytics Lab (SEAL) led by P.I. Dr. Josh Gray.
Before beginning my Ph.D. at NCSU, I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Geology with a minor in Sustainability (GIS)
from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. During my undergraduate education, I was exposed to remote sensing when I was hired
as a research assistant in a fluvial geomorphology research lab led by P.I. Dr. Jeni McDermott. For over 2.5 years, I conducted research that
focused on analyzing fluvial systems to assess changes in the landscape using high-resolution digital elevation models generated from LiDAR
data using MatLab. Additionally, I also worked for over a year as a research assistant in an ecology research lab led by P.I. Dr. Gaston (Chip)
Small. This research focused on nutrient cycling and biogeochemical processes associated with storm water runoff and urban compost systems.
After obtaining my B.S., I put my education into practice by working in environmental consulting for 2 years as both an Environmental Field Technician and as a GIS Analyst. To advance my ability to
contribute to more complex data analysis projects, I completed a Data Science certificate from Stanford University where I solidified my foundation
in Python and R programming, as well as statistics. This led to my desire to pursue a Ph.D. that combined my data science skills with my passion
for earth science.
At NCSU, I am a member of the MUTATED (Modeling and Understanding using Temporal Analysis of Transient Earth Data) team, which is a research project
funded by IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity) working to develop an algorithm to automate and scan multi-source satellite imagery
of the earth to monitor and flag areas of abrupt change on the landscape. My team has worked extensively on building a Bayesian-based algorithm that
we are working to improve and fine-tune to accurately detect changes across earth's surface. In addition to my work with
broad area change detection, my current research interests are focused on mapping dynamic inundation changes in coastal wetlands and relating inundation
events to their associated methane fluxes. For this work, I’ve been exploring multi-sensor data assimilation, ecological forecasting with
Bayesian statistics, and hydro-biogeochemical modeling and simulation.