Curriculum Vitae

Education

Undergraduate:
Macalester College, St. Paul, MN

Majors: Environmental Studies and International Studies
Minor: German Studies
Off campus study: Semester in Environmental Science, Woods Hole, MA; Macalester College German Studies Program, Tübingen, Germany and Vienna, Austria
Honors thesis: The exploitative history and present status of marine mammals in Barbados
Advisor: Aldemaro Romero
Bachelor of Arts, cum Laude, 2002

Graduate:
Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT

Area of study: Environmental Chemistry
Master’s project: Mercury Concentrations in New Haven County, CT Streams: The Effects of Watershed Urbanization
Advisor: Gaboury Benoit
Master of Environmental Science, 2006

University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI

Environmental Chemistry & Technology Program
Dissertation research: Biogeochemical controls methylmercury production in a northern Wisconsin wetland
Distributed doctoral minor in remote sensing and geospatial technology
Advisor: David Armstrong
Ph.D., 2011

Professional Experience

  • Climate Policy Section Manager, Air Quality Program, Washington State Department of Ecology, 2020-present
  • Air Resource Specialist, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, 2019-2020
    • Develop regional climate policy with a focus on transportation
    • Monitor and forecast air quality
    • Conduct equity- and environmental justice-focused outreach and community engagement
    • Encourage deployment of high-quality low-cost air sensors
    • Provide data-based decision support tools and analyses
  • Legislative Assistant, U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-03), 2017-2019
    • Issue portfolio: science, environment, energy, space, education, telecommunications, cybersecurity, foreign affairs
  • AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research & Development, Innovation Team, 2015-2017
    • Worked across EPA and other agencies to encourage the development and use of new sensor technology
  • Director of Research and Development, Brooks Rand Instruments, 2013-2015
    • Conducted world’s largest interlaboratory comparison study for mercury
    • Built collaborations with local universities and other instrument companies
    • Secured federal grant and developed new instrument line
  • Research Scientist and Technical Support Manager, Brooks Rand Labs & Brooks Rand Instruments, 2010-2012
    • Wrote and maintained instrument user guides
    • Managed technical support and quality assurance programs
    • Installed new instruments in customer laboratories and provided on-site training
  • Research Assistant, Environmental Chemistry and Technology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2006-2010
  • Research Assistant, Environmental Chemistry, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 2004-2006
  • Research and Teaching Assistant, Semester in Environmental Science, Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, 2002
  • Research Assistant, Environmental Studies Program, Macalester College, 1999-2002

Teaching Experience and Educational Training

  • Guest Instructor, Water Chemistry Course, University of Wisconsin – Madison, September-October, 2009. Primary Instructor: Dr. Marc Anderson.
  • Participated in “The College Classroom” course on college teaching, University of Wisconsin, 2009

Selected Skills

  • SSI-certified SCUBA diver, research diving experience
  • Fluent in German, basic proficiency in French (DELF A2 level)
  • Skilled with a wide variety of software, including ESRI ArcGIS; Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop; Microsoft Office; R; Minitab; SigmaPlot; MinEQL; PHREEQC
  • Extensive analytical instrument method development experience, including ICP-MS, mercury analyzers, organic carbon analyzers, hyphenated ICP-MS methods (GC-ICP-MS, IC-ICP-MS)
  • Scientific and technical writing, science writing for non-scientific audiences

Honors/Funding Received

  • U.S. Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research Phase II Grant, 2013-2015 ($1,000,000)
  • U.S. Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Grant, 2012 ($150,000)
  • American Chemical Society Division of Environmental Chemistry Graduate Student Award, 2010
  • Wisconsin Groundwater Research and Monitoring Program two-year grant, 2009-2011 ($86,554)
  • Becker Travel Supplement (UW – Madison) to support student travel to present research at conferences, 2008 & 2009 ($1,800 total)
  • Vilas Travel Grant (UW – Madison) to support research-related travel, 2009 & 2010 ($1,200 total)
  • EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Graduate Fellowship, 2007-2010 ($111,000)
  • Marine Biological Laboratory Associates’ Award for the best student research paper, Semester in Environmental Science, 2000

Professional Affiliations

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2014-present.
  • American Chemical Society, Member, Environmental Chemistry Division. 2008-present.
  • American Geophysical Union, Member, Biogeosciences Section. 2007-present.

Professional Activities

  • Co-chair of AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships Science Diplomacy Affinity Group, convened symposia on international scientific cooperation (2015-2017)
  • Founding board member of Seattle chapter of Young Environmental Professionals (under auspices of the Northwest Environmental Business Council), networking organization dedicated to helping young people enter the environmental field (2013-2015)
  • Co-chair of a special session titled “Mercury contamination in rice agriculture: a growing global threat to human and wildlife health?” at the 11th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (2013)
  • Organizer of short courses on mercury analysis at the 10th, 11th, and 12th International Conferences on Mercury as a Global Pollutant
  • Organizer of world’s largest interlaboratory comparison study for total mercury and methylmercury (2010-2015)
  • Sponsor of engineering student projects at Seattle University and University of Washington (2013-2015)
  • Faculty affiliate, University of Washington department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2011-2015)
  • Manuscript reviewer for Analytical Methods, Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts; Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences; Limnology and Oceanography; Environmental Science & Technology; Analyst
  • Alumni admissions interviewer for Macalester College

Supervision and Mentoring

  • Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Environmental Leadership Mentoring program mentor – mentoring master’s students (2015-present)
  • Supervised three professional engineers, one engineering intern, three research technicians, multiple engineering contractors at Brooks Rand Instruments (2013-2015)
  • Supervised two laboratory and customer support program managers at Brooks Rand Instruments (2010-2013)
  • Supervised five undergraduate employees and mentored two undergraduate independent research projects at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (2006-2010)