About Me

I am an integrative biologist interested in all aspects of vertebrate morphology and physiology, from gross anatomy all the way down to bone cells and collagen fibers. My research aims to address how form changes over multiple time scales--deep time, ontogenetic time, and physiological time-- and draws heavily from the fields of comparative and human anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, paleontology, and evolutionary-developmental biology in order to understand the origins of form and function. I am especially interested in the origins of novel morphologies and the extremes of morphological evolution.

As a postdoctoral fellow at Seattle Children's Research Institute, I am working with the SlicerMorph team in Murat Maga's lab to develop a computational anatomy pipeline--imaging and image analysis--for phenotype discovery in a reverse genetic screen in mice. Previously, as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington School of Dentistry, I worked with Sue Herring, Kathy Rafferty, and Tracy Popowics to examine the complex biology of craniofacial sutures. I received my Ph.D. from Duke University, where I worked with Louise Roth to investigate skull telescoping, craniofacial development, and suture histomorphology in dolphins, whales, and other cetaceans. My previous work also includes embryology of blue whales with Emily Buchholtz at Wellesley College and studies of bones and bone marrow in biomedical contexts.

Throughout my career, I have enjoyed working with colleagues across campus and in diverse disciplines including departments of Biology, Orthopedics, Oral Health Sciences, and Engineering. Outside of the lab, I am also interested in the history and philosophy of science; science and religion; biological art and imaging; the history of cetology and comparative biology; the roles and history of women, minorities, disabled, and neurodivergent people in science; and accessible and universal design.

I currently serve on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee  of the American Association for Anatomy where I focus especially on improving accessibility for disabled and neurodivergent scientists, educators, and students.