About Me.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
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I graduated from Southwestern University with a BS in Animal Behavior and Spanish. After spending a year abroad conducting research at Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica and University of Ghana, I received a teaching certificate from Prairie View A&M University. I then taught science at an inner-city high school in the 7th largest school district in the United States. In 2016, I completed a dual PhD in Psychological and Brain Sciences and Evolution Ecology and Behavior. I was awarded 7 fellowships including a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and a United Negro College Fund•Merck Fellowship, and have published 22 scholarly works. I completed a NSF Postdoctoral fellowship studying the social lives of zebrafish by splitting time between the labs of Drs. Jens Krause (Leibniz Institute), Dennis Higgs (University of Windsor), and Robyn Tanguay (Oregon State University). I am a member of the Animal Behavior Society Diversity Committee and former coordinator of their Charles H. Turner program. I completed an NIH National Institutes Environmental Health and Safety (NIEHS) K99/R00 postdoctoral fellowship at Orgeon State University studying how cadmium leads to behavioral disorders. I am now an assistant professor at the University of Miami studying how contaminants affect human and environmental health.
When not tinkering away in the lab, I take every opportunity to travel. I have engaged in field research, courses, outreach and diplomacy in over 20 countries across 4 continents (Shelton, 2013). I enjoy turning up on the dancing floor (¡Baile salsa!), gardening, horseback riding, and diving into the depths of the ocean (PADI certified!). ![]()
EDUCATION
2016 Indiana University, PhD 2011 Poynter Institute, Teaching Research Ethics certificate 2010 Prairie View A&M University, Teaching certificate 2009 Southwestern University, BS 2009 University of Ghana 2008 Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica AWARDS
2020 NIH NIEHS K99/R00 Fellow 2018 Wiley #top20article 2017 Animal Behavior Society Allee Competition Semifinalist 2016 NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology 2014 Be More Engaged Award from the city of Bloomington, IN 2010 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program 2010 NSF IGERT Fellowship 2007 United Negro College Fund • Merck Fellowship 2005 Bishop T. Dixon Scholarship |