I graduated with a BS in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Arizona State University and received my PhD from the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology program at the University of Florida. My projects have involved working with molecular biology, genetics, plant physiology and biotechnology with the aim to understand the molecular mechanisms of seed and plant development, and plant adaptation to different environments. I decided to join the Leach Lab, where I am currently working on a NSF funded project, to continue studying plant adaptation with aimed to improve defense responses of rice cultivars to invading pathogens.

In the process, I am using the latest genome editing tools available to understand the genetics and epigenetic mechanisms of transcriptional regulation of defense response genes. You can follow me on LinkedIn or Google scholar.