Resume

The short version

2024 to presentFunga PBC, Austin, TX
Senior Data Scientist and Technical Lead, Carbon Program
2023 to 2024Flux Tailor
Contract Data Scientist
2017 to 2024University of Wisconsin–Madison
Research Data Scientist, wildlife disease and population forecasting
2011 to 2017Colorado State University
Research Assistant and Statistical Consultant, Graybill Statistical Laboratory
2003 to 2011Freelance photographer, New York City
Still life, editorial, and advertising. Interned for Annie Leibovitz.

2017PhD, Ecology, Colorado State University
2013MS, Statistics, Colorado State University
2009 to 2011Math and science coursework, Hunter College, City University of New York
2003BFA, Photography, Lesley University College of Art & Design

The long version

I was born and raised in Arlington, VA, a hop, skip, and a jump from Capitol Hill. A diverse backdrop of people and a rich cultural city led me to the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University to pursue photography. After graduation I moved to New York City, interned for Annie Leibovitz, and spent almost ten years as a freelance photographer: photo assisting, running a studio in Brooklyn, and shooting highly technical still life, editorial, advertising, and event work for a wide range of clients.

In 2008 I realized I needed a change. I followed my parents’ advice, which we should all do much more often than we do, and took a class in something I had always wished I’d studied as an undergrad. I audited a course at the New School and remembered what it felt like to be intellectually on fire. It took some exploring to settle on a subject. I enrolled full time at Hunter College, City University of New York, and spent two years on undergraduate science and math while keeping the photography business running.

Then Fort Collins, CO, and a Master’s in Statistics from Colorado State University in 2013. During the Master’s, an interdisciplinary Ecology and Statistics PhD opportunity with Dr. Tom Hobbs at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory opened up and I jumped at it. I earned my PhD in Ecology at CSU in 2017, modeling elk in Rocky Mountain National Park. Few statisticians get to fly in helicopters over the tundra.

I spent the next six years in Madison, WI as a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin, modeling the population impacts of chronic wasting disease on white-tailed deer for the state’s wildlife managers (and occasionally hugging deer). That was the job where I learned that a model only matters if someone uses it to decide something.

In 2023 I decided I wanted more action. After a contract building data infrastructure for an electric-utility product, I joined Funga in 2024 as a data scientist. Funga is an Austin company that restores the forest microbiome so trees grow faster and store more carbon. I now lead the technical side of its carbon program, which is one of several hats I wear there. I strategically build analytics, pipelines, forecasts, and teamwork.