I'm from: 
I was born in Hayward, CA and grew up in Dixon, which is a small town near UC Davis.   

What brought me here: 
I first came to Cal for my undergraduate degree in Integrative Biology. It was a huge culture shock coming from a farm town, but I fell in love with Berkeley. After college, I decided to pack up my bags and moved to Boston, MA for my master's degree (and to see what it felt like to live in a climate with four seasons).  The spring blooms and fall foliage were great, but after a winter of apocalyptic proportions, I realized beautiful (temperate) Berkeley was my real home.  Everyone at Cal has such passion and enthusiasm for their work and I wanted to be a part of that collective consciousness once again.

Outside of lab I love: 
Watching Cal football (I never missed a home game during my undergrad no matter how bad our season was), Oakland As baseball, 49ers football, Hiking, traveling, and eating delicious food!