About the Author

 

Bio:

     I am a doctoral student at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in the North Texas Eye Research Institute studying the molecular effects of candidate glaucoma treatment drugs. Long term research interests include neurodegeneration and aging. In my free time, I like to run, play video games, paint, hike, and craft. Lastly, my Myers-Briggs personality type is INTJ!

Narrative:

My decision to come to UNTHSC was made at the end of my undergraduate career at the University of North Texas, Denton. At the time, I knew little of what could actually be done with a Bachelor of Science in biology. I went into college with forensics in mind because it was something I had seen on TV and thought was interesting enough to do long term. When the time came to apply to graduate programs, I did not even know where to begin! Luckily, through googling for advisors on graduate schools I came across the UNTHSC graduate advisor Joseph Warren. Dr. Warren graciously met with me to answer all of the questions that I had and talked about the master's program for Forensic Genetics. The two-year degree prepped DNA analysts for work and the hiring rate of graduates was very high, I felt like it was what I was waiting for! I ended up loving the campus, the teachers, other students, and everything about the HSC community. As I worked through and completed my MS, I came to the realization that the work I was training for would not be a good fit for me long-term. I found that I was more interested in the theory of certain sciences and being able to take a problem, create an experimental plan, and try out different solutions than I was in repeating similar procedures and following strict guidelines for dealing with evidence. Also, I befriended a Ph.D. student studying genetics named Danielle who joined a lab specifically looking at neurodegeneration and aging. Hearing about the work they were doing was inspiring and interesting to me, so much that I opted for research at the end of my MS degree, fortifying my decision to apply for the Ph.D. program and switch from a technical track to a philosophical one. After getting accepted, I began to look inwards to find out what it was that I was truly meant to study and what lab I would fit in best at. I knew that neuroscience and genetics were still my main interests of mine, but not much more than that. Looking through the list of potential mentors, I saw a professor who I had already met and gotten along with that studied the effects of glaucoma. After rotating in her lab and learning about the crossover of neurobiology and genetics to be utilized in the ocular field of research, I made my decision. Officially, I became a part of the North Texas Eye Research Institute to begin work on my doctorate of philosophy.