I help scientists tell the stories of their research for both professional and public audiences.

My love of scientific narrative first emerged when I was a young child tagging along in my parents’ virology lab. Over the years, I watched and wondered, vortexed and pipetted, and listened to heroic stories of white blood cells attacking invading germs—formative memories that led me to an undergraduate degree in microbiology and to research projects in bacteriology, reproductive endocrinology, virology, and cell biology. But ultimately, my love for the language of science won out, and I earned my PhD in English, studying the intersections between human microbiome research and science fiction. I bring to my editorial work broad experience in academic publishing and with researchers of varied disciplines and career stages. I am especially skilled in working with student writers and nonnative English speakers.

When not wrangling words, I can usually be found cooking, reading (especially science fiction and memoirs), chasing my two small humans, advocating for my kid with a disability, attempting and often failing to grow vegetables, listening to folk and bluegrass music, and going places by bike.

I hold a BS in Microbiology with a minor in Biology from Penn State, an MA in English from North Carolina State, and a PhD in English from University of California, Davis. My academic publications center on the rhetoric and history of science, especially microbiology and the human microbiome, and on the cross-fertilization of science and culture.

You can view my research, writing, and editing portfolio here.