After earning my B.S. in Microbiology at Colorado State University, I worked both in the biotech industries and then in academia in Denver, Colorado before deciding to pursue a Ph.D. I conducted my graduate work at the University of Wyoming studying follicle stimulating hormone induced cell signaling in a granulosa cell model. Deciding that 7200 ft above sea level and constant wind was not for me, I finished in under four years and moved to beautiful Hamilton, Montana to start my post doctoral studies with Dr. Ted Hackstadt at the RML where I studied the developmental cycle of the obligate intracellular pathogen, Chlamydia. Upon completion of my graduate work, my husband, two small children and I moved to sunny Florida where I continued my work on regulation of the chlamydial development cycle at the University of Florida. I also branched out a little and started work on unraveling the small RNA networks of the dental pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis. Eventually the West, four separate seasons and small friendly towns beckoned, and we moved to The University of Idaho in 2014 where my research on the chlamydial developmental cycle continues.
