I am a neural systems & behavior researcher grounded in community activism, building bridges between science, policymakers, and social justice movements.
2025 was the year my life stopped being defined by what I survived and started being shaped by what I’m becoming — a scientist, a mentor, an advocate, and a community builder.
Mayday, mayday, it’s feeling like an emergency.
It’s May Day 2025, International Workers’ Day. A Thursday, the busiest day of my week for a while now, as if any day has felt slow lately.
This Earth Day, I leaned into my love of bridge-building and used the day as a moment of connection across science, community, and movement work.
I had the honor of presenting my research and activism for UW HOPE, a student-led group advancing prison education, by giving my talk, “Investigating Social Isolation Through the Lens of Neuroethology and Social Justice.”
To be awarded the UW President’s Student Civic Leadership Award in 2026, at a time that is consequential in ways that won’t be understood for decades to come, is not a role I take lightly. The award is more than a title, honor, or acknowledgment; It is a call to action in its own right and sets a bar for what types of action can be taken.