Leading Wildlife Talk

One of our baby sulcatas (7 years old) was the star of this wildlife talk, where visitors could say hi and ask any questions they have

Increasing accessibility

Cataloging the inventory in the first stages of establishing a free Textbook Share for the University of Utah’s College of Engineering.

Outreach to young students

Gold nanoparticles created during a laboratory interactive outreach event in which local 8th graders visited our laboratory.

Conference participation

Presenting a poster at the BMES Annual Conference.

Socializing the animals

This hedgehog, Monopoly, was being socialized as a form of enrichment

Outreach for early involvement in STEM

Setting up outreach activities for Girl Scout Night at the Natural History Museum.

“My research and personal interests focus on helping underserved people and animals by promoting affordability and accessibility. ”

volunteering

At a young age, I began volunteering with the Conejo Free Clinic, helping with events such as the Annual Women’s Health Fair, providing quality care to women of all income levels. Beginning at the age of 14, I worked with a local affordable housing program, Many Mansion’s, to coordinate programs and tutor low-income residents. My volunteering efforts now primarily focus on environmental and animal welfare, and I spend my time working events such as Fishackathon and with programs including Citizen’s Climate Lobby and Best Friend’s Animal Society.

Finally, I spend every Sunday volunteering with the Wildlife Learning & Conservation Center, providing enclosure maintenance and enrichment to animals including porcupines, armadillos, and tortoises. I also lead wildlife talks, sharing information about animals as guests have the opportunity to view them up-close.

outreach

My early exposure to medicine and research has served as a continual reminder that early involvement in STEM garners long-lasting interest. Most of my outreach is directed towards young students, with the goal of promoting early exposure to engineering and providing opportunities for students to become involved with and fall in love with research, just as I did.

My outreach efforts began with involvement with a program called SciTrek at UC Santa Barbara, where I designed and taught a soil retention module to local primary age students, and had the students conduct experiments and write up their results. I am also a STEM volunteer with Letters to a Pre-Scientist, in which volunteers are connected with an elementary student to provide insight into what our path to becoming a scientist was like.

I have since served as an Ambassador for the College of Engineering at the University of Utah, which allowed me to network between departments and had a significant emphasis on outreach. We hosted events throughout the year, with a focus on elementary students and women, introducing them to aspects of engineering that students aren’t normally exposed to prior to college.

From 2019-2024, I have volunteered as Outreach Coordinator with SERVES, which is a program aiming to improve Veteran involvement in STEM programs. Through this, we would perform quarterly demonstrations at a local community college, provide campus tours at UCLA, and mentor visiting students during 5-week internship programs.

Community

At the University of Utah, I independently established a textbook-share within the College of Engineering, so that all students would have free, unlimited use of resources required for classes. The textbook-share continues to grow each semester, helping ensure the success of future students from all backgrounds and income classes.

This same emphasis on accessibility has since manifested in my research as well. During my research experience at the University of Cambridge I helped develop an inexpensive diagnostic tool for leptospirosis. The self-immobilizing reagent that I designed is compatible with silica extracted from beach sand, so that areas with minimal resources and access to training will easily be able to use this device. This inspired my directed research efforts, with a focus on accessibility and sustainability.