Research

From glowing green proteins to stuff being launched into space, I’ve seen and done more than most.

What am I up to currently? What a wonderful question:

Finishing my PhD in astronautical engineering where I’m focusing on spacesuits and increasing their longevity for long-duration missions.
Working on wrapping up a study on amine stability with relation to different cellulosic/synthetic materials at my 9-5.
Writing a textbook chapter on space IP for business professionals with two mentors.

About my work

I’ve worked in labs in some form or capacity since I was 15 years old. It started by participating in a program called BioFORCE through Texas A&M University. In that program I did work with the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (NCTM) where we toured various labs, visited the Baylor National School of Tropical Medicine (where I met my first crystallographer), competed to see who could don protective gear that quickest, and developed lab skills by working with GFPs (green fluorescent proteins).

From there I attended a university, that I won’t gratify by saying it’s name, but I was recruited to go there for athletics at the age of 17. I studied chemistry and engineering, and ultimately, two years into the program, I was so unhappy and beat down that I transferred. I was truly miserable, and the school offered no support or even just let up on the misery they were putting me through. I was able to get plenty of experience working in labs (Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry, Engineering, Physics…), but the culture was terrible. Between those experiences, and the fact that the program I was going through was not as set in stone as I was told (I was part of the first class moving through the degree, and they had billed it as a 4+1 program, four years there and an additional 1 year for an M.S. in another), I left. Quite happily, but with no idea where I was going from there.

I attended community college for a semester and then ended up at my alma mater – a school in the UT system. At this school I served as the student body treasurer, a public relations officer for my ACS program, and as an RA/TA/Lab tech for various classes (physical chemistry, university physics, organic chemistry, etc.). I also had the opportunity to work at a vineyard as a harvest hand, which was a really cool experience. For the most part it was good. There were definitely moments where it really was terrible, but for the most part I thrived. Crazy what happens when you’re not constantly miserable, right?

While at that school, I started working with a professor at a university in the DFW area who I then joined for my Ph.D. program. While in my senior year (I only spent a year and a half at the school), I was fortunate enough to have been selected to receive an National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP). Great right? I’m moving up! Things are good! Well…

I joined the new university once I graduated with my B.S. in chemistry with a minor in physics. I worked the summer before I “officially” joined the school in the fall for the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) on a project I discovered that would ultimately be the basis for my M.S. thesis (uh…. didn’t you say that you joined a Ph.D. program? Why yes I did, great listening, I’ll discuss that in a second). I also gained skills in crystal structure analysis (crystal structures? Like crystallography? Yes! You’re a good listener, remember that from the beginning?). I raised charges against my PI at the time for research misconduct and Title IX. I’m going to leave it at that.

I then left the school entirely, after joining a new department and attempting to study through their program for a semester, when I was given a preliminary CPTSD diagnosis. It was miserable version 2.0. I tried to do the right thing, and was let down miserably, repeatedly, and thoroughly. I wasn’t paid my NSF grant on time, ever. I had to meet with professors and my mentor, a lovely woman named Andrea Adams, in secret (basements, coffeeshops, etc.) just to get my M.S… I will forever be grateful for the help Mrs. Adams gave me. I made it because of her. She stepped up and asked her old M.S. advisor to serve on my committee. I lost her this past year….

Now, I’m studying Astronautical Engineering at an entirely new university. There have been ups and downs. But I advanced to candidacy in the program. I’m also a part of the second class of AMDS (Astrophysics Mission Design School) participants at JPL – which is insane. I can’t say how fortunate I am for that.

All of this incredibly long-winded bullshit to say – I’ve been through it. My story is not unique in the women in STEM field, but it should be.

I’ve made it though. I’m still here. The people praying on my downfall (and I know there’s a LOT of you out there) – stay mad babe ❤️ .

Green Fluorescent Proteins
Paper-Based Formaldehyde Detection Systems (presentation)
OLED Fabrication (paper, presentations)
Thermodynamic Mapping of the Greenhouse Effect in Cars
Hydrogen Sulfide Removal in Oil Fracking Wastewater
Aluminum Nanoparticle Synthesis for Medical Applications
ROY and the 10 Forms
Synthesis, Structure and Canted Antiferromagnetism of Layered Cobalt Hydroxide Sorbate (paper)
Deep Eutectic Solvents Comprising Creatine and Citric Acid and Their Hydrated Mixtures (paper)
Clear as Glass: Novel Antibiotic Glasses Vitrified From Solution (M.S. thesis, presentations)