Faculty & Staff

I attended Shawnee State University in Ohio for my undergraduate education, and that is where I developed my love for biology and for a broad education. I completed my Bachelor of Science in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Philosophy in 2005. I earned my Ph.D. in Microbiology from Indiana University Bloomington in 2011. I thought I wanted to study human pathogens, but found my home in a microbial genetics lab studying Bacillus subtilis, a harmless soil bacterium that does some pretty awesome multicellular behaviors. My thesis examined the function of the gene swrA in regulating swarming motility in Bacillus subtilis. I also discovered and characterized a novel gene (minJ) involved in controlling cell division in Gram positive bacteria.

It was at IUB that I first taught a course on my own, and became passionate about teaching at a university.

After completing my thesis work, I took temporary positions at a few small universities before starting at Truman in 2015. My research at Truman focuses on gene regulation in the model Gram positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis, with a focus on the behaviors of swarming motility, biofilm formation, and sporulation. Researchers in my lab also examine how chemical signals affect these behaviors in vitro and in planta. A new project in my lab is trying to discover novel bacteriophage.

As part of Microbiology courses, I also engage students in the Tiny Earth Initiative, where we search for novel antibiotic producing bacteria in soil.