Bioinformatician wannabe, cat dad, soccer lover, casual gamer

I’m a 4th-year PhD candidate working with maize genomics in Candy Hirsch’s lab at the University of Minnesota, and I am fascinated with the power of big data analysis in answering biological questions relevant to issues facing plant breeders and farmers. My passion for computational biology and bioinformatics started during my Master's at the University of Minnesota, where I was able to identify regions in the genome of Brachypodium distachyon (a close relative of wheat) associated with non-host resistance to wheat stem rust, one of the deadliest wheat diseases. Now, my primary research focuses on utilizing all relevant genetic information available in the maize genome to accurately predict plant performance in the field. Outside work, I love to play soccer, hang out with family and friends, play video games and play with my cats!