Being a scientist can be a job, but it can also be a worldview. I have been a “job” scientist since 2021 when I started my current position as a Research Scientist at Binghamton University. I have a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience and for almost 15 years now I have been researching the effects of exposure to alcohol and stress during critical developmental windows on later immune system function. I have designed and performed experiments, used cutting-edge techniques and tools, analyzed data, published my findings, presented them at conferences, and written grants to support my work financially. My career has been rich, rewarding, and joyful.

I have been a scientist in spirit since I was 8 years old, collecting leeches and making observations (for my first published work, see here). In between the moments of my full-time job, I still always come back to this – doing science out in the wild and learning new things, thinking creatively, and sharing that joy with others. This website is a collection of science writings and a way to expand my science identity to include all the things I am passionate about that fall under that science worldview umbrella.

After all, I am more than just three rats in a lab coat standing on each other’s shoulders doing the science.