Biography and Research statement: I received my BS in biochemistry from the University of Washington in June 2018. While there, I worked in Dr. Jennifer Stone’s lab investigating the effectiveness of different CreER lines to study hair cell regeneration in the mouse vestibular system. Following that, I took a two year post-bac in the Drerup Lab at NICHD, characterizing one of the many mutants found in lab’s forward genetic screen. These two experiences got me interested in neuroscience and led to me pursuing my PhD in Neuroscience at UW-Madison. Now back in the Drerup Lab, I’m investigating mitochondria dynamics in neurons and how they change under different conditions.