keys_picI am currently a third year PhD student in the BSE department here at Virginia Tech. I’m a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee and received my B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 2014. During my time as an undergraduate, I studied abroad in Austria, interned with the river operations group at the Tennessee Valley Authority, and worked as an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Tennessee. These experiences led me to join the Hydroecology research group in the BSE department at Virginia Tech. My PhD research largely focuses on monitoring river corridors through the use of emerging technologies such as remote sensing, hydrodynamic modeling, and high frequency spatial sampling. As part of my research, I worked at the International Water Management Institute in Vientiane, Laos during the summer of 2015. While in Laos, I developed a new method for water accounting in the Mekong River Basin as well as simple remote sensing approaches to continuously monitor water quantity in data scarce regions of the world. In addition to research, I’ve also served as a teaching assistant for several classes in the BSE department: Field Methods in Hydrology, Small Watershed Hydrology, and Nonpoint Source Assessment and Control.

 

Outside of grad school, I enjoy running/hiking on the local trails, playing soccer, and playing piano. Additionally, I am a huge fan of college sports and have a love-hate relationship with both the Tennessee Vols and VT Hokies.