About me

Doctor of Public Health candidate, board-certified medical entomologist, and health scientist at CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health. My background is in mosquito control and surveillance. My dissertation research involves using AI to predict human cases of eastern equine encephalitis in Bristol County, Massachusetts based on mosquito surveillance, ecological, environmental, and demographic data.
I have lived in 10 states (including DC) and 2 other countries (Germany and Ghana). I currently live in the Lenox/Morningside area of Atlanta.
Outside of work and school, I like spending time with my pets and family.

Kayaking at Stone Mountain

Education

University of New Mexico
Tulane University
University of Georgia

BA -Geography/GIS
MSPH -Tropical Medicine
DrPH Candidate -Health Policy & Management

Professional

CDC hired me during the Zika outbreak in the US. I have been a health scientist there since 2017.

Before CDC, I was the operation manager for SW Florida at a private sector mosquito control company. Before that I managed the eastern equine encephalitis field surveillance in Massachusetts. Before that, I was an entomologist for the City of New Orleans’ Mosquito Control Board.

Stats and programming

I have coursework in GIS and statistics. For my MSPH, I took 15 credit hours in statistics and made it all the way to Design of Experiments. I struggled with that class, so I think I hit my the threshold of my stats capabilities.

I am currently honing my Python programming skills before beginning my dissertation research this summer. My dissertation will involve creating a machine learning model to predict eastern equine encephalitis (a mosquito-borne virus) cases in humans in Southeast Massachusetts. The model will include about 15 years of mosquito collection data along with other environmental, ecological, and demographic datasets.

Take a look at the video below to learn more about eastern equine encephalitis. The video implies that there are specific treatments for people infected with West Nile Virus and eastern equine encephalitis. However, palliative care is the only option.

Embarrassing fact

A chicken once beat me at tic tac toe
When I was 6, I faced a chicken in tic tac toe at the Warrick County 4-H fair in southern Indiana. While a strategized, the chicken pecked randomly for corn. Sometimes randomness (or a hungry chicken) triumphs over strategy.