Program: Chemistry
University: William & Mary

I was born in New York City, grew up in Connecticut, and studied Chemistry and Hispanic Studies at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. During my time at university, I was a college tour guide, a research assistant, and part of many clubs and organizations. I love traveling, learning languages, photography, dancing, and cooking. During my undergraduate years, I spent a semester in Sevilla, Spain and discovered my love of travel. Since then, I have been to every continent except Antarctica and try to visit at least one new country every year. I loved my time in Spain so much that I applied for a Fulbright research grant to go back. I spent a year researching next-generation solar technology and backpacked around Europe in my free time. After that, I came to Rice to get my Chemistry PhD. Here, I work in the Halas research group on making important chemical reactions more energy efficient. I am on the leadership boards for the Chemistry Graduate Student Association, the Latin American Graduate Student Association, and am President of Rice Salseros, a Latin dance organization that teaches free weekly workshops for Rice students. Creating strong communities is a huge passion of mine and that is something I have been able to work on here at Rice through my involvement in these groups. Once I complete my PhD, my goal is to become a research scientist focusing on renewable energy, hopefully working in Spain or perhaps someplace totally new!

On Rice:

I love how supportive the Rice community is. Whenever I have a problem, I have no hesitation in reaching out to a peer, an administrator within my department, or anyone in the Graduate Studies office for help. Everyone is always so willing to assist others.

On Fulbright:

I like that it's created an amazing opportunity to meet awesome people from all over the world who are passionate about creating international connections.

Fun Fact:

I was the President and Founder of a cheese club at my university, which became the largest club on campus (I really like cheese).