Welcome!

I am an Assistant Teaching Professor in the University Writing Program, the Associate Director of the Writing Center, and a Faculty member in the Inspired Leadership Institute at the University of Notre Dame. It is truly an honor and a joy to do the work that I do! As a researcher and educator, my work focuses on understanding the rhetorical strategies that science communicators use in their work. As an administrator and social justice advocate, I am actively working to strengthen the Writing Center's antiracist and inclusive pedagogical practices and to implement effective measures of program assessment.

I completed my Ph.D. in Systematic Theology & the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame. As an interdisciplinary scholar whose research brings together writing studies, science, and theology, my objective is to lead the academy and the broader public towards an enriched conversation on faith, reason, and the written text. For example, I recently presented a paper at the American Academy of Religion entitled "Writing as a Spiritual Discipline for those with Alzheimer's Disease." This type of work stems from my expertise in Catholic systematic theology and the natural sciences, with a narrower focus on theological anthropology and the mind sciences (i.e. neuroscience, cognitive sciences, psychology). I am driven by the question of what it means to be human in a world that is informed by both faith practices and empirical science. Beyond this work, I have research and teaching experience in Catholic theology, ecological theology (ecotheology), bioethics, and scientific writing.

While completing my Ph.D., I had opportunities to work with incredible teams and researchers around the world. As a Louisville Institute Dissertation Fellow, I took part in many intellectual and professional conversations that opened new insights into my teaching and research. As a Templeton Religion Trust Graduate Fellow on a three-year interdisciplinary project entitled “Developing Virtues in the Practice of Science," I collaborated with colleagues at all levels of higher education to produce new insights on virtue theory and its application to the hard sciences. Additionally, I took part in Notre Dame's Integrative Dissertation ProSeminar and was a fellow with Notre Dame's NSF-funded Ethical Leaders of STEM program (now LASER). The research and training in these enriching broadened my engagement with terminology, methodologies, and conceptualizations in a variety of fields.

Outside of academia, I am a wife, mother, musician, runner, bird watcher, nature enthusiast, and avid consumer of chocolate.