I was born in Missoula, MT and raised in Spokane, WA. I became interested in effective teaching practices while tutoring students during high school. I pursued this interest in undergraduate school at the University of Colorado Boulder where I double majored in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Psychology. I was awarded a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates opportunity to conduct research on biology education at the University of Georgia during the summer between my sophomore and junior year (Advisors: Drs. Peggy Brickman and Tessa Andrews). After graduating with my BA in 2016, I was selected to be in the Program for Interdisciplinary Education Research, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, at Carnegie Mellon University where I received my Master's Degree in Psychology in 2018 (Advisors: Drs. David Klahr and Marsha Lovett). I was then awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue research on science education at Purdue University where I received my PhD in Cognitive Psychology and a certificate in psychological statistics in 2022 (Advisors: Drs. Jeffrey Karpicke and Darryl Schneider). After receiving my PhD, I was awarded a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to conduct research on STEM education at UC Santa Barbara in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences (Advisor: Dr. Richard Mayer).