I completed my PhD at Penn State in materials science and engineering with a focus on semiconductor thin film synthesis for infrared nanophotonic applications. During this time, I became very involved in a science advocacy and science communication. After graduate school I made a career pivot to spend a year on Capitol Hill as an Congressional Science Fellow sponsored by the American Chemical Society. I served in Senator Sherrod Brown's personal office as a science policy advisor with a focus on labor, trade, manufacturing, and economic development.

Following my time on the Hill, I transitioned to the Executive Branch where I served as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations with the Hydrogen Hubs Project Management team. In this position, I worked on project management oversight for a Hydrogen Hub consisting of $925 million in federal cost share and various project developers executing clean hydrogen demonstration projects aimed at creating a regional clean hydrogen economy.