Profile

I grew up in Ottawa, Canada, but in 2010, I decided to leave home to study and see more of the world.  I first moved to the Netherlands, and later that same year to the UK, to study at the University of Oxford.

Earlier this year, I moved across the country to start a new job at the University of Manchester, which has been really great so far!  I love cycling ? and horseback riding, and also enjoy playing trombone, hiking, and playing football with my friends.  I’m also a big sci-fi fan, and have seen every single episode of Star Trek ever made.

I am an evolutionary biologist who does experiments with bacteria to understand how they evolve–especially in response to antibiotics.  In the lab, I grow bacteria (on purpose!) in different conditions to see how they evolve when their environment changes.  I also use computers to study how the DNA of bacteria changes as they evolve, an area of science called bioinformatics.

A typical day for me involves a nice mix of activities: lab work, analysing data on the computer, writing about research and reading about others’ research.

I also like to keep up-to-date on what other research groups are doing by following my peers on social media (that’s Twitter and Facebook), which lets me keep in touch with people across the globe.

A few times a week, I will also meet with other researchers to help each other with ideas or problems, or listen to a visiting guest give a lecture on the newest results from his or her lab.