I am a Masters of Science student at Walla Walla University, studying octopuses and the effects of ocean acidification on RNA editing, a molecular process that allow octopuses (and squid and cuttlefish) to fine tune the functionality of their proteins beyond the genetic blueprint.

Being a molecular biologist was never a field I saw myself capable of. My entire life I thought I would be a full-time artist. Come high school and AP Studio Art, I got burned out so quickly that I thought I’d never touch art again. In a leap of fate moment I decided I would pursue a marine biology degree, as the ocean was my biggest inspiration. It took one fantastic professor and all of a sudden I understood concepts I never felt capable of understanding before. Because of this experience, science communication has become one of my most passionate endeavors. I was never a star student but with the right tools and teachers, anyone can learn anything, and I learned that first hand.

Below is more information about my store, where I put my art skills to use to raise money for charity, as well as a google sheet I put together of all the cephalopod labs in the world. I made this list to help future teuthologists find programs in our small (yet expanding rapidly) niche field.

Thanks for reading!