I especially liked the applied side of things. The "bean in a cup" experiment in elementary school grew into a hobby greenhouse as a teenager providing my family with vegetables for the table. It went on to grow into a full time family business which helped put me through college. The practical experience I got with all of this was invaluable. With more of a hands on approach, applied science and math allows you to take what you think you learned in class and see it in action in real life experiences. The experiences allow better integration of abstract concepts into reality, concreting what you know and leaving you with a desire to find out more. I attended college at Northwest Missouri State University and received a B.S. in ACS-accredited Chemistry in 2008. I have therefore had a lot of chemistry, including organic and p-chem as well as algebra, trig, geometry and multi-variate calculus. While I was a tutor for the Chemistry/Physics department (and asked to tutor College Lit and Bio labs) I actually had several classes in biology and agribusiness that led me to my graduate work at Arizona State. I am currently finishing up my PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology with emphasis on microalgal cultivation. I have a wide array of interests and enjoy spending time outdoor hiking and mountain biking. Overall, I'd say I'm a natural born problem solver. I love solving problems, especially abstract ones requiring creativity and imagination. I think it is the challenge of pulling from all of your life experiences and knowledge to come up with a solution that works. I think the key for success is having enough patience to keep ones imagination at work long enough to come up with a solution. I believe every problem has a solution, sometimes many.'It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations.'Walter Bagehot

mountain biking, hiking, outdoors, gardening/plants/algae, dance