Biography

I grew up in a small, tight-knit town in North Texas. With the support of family and friends, I earned my B.A. in Government and B.S. in Environmental Science from UT Austin. During undergrad, I was an advocate, a student researcher, and a caregiver. I grew my community, and my mentors helped me find my niche: carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. At Cambridge, I look forward to furthering our understanding of carbon storage in peatlands. These ecosystems are enormous stores of C and have the potential to mediate climates if protected. Through machine learning, I aim to connect micro-scale chemical measurements with remote sensing to estimate carbon budgets in ‘pristine’ and ‘restored’ bogs. Being a Gates Scholar is a generational honor. I attended university due to a college fund my great grandfather created. He was a share cropper and military member, yet saw great value in education despite his lack thereof. Recently, I was given his autobiography. I’d like to thank Gates by sharing some of his words: “It is my hope and prayer that my great-grandchildren get a college education. Pops is sure that you will take advantage of this resource and will be an asset to your community and nation.”

Previous Education

University of Texas at Austin Government 2025
University of Texas Austin Environmental Science, Geology 2025