I am a graduate​ student in West Virginia but born and raised in the mountains of North Carolina. During the fall and spring, I am teaching undergraduate students introductory biology lab courses to pay my way through grad school. In addition to teaching, I also do independent research; I am currently working on a genetic analysis and species delimitation of the North American worm snakes (Genus Carphophis) as well as examining their relationship to reptile and amphibian diseases. I am very passionate about the natural world and while my focus is on reptiles and amphibians I find myself delighted by a wide variety of wildlife from spiders and slugs to mushrooms and trees.