I was born in Chicago, IL in 1968 and grew up in Charlotte, NC. After graduating from Charlotte Latin in 1987, I attended North Carolina State University and graduated in 1992 with a BS in Chemical Engineering. I subsequently attended graduate school in Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, working under Professors Michael Paulaitis and Eric Kaler on the molecular simulation of surfactant interactions in aqueous solutions. After defending my PhD in 1998, I went on to post-doctoral assignments at Lund University in Sweden (working with Prof. Bjorn Lindman) and Princeton University (working with Prof. Robert Prud'homme). During those experiences I performed experimental studies of self-assembly in aqueous and non-aqueous environments with applications including the design of nanostructured gels and the enhanced recovery of oil from deep sea reservoirs. I subsequently joined the Theoretical Chemistry and Molecular Physics Group (T12) at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2001 as a Director's Fellow working under Prof. Lawrence Pratt. At Los Alamos, I returned to research on the theory and modeling of the fundamental interactions that drive self-assembly. In 2004, I joined the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Tulane University as an Assistant Professor. I was subsequently promoted to Associate Professor in 2010 and Professor in 2016.

My research interests include the multiscale simulation and theory of self-assembly and hierarchical organization in complex fluids including surfactant solutions, polymer melts and solutions, and biopolymer gels and networks to advance self-assembly as a labile tool for building tailored nanostructured materials.

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