Growing up in the southern United States, I was surrounded by the magic of the natural world—fireflies, giant magnolias, and impossibly lush azalea bushes. When I wasn’t building fairy forts outside, I was surrounded by books (and years’ worth of National Geographic magazines) that I remember poring through for hours on end. As a teenager, I spent summers with my grandpa who (decades ago) developed the sugar snap pea. Each summer as I combed the fields for new varieties of peas, I came to understand thrill of innovation and the power that comes from discovering something unexpected.
Although I loved my summer botany lessons, I turned to immunology in college. I was entranced by the microscopic battlegrounds within our bodies and wanted to study something directly related to human health. In 2014, I started my PhD at the University of Virginia, where I studied the interplay between chronic inflammation and metabolism during disease.
During my program, I learned how much science depends on stories as a means to both make and share new discoveries. I realized I could combine my love of storytelling, penchant for analytics, and passion for science by becoming a science journalist.
I finished my PhD in 2020 and graduated from UC Santa Cruz’s Science Communication program in 2021. I learned podcast and video production, in addition to traditional journalism. I interned with with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, The Monterey Herald, Symmetry Magazine, and The Scientist (sometimes publishing under my nickname “Annie”). From 2022 to 2023, I was the web producer and project manager at Quanta Magazine in New York City.
To learn about my past life as an immunologist, check out my dissertation or my full list of peer-reviewed publications!