About Me

Hello! My name is Chrissy, and I work to make STEM more accessible and inclusive to students of all backgrounds and identities.

I graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with dual Bachelor degrees in Chemistry and Neuroscience, and as that year’s UW College of Arts and Sciences Gonfalon. My passion for travel, history, and photography led me to study abroad in Italy, Scotland, India, and England. Before starting my Ph.D., I also spent a year as a DAAD Graduate Scholar doing research at the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin to understand the structure of molecules under ultracold conditions (–270 ºC !! ).

My interest in chemistry persisted into my graduate studies, where I started trying to better understand how water molecules vibrate and interact with one another, within water droplets. My desire to make the field of chemistry more diverse and inclusive led me to switch my research focus to STEM education.

Now, I develop methods to understand issues that negatively affect diversity, equity, inclusion, and sense of belonging among graduate communities. Using the data I gather, I design, implement, and assess interventions to directly combat these disparities within academic communities. I am thankful for support from the National Science Foundation, and Ford Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.