I grew up in a beautiful town in central Utah, where the winters get much too cold and palm trees don’t grow. After completing my bachelor’s degree at Southern Utah University and my Ph.D. at the University of Utah, I finally saw the error of my ways and moved to beautiful St. George to teach chemistry where I can enjoy sunshine almost every day and see palm trees regularly.
My passion in academia is teaching, and my goal is student success. I love to help my students learn and succeed in what they do.
I selected chemistry as my field of study because I think it has the perfect balance of chemistry, math, physics, abstract thinking, and even art! I love to get into the details of why things are the way they are. It is incredibly rewarding to be able to apply chemistry to everyday life.
My research interests include modelling bonding using molecular and Kohn-Sham orbitals as well as utilizing molecular dynamics to understand the molecular motions present in specific systems of interest. My projects so far have application to hydrogenation catalysis and hydrogen storage.
In my spare time, I can be found reading, playing the piano, or enjoying the outdoors with my family. We like to hike, bike, ride our RZR, and play soccer.