​I am a behavioral neuroscientist dedicated to providing research opportunities to undergraduate students. Broadly, my research aims to increase our understanding of the neural substrates underlying motivated behaviors, and assessing whether that circuity is similarly recruited in males and females. 

I received my doctorate in psychology with a concentration in neuroscience from Boston College. Under the direction of Dr. Gorica D. Petrovich, I completed a detailed investigation into the organization of connections between the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and lateral hypothalamus, and assessed recruitment of this circuitry in behavioral paradigms of cue-modulated feeding.

For my postdoctoral research I investigated the activation of pathways to the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, recruitment of vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic systems,  and the role of the orexin/hypocretin system during juvenile social play behavior, under the mentorship of Dr. Alexa H. Veenema at Michigan State University. 

Currently, I am a Professor of Practice at Wheaton College - MA, where I teach a variety of classes within the Psychology & Neuroscience Department and conduct behavioral neuroscience research with an enthusiastic team of undergraduate collaborators.