I was born and raised in Florida, one of the few natives! I was born in Tampa, lived briefly about an hour north in Citrus County, went to college in Orlando and back to Tampa for grad school where I've been ever since. A big triangle! I attended college at the University of Central Florida in Orlando where in 1993 I earned B.S. degrees in Biology and in Molecular Biology and Microbiology. I did a 2 year stint in the real world as a clinical research coordinator doing clinical trials for medications for several different medical conditions, including high cholesterol, glaucoma, high blood pressure, among others. I decided to return to school at the University of South Florida in Tampa where I earned a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences (with a focus in Biochemistry) in 2001. I did cancer research at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute for my dissertation and briefly studied Alzheimer's disease at USF's Medical school as a postdoctoral fellow.

I teach online for University of Maryland Global Campus, St. Petersburg College, Bellevue University and St. Leo University. I love it! I can do everything from the comfort of my own home and it allows me to stay home to raise my 2 girls.

I've been married to Carlos for 28 years. We have 2 girls, Kira (20) and Claire Elyse (13). This is our 15th year homeschooling. Kira graduated from high school as a homeschooler in 2022 and she graduated with her B.S. in Biblical Studies from SEU at age 19 in 2024! Claire Elyse is in 8th grade. She loves to play drums and to fence. We are active members in our homeschool community, which has been such a blessing. It's amazing the things you learn when you teach to your own kids! It's also amazing how intimidating it is! You'd think I'd be totally confident, but it's a whole different world from teaching college students! Carlos also has a great son, Devon (30). Finally, we have 5 amazingly adorable kitties, Cosmos, Caramel, Mittens, Blanco (a black kitty) and Halo. We also have a giant 5 year old dog, Ellie (AKA Ms. Destruction). She finally has a friend to play with. She and Blanco like to play and chase each other.

When not parenting, teaching or researching, I LOVE to sew, decorate cakes and do other crafts. My girls and I also love to camp and hike. I love all sciences, well almost all, and in addition to my Life Science background, I have a great interest in Geology and Archaeology. I also love languages. One day I'd really like to fluently speak French.