About Me
My academic journey has been shaped by a transdisciplinary curiosity for how humans interact with technology within complex systems. As an undergraduate at The Ohio State University, I explored psychology, neuroscience, and engineering; disciplines that continue to guide my approach to research and design. Early experiences as a research assistant studying medical and economic decision-making, alongside a human factors internship with Battelle Memorial Institute and consulting as a human factors professional, introduced me to the intersection of people, technology, and systems. These formative opportunities revealed the importance of human-centered approaches in solving real-world problems and inspired me to pursue graduate study.
I began my doctoral training in Engineering Psychology at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where I earned my master’s degree and advanced in my Ph.D. coursework and research. When my advisor accepted a faculty position at Arizona State University, I chose to continue my Ph.D. in Human Systems Engineering there, joining in the transition of our lab. This move required adaptability, resilience, and persistence, qualities that have strengthened me as both a researcher and a person. The shift also broadened my expertise, grounding me in both the psychological and engineering perspectives of human factors, while enhancing my ability to collaborate across disciplines.
Now a Ph.D. Candidate in Human Systems Engineering at Arizona State University, I investigate cognitive phenomena in human-machine teams, human-AI teams, and multiteam systems. My research focuses on developing objective measures of trust, distrust, and coordination dynamics to better understand and improve performance in distributed sociotechnical systems. Through this work, I aim to advance methods that capture the complexity of human-machine and human-AI collaboration while offering practical insights for industry, government, and academia.
Beyond academia, I’ve worked as a human systems engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and collaborated with government and defense partners on projects spanning trust, resilience, drone development, and human-machine and human-AI teaming. These experiences, combined with mentoring dozens of graduate and undergraduate students, have strengthened my belief in the power of collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and applied science to drive innovation.
Outside of my professional work, I have a passion for exercise science and strength training, particularly powerlifting. I enjoy applying the same principles of discipline, measurement, and continuous improvement from my research to my training. Lifting heavy not only challenges me physically but also serves as a source of resilience and balance, reinforcing the connection between mental and physical performance. This interest in fitness also deepens my appreciation for human physiology, biomechanics, and the ways in which people push the limits of performance whether in the gym, in research, or within high-stakes teams.
My path has never been linear, but it has always been driven by a desire to integrate diverse perspectives. From engineering design in high school robotics to leadership in professional and student organizations, and now my pursuit of transdisciplinary research, I remain motivated by the conviction that combining insights across fields and cultivating resilience both inside and outside of work is essential to creating meaningful and sustainable solutions. Throughout this journey, I have sought to understand how people and technology can come together to achieve more than either could alone. Looking ahead, I am motivated by the challenge of advancing human-AI collaboration, designing measurement systems and technologies that not only enhance performance but also preserve the human experience at the center of increasingly complex systems. Ultimately, my work is about more than studying systems; it is about designing and delivering human-centered solutions to complex problems. By integrating psychology, neuroscience, human systems engineering, and complex adaptive systems science with mixed-method approaches, I strive to create technologies that advance science while keeping the human experience at the forefront.