Gray Matter Happy Hour: About

About this Blog

Science plays an incredibly important role in our society, but sometimes it seems miles away. This disconnect causes a lack of transparency between scientists and the rest of society. This blog is an attempt to reconnect science to important issues we hear about and discuss every day.

Sometimes scientists make it hard to understand what they do because they forget that quantum chemistry and statistical thermodynamics aren't common knowledge. I often find my eyes glazed over, or closed for that matter, when scientists try to explain their research to me.

Science should be relatable so it is easier to connect with our everyday lives. How can we take proven scientific facts or established scientific theories to solve the problems of the world? This blog is here to provide a brain-food snack to try to address popular issues, happy hour for your gray matter!

My first blog post details more about my motivations and goals for this page.

Who are you?

I am a 20-something with a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, who just wants to share all the geeky things I have learned with the rest of the world. I am a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the Department of Energy in Washington, DC. None of the opinions expressed in this blog reflect those of my employer or affiliations.

Ever since I was introduced to the idea of global warming in high school, my career goal has been to stop it. My research since my undergraduate career has been focused on renewable energy applications. I recently realized that for any real change to happen there should be more information on why there is a problem and why we need to fix it.

I earned my bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with minors in Energy and Economics from the Colorado School of Mines. CSM is a school with many ties to the oil industry and the renewable energy sector with its close proximity to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

When I was entering my junior year I started doing undergraduate research at the Colorado Fuel Cell Center for a small fuel cell company, Versa Power Systems. I worked on a type of fuel cell, called solid oxide fuel cells, which use hydrocarbon fuels (gasoline or biofuels) to make usable energy more efficiently than a combustion engine (the energy mechanism a car uses).

Through my connections from my fuel cell internship, I started researching for one of my favorite professors and earned myself an internship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to expand my research on solid oxide fuel cells. My graduate research used our abilities with computers to simulate molecules and chemical reactions. My findings are useful in figuring out new ways to turn renewable plants into fuels for our cars, planes, and trains. Here is a video of a talk I gave at Seattle Town Hall on my research.

Outside of my research I ran the UW Science Policy Committee, and I am always learning new ways to talk about science to policymakers and the public.

What is some other irrelevant information about you?

I grew up just outside of Denver, CO, one of the best places in the world. I moved to Seattle, WA, one of the other best places in the world, in 2010 to start graduate school. Moving here is probably one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I have learned so much about myself from leaving the only thing I knew behind for a place I had no strong connections to. I love the culture and variety of activities the Pacific Northwest has to offer, and I still have so much more to discover.

Because I grew up so close to Denver in the 90s, I developed a borderline unhealthy obsession with the Denver Broncos. During football season my number one priority on Sunday (or sometimes Thursday or Monday) is to watch the Broncos game. My obsession landed me a gig as a staff writer at the Mile High Report, the Broncos Blog for SB Nation.

Subscribe to the Mile High Report here!

My Broncos fandom can be tricky at times, seeing as I live in Seahawks country. But you’d be surprised how many fellow Coloradans dwell here. I am a football lover in general, and I even won the chemical engineering fantasy football championship twice!
EDIT (1/20/14): It is especially hard now that we are Superbowl rivals. I have a feeling I might have to go into hiding for the next year.
EDIT EDIT (2/3/14): Pardon me while I go bury my head in the sand.

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I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by mountains, so I started snowboarding when I was 12 years old, and haven’t stopped since. It is one of my favorite ways to escape work life for a few hours on the weekend. I was spoiled by great snow and ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains, but I am learned to love the Cascades in Washington. Now I am trying to love the Shenandoah Valley. When there isn’t snow in the mountains, hiking, running, biking, kayaking, and camping are my favorite warm-weather activities.