Undergraduate Degree: Bachelor of Science
Undergraduate Institution: University of Southern Colorado
Major: Psychology
Minor: English
Major Professor: Dr. Rob Contreras

Research interests: All my life, I have been interested in people and their perceptions. Specifically, I am intrigued by the personal and subjective nature of our preferences for foods and, consequently, whether these preferences are related to body weight. Why does my mom love coconut, especially in German Chocolate cake, whereas I find coconut repulsive? Why does my dad like steak, but I'm kinda of "so-so" about it. Why do I crave chocolate soooo much, but my boyfriend isn't big on sweets? What makes our food preferences, especially between men and women, different? Accordingly, my research interests include sex differences in taste stimuli, such as sucrose (sugar) and linoleic acid (fat). Although I use an animal model (rats), the functional significance (i.e. the "why should I care?") of this research, I believe, is far-reaching. Body weight and obesity are determined, in part, by what kind and how much food we eat. In turn, our preferences for foods reflect how we taste different foods. Picky eaters are picky because they are typically better able to 'taste' foods. Together, this suggests that body weight is related to food preferences which themselves reflect the taste of foods. Of course, this all may be a clever ruse used to disguise my true motives. I am secretly training my rats to steal world's supply of chocolate…mmm…chooocholate.

Degree sought: Ph.D. (although I am just doing this until my dream of living on the beach drinking margaritas comes true).

Hobbies/ Interests: In my infinite amount of spare time, between classes, research and trying to stay sane, I enjoy rock climbing, reading Shakespearean plays and, when available, figure skating. Furthermore, like many others in the program, I am a fan of The Simpsons, Southpark and Scrubs.