I completed my undergraduate work at the University of Michigan in 2004, receiving a B.S. in Psychology with a Biology minor.  As an undergraduate I had the opportunity to work in the laboratory of Dr. David Meyer, helping to perform research experiments investigating working memory in humans, specifically object recognition and visual working memory storage.  After I graduated from the University of Michigan, I came to Michigan State University, where I have been conducting my doctoral research under the guidance of Dr. Joseph Lonstein.  Through my dissertation work, entitled “GABAergic Mechanisms Underlying Anxiety Behavior in Postpartum Rats”, I have been studying the possibility that natural neural differences in the GABAergic system could underlie the decrease in anxiety-related behaviors postpartum rats’ experience in comparison to diestrous virgins.  In addition to my dissertation work, I also conducted other projects during my early graduate school career investigating dopamine’s involvement in maternal behavior in the rat, particularly its involvement in the medial preoptic area.  I’m very excited to begin working in Jamie Maguire’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher and am looking forward to joining a great department at Tufts Medical School.