I joined the Maryland Institute of Applied Environmental Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health in 2014. I earned my B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and my M.S. in Safety Engineering/Industrial Hygiene from Texas A&M University. I obtained my PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of California at Berkeley where my doctoral work was supported by an EPA STAR Fellowship and focused on evaluating indoor environmental exposures among low-income Latino children living in urban and agricultural communities, validating a biomarker of pesticide exposure, and investigating the effects of pesticides on children's autonomic nervous system. I conducted my postdoctoral work at the UC Berkeley Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health.
My research focuses in children’s environmental health and, more broadly, assessing environmental exposures and their potential health effects in highly vulnerable populations including mothers, children, low-income/underserved communities, and occupational populations. Specifically, I am interested in assessing the impact of environmental exposures in homes and at schools/early childhood education (ECE) facilities; and the health impacts of pesticides, chemicals in consumer products, and unconventional gas development on vulnerable populations. I also seek to take my research a step further and design and implement interventions to mitigate environmental exposures and minimize the risk of potential adverse health outcomes.
I have experience working in children’s environmental health research, occupational health, science communication, working with Latino communities, and conducting exposure and epidemiologic pesticide research. My teaching interests are in children’s environmental health, environmental health in vulnerable populations, occupational health/industrial hygiene, and exposure assessment.
Ph.D., Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA (2010)
M.S., Safety Engineering & Industrial Hygiene, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2001)
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2000)
