I am a Ph.D. student in Dr. Jeffrey Stone’s lab at Indiana State University, where my research focuses on diatom taxonomy, ecology, and paleolimnology, with projects spanning the discovery of new and extinct diatom species from African lakes (including Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika) to the reconstruction of long-term ecological change in mining-impacted Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Additionally,  I focus on circular bioeconomy applications, sustainable aquaculture, pollution biomonitoring, wastewater remediation, and algae-based bioproducts, integrating fundamental diatom ecology with innovative solutions for environmental sustainability and biotechnology.