I am currently a PhD student at Caltech in the Geological and Planetary Sciences department working with John Grotzinger. I currently work operations for the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) and my research involves using data from MER to investigate sedimentology on Mars. I also use images from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the structure and stratigraphy of Melas Chasma in Vallis Marineris.

In June 2005 I completed my master's degree in Polar Studies at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. In May 2004 I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with degrees in Engineering Physics, Astronomy, and Geology. I studied abroad from 2002-2003 at the University of Manchester in Manchester, England.

I was a research assistant in the NASA Ames Astrobiology Academy during the summer of 2004, and worked on a project related to educational activities in astrobiology. It was a great experience, and I met so many wonderful people through the Academy. My past research activities include finishing a thesis on the "Correlation between Physical Parameters and Growth Rates During Carbonate Precipitation, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, USA" working with Bruce Fouke. I published a paper in the Astrophysical Journal with You-Hua Chu on energy feedback processes in the Antennae Galaxies. I spent a summer working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the NSF REU program and studied debris disks with Marc Kuchner. I also worked with Chris McKay at NASA Ames on studying Mars analog soils, and with David Catling (now at the University of Washington) on Martian dust devils. I completed the Spaceflight and Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) at Kennedy Space Center working on advanced life support systems.

Besides academics, I have a brown belt in Kuk Sool Won, a Korean Martial Art, and love to read, travel, hike, and camp. I've been to 4 continents so far: North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and 17 countries: US, Canada, Mexico, Curacau, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Egypt, Namibia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I've backpacked in Death Valley, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Zion National Parks, the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the Lake District, England, and Snowdonia National Park, Wales. After I graduated from college, I took a cross-country roadtrip across the US and saw every western state and about 20 national parks in the west. Now that I'm living in California, I try to spend my free time hiking in the local mountains and going to the beach.

Some other personal info... I have three older siblings and thirteen nieces and nephews (so far ...). I grew up in Springfield, Illinois and graduated from Southeast High School.