I grew up in Portland, Oregon and spent my childhood catching frogs in the wetlands behind my house, writing poems, and painting. My primary passion was animals: studying them, catching them and petting them.

I graduated as a valedictorian from my high school where I played basketball, soccer and ran track. I got my first film camera when I was 16 and fell in love with taking pictures. I started babysitting when I was 13 and continued to do so until I was 23.

I moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington where I graduated with a BA in Journalism and BFA in photography and received departmental honors. I interned as a reporter for the West Seattle Herald (now called “Westside Seattle”) and an arts educator at the Henry Art Gallery. I nannied part time on the side.

In the years after graduating I worked as an artist assistant for John Grade and Alex Shweder, took photos and produced videos for The Project Room and Sam Davidson Gallery and juggled multiple restaurant jobs.

In 2013 I decided it was time for an adventure. I saved up a chunk of change, sold everything I owned and jetted off to Alaska. In my five months there, I lead kayaking tours in the Katchemack Bay, pitched fish on a commercial salmon boat in the Cook Inlet, harvested produce on a local farm and ran from grizzly bears in the Denali backcountry.

Eager to continue learning from the world, I accepted a position for a non-profit based in Cap-Haitien, Haiti where I lived for almost two years. I worked for organizations supporting vulnerable moms. I ran on-the-ground operations, produced photo and video marketing content and lead job-training skills for Haitian women. I speak conversational Haitian Creole. This was the most challenging job I’ve ever had.

After my time abroad I returned to my hometown of Portland and spent the next three years working on the communications and marketing team for OHSU Foundation — the fundraising arm for Oregon’s largest hospital.

I started as the communications specialist: writing blogs and direct mail appeals, and doing graphic design for events. I worked up to the role of multimedia producer where I was leading photoshoots for ads and our magazine, producing videos for the web, events and TV and helping to orchestrate our multi-channel end-of-year fundraising campaign that was awarded multiple Case Awards.

While living in Oregon I completed my basic mountaineering training through the Mazamas and summit three peaks in the Cascade Range: Mt Hood, Mt Saint Helens and Mt Adams.

In 2018 I decided to pursue my lifelong dream of documentary filmmaking and was accepted into the highly selective documentary film specialization at the Columbia Journalism School. In this year-long intensive program I honed skills in short and longfom video and radio storytelling rooted in journalism. I was also selected for a competitive fellowship in the duPont Awards office where I helped with various coms and marketing tasks and running events. A short film I co-directed, filmed, produced and edited, The Vet Van, played at several major festivals including DOC NYC, Saint Louis Film Festival and Double Exposure Film Festival.

Since graduating I have worked my way up from associate producer to archival producer to senior producer on a spate of documentary shorts, features and series. Many of these were small teams where I saw projects from pre-production through delivery and distribution. I am particularly skilled at stratling the organizational and logistical side of film production with the creative and storytelling side necessary to make something compelling and get it into the world.