I am a Master’s student working under the supervision of Dr. Karen Crosby at Mount Allison University. My work focuses on the effect of insulin on neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH), which is a brain region critical for appetite regulation.

I aim to answer these questions:

1. How does bodyweight and food intake change after insulin is injected into the DMH?

2. Does insulin signalling in the DMH affect physiological processes other than appetite regulation, such as energy metabolism or thermoregulation?

3. What signal transduction pathways are activated by insulin binding in the DMH?

4. Does insulin signalling in the DMH change in rats who consume high-fat or high-sugar diets?

5. How does diabetes affect insulin signalling in the DMH?

For my research, I use techniques such as whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology, stereotaxic surgeries, and behavioural monitoring. After my Master’s program, I plan to pursue a PhD and work towards a career in academia.

Honours work: Does insulin act in the DMH?

For my honours project, I asked if insulin binds to DMH neurons, and if so, how that may affect their activity. I compared synaptic transmission (a measure of communication between neurons) and action potentials (a measure of neuronal excitability) before and after exposing DMH neurons to insulin. I found that insulin decreases both excitatory synaptic transmission and neuronal excitability in DMH neurons. If you're interested in reading more, you can explore the project page on GitHub and read my thesis!

Coding Projects

I always have some sort of coding project on the go. I code most frequently in R & RMarkdown, but I also like to build things with LaTeX and HTML. My most recent projects have included creating a reproducible RMarkdown/LaTeX thesis template, coding a website (this one!) and developing R scripts to analyze the recordings that we collect in the lab. I'm currently developing an R package for electrophysiologists to analyze and plot their data!

Scientific illustrations

Art, graphic design, and typography are key interests of mine. I particularly enjoy using art to improve understanding of scientific concepts. Most of my diagrams are featured in my presentations, but I also create stand-alone scientific illustrations and figures. My main illustration tools are Inkscape (a free, open-source vector illustrator), ggplot2, and watercolour. I’m also familiar with using tools like Mol* to generate and modify 3D protein structures.

Cranky Bee Art

A few years ago, I started an online business featuring my watercolour art and nature photography. It grew quickly and little did I know that this fun project would soon become a big part of my artistic life. I have lots of fun imagining animals like mice, bears and giraffes doing human activities and celebrating special occasions together.

Cranky Bee Art specializes in greeting cards for adoption day anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays, as well as creating small moments that make every day special. I’m particularly proud of my “Just Because” series to send to people - well, just because you want to check in and let them know that you’re thinking of them.

Let’s connect! If you have ideas for collaboration, knowledge of useful R scripts or packages, or ideas for what card I should paint next, I would love to hear from you.

Don’t go yet! If you want to read more about me, here’s my CV.