I am the Executive Director of the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, U.S.A. Prior to this, I served as the Curator of Science at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and as the Executive Director of the Don Harrington Discovery Center in Amarillo, Texas. I actively conduct research in paleobotany, entomology, and malacology and publish scientific articles on prehistoric African forest plants, abalone (Haliotidae) systematics, velvet ant (Mutillidae) mimicry and evolution, and the ecology, behavior, and conservation of apid bees. I am also a research associate at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (B.R.I.T.) in Fort Worth, Texas and serve on the Texas Tech Public Media Community Advisory Board.

I received my undergraduate degree from the University of California Santa Barbara and my doctorate (Geology – Paleobotany Emphasis) from the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

I am fascinated by biodiversity and the amazing world that we all call home.