Greetings and welcome to my professional website. I currently teach part-time at Polk State College in Lakeland, FL. Recently, I have taught both face-to-face and online. Read on to discover more about my scholarly work and other interests.

My dissertation (2018) studies the work of six Florida writers whose animal characters are integral to their illustrations of the state. Florida animals play an important part in place attachment, or the meaningful relationships we have to physical locations. Literature about Florida depicting that attachment and its reliance on animal presences can promote activism on behalf of Florida’s nonhuman natural world. My ongoing research hopes to extend my dissertation by adding an ecofeminist lens to certain Florida writings. Women, people of color, and the working class have long been animalized in literature and other art forms. An ecofeminist approach to Florida’s literature of place can reveal the dynamic interplay between race, class, gender, and violence against animals.

At USF, I belonged to the English Honors Society, the English Graduate Student Association (EGSA), and Sigma Tau Delta. I have taught literature and composition at both the university and community college level. Additionally, I am an experienced copyeditor and have served as Referral Editor for Blackstone LSAT Prep. Another of my academic projects was the digitalization of the USF library’s extensive postcard collection. I served as the website designer for our Special Collections Exhibit on Florida Postcards.

Currently, I teach part-time while caring for my two children, Elliott and Madeline, and managing the household. I live with my husband James, our children, my mom, and three dogs in Davenport, FL. My hobbies include gardening/planting, reading, home-making, baking, and watching horror flicks.