About Me

I am a Visiting Assistant Professor at Trinity University, where I am currently teaching Biochemistry. I previously completed my Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry in the Hud Lab at Georgia Tech. As an academic, I have been driven by my desire to understand life from first a biological, and then a chemical, perspective. Both within and outside of science, I believe that to be challenged in one's beliefs is to truly understand them, and I welcome open and honest discussion about any topic.

My nickname "Tyro" is a shortening of my first and last name, but I've come to learn that as a real word, "tyro" is of neoclassical origin, stemming from an alternate spelling of the latin word "tiro", meaning recruit or learner. In 1610, the iatrochemist Jean Beguin published what has been cited as the first chemistry textbook, the Tyrocinium Chymicum, cementing the shift from alchemy to chemistry in the sciences.

I believe in the concept of beginner's mind and strive to maintain such an attitude in my approach to learning about all topics, both those which are new to me and those with which I am familiar. Here, I will try to cultivate my own Tyrocinium, or place of learning, in all of my efforts.

Research

One-Pot Formation of Pairing Nucleosides

Relevant Publication:
In preparation

The chemistry that allows sugar formation and nucleobase glycosylation occurs under similar conditions. To better understand the likelihood that these reactions could have occurred on the early Earth, I am working toward recreating these key reactions in a single pot, without intervening purification steps.

Ketose Sugars and Nucleoside Formation

Relevant Publication:
A Plausible Prebiotic Path to Nucleosides: Ribosides and Related Aldosides are Generated from Ribulose, Fructose, and Similar Abiotic Precursors.

The formation of sugars on the early Earth could have happened by a variety of processes beyond the traditional formose reaction. Some of these reliably produce ketose sugars, which could have served as a pool of stable sugars that could "leach" substrates for nucleobase capture via interconversion to aldoses. In this way, nucleosides of glucose and ribose could have formed robustly on the early Earth. For a video presentation on this topic, see this youtube video.

Prebiotic Noncanonical Nucleoside Formation

Relevant Publication:
Prebiotic Synthesis of Noncanonical Nucleosides and Nucleotides.

Noncanonical nucleosides could have predated the traditional "RNA World" in chemical evolution, and their formation could have occurred in a variety of ways. Importantly, divalent nucleosides are much more likely to react with sugars in chemical contexts that preclude hydroxide as a nucleofuge.

Teaching

Teaching

Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry

I have taught two classes thus far at Trinity University, including Biochem I and Biochemistry Laboratory.

Biochem I

I have taught Biochem I in a flipped-classroom style, utilizing some previously-created videos and some I made myself, in order to foster productive engagement during the class period. Complementing the standard Biochemical curriculum, I included an emphasis on 3D-molecular visualization as well as incorporating discussions about racism in science and medicine as provided by my co-teacher.

Biochemistry Lab

I taught Biochemistry Laboratory collaboratively with a co-teacher, and provided students excellent opportunities to experience a variety of experimemtal techniques including FRET, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, isoelectric focusing, SDS-PAGE, and column affinity chromatography.

Advanced Chemical Principles

In this course, I encouraged students first entering the upper-division curriculum in Chemistry to seek out knowledge and rely on their foundational skills to develop protocols for various lab experiments. Removing the "rails" on which previous lab courses have been run often daunts the students at first, but I encouraged them to remember the ways in which they have performed experiments previously, and pushed them to hone their scientific writing skills.

Undergraduate Minor in Astrobiology

I am working on creating an Undergraduate Minor in Astrobiology, modeled after the Graduate Certificate in Astrobiology already offered at Georgia Tech, an effort which I hope will improve interdisciplinary learning among students who began with an interest in one or a few of the many fields encompassed by Astrobiology.

Tech to Teaching

I have completed the Tech to Teaching certificate program at Georgia Tech, including a Minor in Higher Education.

Teaching Assistant Experience

  • 2012–2013: "Climate Change" (University of Southern California)
    Instructed a lab/project section involving multiple models and demonstrations involving climate change and its effects on the Earth today.
  • 2017–2018: "Introduction to Quantitative Analysis" (Georgia Institute of Technology)
    Supervised lab sections focused on the accurate measurement and statistical analysis of a variety of standard chemical experiments including titrations, gravimetric analysis, spectroscopic analysis, and more.
  • 2021: "Survey of Biochemistry" (Georgia Institute of Technology)
    Assisted instruction, held office hours, and wrote assessment content for an upper-level biochemistry course for undergraduate students.

Outreach:

As part of the Center for Chemical Evolution, I participated in such events as Buzz on Biotech, the Atlanta Science Festival, and STEAM night at Mableton Elementary School as a volunteer to manage and implement scientific demos for children and the general public.