I began my scientific career in Santa Barbara, California at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). There I completed a bachelors degree (BA) in cell biology with an emphasis in molecular biology. I also completed a masters degree (MA) studying molecular factors affecting fruit ripening in avocado. After graduate school, I spent a brief period studying the molecular basis of color vision in the Neurobiology Department at UCSB before joining the molecular biology group at DAKO corporation, a Danish company specializing in molecular diagnostics with a subsidiary in Carpinteria, California (south of Santa Barbara). At DAKO I spent 5 years focused on developing a DNA-based diagnostic test for human papilloma virus (a virus associated with cervical cancer), as well as diagnostic tests for a variety of HIV induced secondary infections.

In 1993 my husband Jay Groppe (a biochemist), and I relocated to Basel, Switzerland where I spent 7 years working as a Ph.D. student, and later a post doctoral researcher, at the University of Basel’s Botanic Institute studying the effects of human activity on plant-pathogen interactions. My husband meanwhile worked as a post doctoral researcher at the internationally acclaimed Biozentrum. For my studies, I focused on the effects of “global change” on genetic diversity and biodiversity in grassland ecosystems. My studies were part of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s 7-year research program Priority Program Environment (SPPE)-Integrated Project Biodiversity. This program was based on the idea that biodiversity is a prerequisite for the healthy functioning of ecosystems and hence, the planet. It was also based on the supposition that human induced environmental change such as habitat fragmentation and elevated atmospheric CO2 affect (biodiversity. Researchers from diverse disciplines including botany, zoology, microbiology, molecular biology, mathematics, chemistry, geology, politics and social science were recruited to test this hypothesis and as a group worked closely together over the course of the 7-years. My findings during this project resulted in 9 scientific publications. These publications have had a significant and ongoing impact on the field as evidenced by the number and duration of citations over the years. My findings were presented in over 13 lectures given by myself at a variety institutes throughout Switzerland and the UK, and 2 posters, one of which was presented to the Fifth International Mycological Congress in Vancouver, Canada and another to the Ecological Society of America. My first seminar was given at a retreat for the SPPE which was held at a chalet in the Swiss pre-Alps. Much to my surprise, the Nobel laureate, Werner Arber, was sitting in the third row, center. My second seminar was given shortly thereafter at a symposium at Oxford University. After the seminar, the scientists gathered for lunch in the magnificent Renaissance style '“Hall”, of Cardinal College (used as a set for the Harry Potter movies). My phenomenal experience in Switzerland continued from there, and taught me to work with people from diverse intellectual and societal backgrounds and to share my ideas in meaningful and convincing ways to a variety of people, often non-native English speakers.

Our years in Switzerland were not only about Science. We had countless weekend adventures in the Swiss Alps. We were able to dramatically improve our skiing expertise during the winter, while the rest of the year found us hiking up to 9 hours per day on Alpine trails. Our home, Basel, was a wonderful jumping off site for excursions throughout Europe, the UK and beyond. During the 7 years we visited Paris and London multiple times, as well as Prague in the Czech Republic, Berlin, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Dresden and Heidelberg in Germany, Biaritz and Hossegor in France, Rome, Milan, Venice and Florence in Italy, San Sebastian and the Canary Islands in Spain, and even the Maldives, off the coast of Sri Lanka.

 After returning to the United States in the year 2000 I embarked on another long-term project, homeschooling our (then 4 year old) daughter. I threw myself into this endeavor as I had the Biodiversity Program with a love of learning at its core. Now, twenty years later, our daughter is an avid learner with a love of science, literature and art and is finishing her 4th year of college at the University of Texas, Dallas. She is a highly successful literary studies major with an art history minor. She also volunteers at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, a fact that is a source of pride to both myself and to her father. She delights in passing on her love of learning to the many children and adults who stop to ask her questions there.