Beka is a Ph.D. candidate and NSF fellow jointly advised by Dr. Bianca Jones Marlin and Dr. Stavros Lomvardas. In 2011, she earned her B.S. in Anthropology at Appalachian State University. Thereafter, Beka received her science training with Dr. Ted Meigs at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Dr. Charlotte Boettiger at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A molecular biologist at heart, Beka studies how trauma gets epigenetically encoded in the brain.

When she’s not doing science, you can find her biking, doing acrobatics, cooking (but more importantly eating), and spending time with friends.