I was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, and earned my undergraduate degree from UNC Chapel Hill. In 1988, I received an M.S. in Materials Engineering from NC State University. Since 2005, I have worked as a software programmer at NC State University. I began my career developing geospatial web applications with the Biodiversity and Spatial Information Center. In 2014, I joined the Carbone Lab, where I develop web applications that support genetics and genomics research.