Originally from central North Carolina, I attended Appalachian State University, earning a B.S. in Computer Science in 2005. Later, I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2010 from Clemson University under the advisement of Dr. Brian Dean, where my doctoral research focused on Approximation Algorithms for graph cutting problems. Since 2011, I have taught at UNC Asheville, first as a Lecturer and then as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science. I have always loved theory, data structures and algorithms, but I have more recently written and published works on multiple computer science education topics, such as the pedagogy of large team development projects, alternative grading strategies, and AI-based curricula.