I earned my Associate's degree in 2018 before transferring to the University of Tennessee, where I completed a BS in Animal Science (2020), an MS in Animal Science with a minor in Agricultural and Resource Economics (2022), and a Ph.D. in Animal Science (2025). My research focuses on farmstead, or value-added, dairies, which are dairy farms that process their own milk into products that may be sold directly to consumers. I take an interdisciplinary approach, integrating principles from food science, economics, social sciences, and animal science, to generate well-rounded research with practical outcomes for dairy farmers.

My master's research surveyed Tennessee farmstead dairies to understand and benchmark this niche market, and conducted consumer surveys to evaluate willingness-to-pay for bottled milk with different attributes. I also developed an economic decision-support tool to help dairy farmers assess the feasibility of bottling milk.

During my Ph.D., I expanded this work across Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina to analyze consumer demand for milk, cheese, and ice cream with specific attributes. I also refined and broadened my decision-support tool to include cheese processing enterprises and incorporated stochastic modeling to identify key profitability drivers for cheese operations.

I am currently working to publish my research and continue developing accessible decision support tools to guide dairy farmers in considering value-added enterprises.