Alyssa came to UMM in Fall 2016 to teach a mix of organic chemistry and (upper-level) biochemistry. Her background is predominantly in carbohydrate synthesis, glycobiology and nerding, meaning she is never above making a chemistry, science or sugar pun. She spent the majority of her PhD training in the lab of Professor Nikki Pohl at Indiana University, Bloomington and received her PhD in Organic Chemistry in February 2017. Prior to her time at IUB, she obtained her BS in Chemistry (with ACS Certification) at St. Lawrence University in Upstate New York and worked for Professor Larry French for her undergraduate thesis. In addition to being a fifth generation figure skater throughout her childhood, she was a highly decorated collegiate athlete in track and field (2x NCAA Champion, 11x NCAA All-American, 20+ NYSCTC state champion, among many others). Some of her other impressive accomplishments include: reading Tolkien's The Silmarillion over a dozen times before she was 20, the ability to quote verbatim the entirety of the LoTR and Independence Day movies and a high degree of dry sarcasm. She lives in Morris Minnesota with her grand overlord cat, Biskite.
