Emily was born and raised in the small town of Pfafftown, NC. She received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was introduced to organic chemistry research in the lab of Prof. Jeffrey Johnson. She then went on to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton University, working in the lab of Prof. Rob Knowles. Her thesis work focused on the development of new synthetic methods for the stereoselective synthesis of pyrroloindoline natural products using enantioselective photoredox catalysis. From there, she moved to the University of California San Diego to work in the lab of Prof. Pieter Dorrestein and learn more about untargeted mass spectrometry and the gut microbiome. Emily joined the VT Department of Chemistry as an Assistant Professor in August 2022. Outside of the lab, she likes hiking, camping, playing golf, cooking and hanging out with her dog Moira.