I’m a virologist studying the role of viruses play in the intestinal community and the impact they have on our health.

Until I was about a year out from finishing grad school, I was convinced that I would break my computer if I even looked at the terminal, let alone typed something in it. Eventually, the time came when I needed to make a figure that was too complex for Excel so I turned to R. I stumbled through learning R by myself and, while I was able to get the desired result, I didn’t fully understand what I was doing or why it worked until I took a Software Carpentry workshop. Since that initial workshop, I now use programming on a daily basis and have been both a helper and an instructor for multiple Carpentries workshops because it made such a positive impact on my own career and I want to help others share in that same opportunity.