Amy obtained her B.S. in biology from Iowa State University (too many years ago to count). After obtaining Master's degrees in Biology from University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Forensic DNA and Serology from University of Florida, she worked for both federal and state government agencies for a number of years before returning to ISU to obtain her PhD in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.

Amy is finishing her 3rd year in the BCB PhD program. She is studying how genetics and lifestyle factors affect a person's risk of Alzheimer's Disease.

Amy is also a disciplinary writing consultant through the Center for Communication Excellence (CCE) for the Agronomy and Seed Science Programs. In this role she assists graduate and post-doctoral students with all types of written scientific communication by working with them to polish their writing and proofreading skills.