I grew up in Minneapolis, MN, the daughter of two classical musicians who pulled me out of school to take me on national and international tours.  I learned from a young age the value of experiential learning.  I attended The Colorado College for undergrad, earning a BA in Drama with a minor in Italian.  While there, I studied voice and dance, spent a month seeing theatre in London and a summer learning Italian in a nunnery on the Amalfi coast in Italy.  I participated in the Vocal Arts Symposium, spent 3 years working as a Resident Advisor, and wrote and performed in a one-woman show for my thesis.

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I then attended the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in the U.K., where I earned a Master's degree in Acting.  I studied acting, voice, movement, dance and more; the program culminated in the UK premiere of Arabian Nights by Mary Zimmerman at the Battersea Arts Center in London, and a showcase in NYC.  

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Upon moving back to Minnesota, I began working in the Education Department at the Guthrie Theater, where I developed the Guthrie High School Players and helped with educational surround for schools and our mainstage productions.  This position ignited my passion for theatre and education, and eventually led me to apply to Ph.D. programs.

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I was at CU Boulder for 8 years; I completed my Ph.D. in Theatre History & Criticism in 2015 and continued to work for the university as a Lecturer in the Honors program and as a staff member, serving as Project Manager for the First Folio's visit to CU Boulder in 2016, and working for the Office of the Chancellor.  I continued to develop as a theater artist in Boulder, directing and performing with local theatre companies and dramaturging for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in the summers.  I taught summer camp, I house managed for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and I continued to be an active researcher.  Shakespeare informs most of my work, and I completed his full history play cycle in the summer of 2018 with CSF's Richard III, as well as working on the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's Original Practices initiative as the dramaturg and onstage prompter.

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I now live and work in Macomb, IL, as the Associate Professor of Theatre History and Head of Directing for the Department of Theatre & Dance at Western Illinois University.  I have directed The King Stag, WE ARE PUSSY RIOT, or Everything is P.R.; Kiss Me, Kate, Richard II, and March Tale by Tim Slover for the mainstage season and Oliver! for SummerStage; I serve as the honors advisor; revived the directing program; and am currently the Illinois State Chair for KCACTF Region 3.  I am an intimacy choreographer trained with Theatrical Intimacy Education; I integrate intimacy practices into all of my practical classes and production work.  I am a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre's Director's Lab 2019, and recently finished a collaborative adaptation of Macbeth with Mare Trevathan and Anne Penner entitled UNDONE: The Lady M Project, which premiered with Local Theatre Company in Denver, CO in 2023.