Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Business Administration
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Specialization: Organizational Behavior
Thinking differently, at work and beyond.
I examine how people develop, sustain, and transfer creative thinking across contexts, and how those processes relate to well-being, relationships, and what people are able to contribute to others.
Background
I came to organizational behavior through psychology and cognitive science.
- UC Merced · Psychology & cognitive science
As an undergraduate at the University of California, Merced, I studied both fields and joined the Marghetis Lab, a cognitive science lab. This was my first experience with research. I enjoyed working through questions with other people, and I liked studying human behavior. By the time I graduated, I knew I wanted to work on questions related to organizations, even though I hadn't yet figured out exactly what those questions would be.
- San Jose State · I-O psychology
I went on to earn an MS in industrial-organizational psychology at San Jose State University, where I also managed the Workplace and Occupational Wellness Lab. The lab gave me the direction and training to begin doing organizational research. It was also where well-being became a central part of how I think about organizations and the questions I want to study.
- Gies · Organizational behavior
I'm now a PhD student in organizational behavior at Gies. My research focuses on creative thinking in organizations, with particular attention to its relationship with well-being and to how people's ways of seeing situations shape what they do at work and beyond it.
Training across disciplines
Master of Science (MS), Industrial Organizational Psychology
San Jose State University
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Psychology and Cognitive Science
University of California, Merced
Applied work
Before starting my PhD, I worked as a People Operations and Strategy Manager at BuiltByBit, a remote startup.
That experience gave me an applied perspective on organizations and the problems workplaces are trying to solve. It still guides how I approach my research: I start from problems organizations actually face, and I try to make my findings useful to the people inside them.
It also showed me the practical value of creative thinking. In a startup, there was rarely an established playbook. People had to make sense of new problems, adapt as the company changed, and develop approaches that could affect how the organization worked. I want my research to remain connected to that reality, so that the questions it asks matter not only in theory but also to the people and organizations working through these problems.
I'm always glad to hear from people working on these problems inside organizations. If you're interested in collaborating, or just want to talk through a question your workplace is facing, reach out.
Service
One of my most important experiences was serving as a regional committee member for Destination Imagination.
Destination Imagination is a nonprofit program in which student teams work together on open-ended challenges spanning STEM and the arts. They develop their own creative solutions and present them.
Being involved with the program has made the value of creativity clear to me. I've watched students notice possibilities no one pointed out, rethink a problem when their first idea stalled, and work together until an idea became something they could stand behind. It has shown me how much those moments matter when there's no single right answer.
That experience is part of why I study creativity at work, where people also have to imagine alternatives, respond to unfamiliar problems, and find better ways of doing things.