Happy #InternationalDayOfWomenInScience! About a year & a half ago, I began my journey of becoming a #WomanInSTEM. There are a lot of stories out there about the hardship women still face in #science, so I want to share my happy story so far in hope it encourages other women 1/n

I returned to school at the age of 28, with the full support of my guy @Dbeaubarker (and dog child!). We had a lot to figure out to make it work, but I wanted this more than almost anything I had ever wanted, and he wanted me to go after my dream 2/n

Within a month of starting at @WarnerCollege, I applied for an #NSF funded undergraduate research position I wasn't qualified for... and got it! I think 100% on my enthusiasm for #soil #ecology 3/n

On joining the Cotrufo Lab, I was immediately surrounded by amazing, helpful, brilliant #WomenInScience! @BethanyAvera @ecology_katie @JM_Lavallee @SumSciNerd @MeganMachmuller (& more not on Twitter) taught me so much & made me feel welcome & valued from the start 4/n

For my new job, as a brand new science padawan, I got to work closely with @BethanyAvera to help design and carry out a new experiment studying the impacts of mycorrhizal #fungi on #soil organic matter 5/n

With support and help from my mentor, I developed an add-on idea for our experiment and wrote a grant proposal for the Francis Clark Soil Biology award from CSU's NREL... and won the funding to look at how mycorrhizal fungi alter fine roots! 6/n

Through my involvement with @ESA_SEEDS on campus, I met another amazing #womaninscience - @JillBaron4! She recruited me to work in her #ecology lab as well with Tim Weinmann & @Caitlincharl10. I've gotten to work on water samples and in @RockyNPS - can't beat that workplace! 7/n

I applied for some more long-shots (in my mind at least), and didn't get them. Except I DID get ONE! I became a @USDA_NIFA REEU Fellow for the summer, working with @ecology_katie and @NutNetGlobal on a #soil #plant interactions study in #grassland ecosystems! 8/n

With that study, we ended up with some surprising findings, & I put in an abstract for @theAGU fall meeting. There was a check-box for poster only or letting the organizers decide the presentation format. I checked the second & was shocked when they chose oral presentation! 9/n

The study gave me more than a presentation, too. It also gave me the opportunity to begin a follow-up study in the Cotrufo Lab! I get to explore more into the dynamics of plant photosynthetic pathways and soil organic carbon in grasslands! #isthisreallyhappening? 10/n

Over winter break, I also got to join the #agroecology #research team at @delfuegoproject with @DoctoraCafe, @ajmargenot, and @Dbeaubarker! We're working with small plot coffee #farmers in #Guatemala to connect #SoilHealth, #plant health, and #coffee cup quality 11/n

Oh and I almost didn't mention... I was recently nominated by @ColoradoStateU for the Goldwater National #Scholarship Competition for students pursuing a career in #research! 12/n

So I'm highly uncomfortable with listing out my successes over the last year and a half, but here's the point: I'm not that special. I'm just a woman with a passion for #ecology #research & the decision to apply for every possible opportunity. If you're on the fence, go for it!