Erin graduated from Colorado College in May 2007 with a dual degree in Physics and Biology, and spent the subsequent year working on a molecular biology project with Christina Takacs-Vesbach in the UNM Biology Department examining and characterizing the soil microbe communities of the Antarctic Dry Valleys. She also worked on a research project with Sandia National Labs, using molecular methods to detect changes in biofilm communities upon various water treatment procedures. She is just getting started in her graduate endeavors, having completed her first two years of medical school, and has begun work in a lab focused on vaccine development using virus-like particle platforms. She grew up in Albuquerque, attending Albuquerque High, and is glad to be a part of this great program in her home town. She grew up playing soccer, which she continues to be involved in, as well as ice hockey.