As the Research Manager at NDS, Jennifer (she/her) largely focuses on the intersection of disability justice and technology in the U.S. workforce. Jennifer obtained a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience from St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX, and a Master of Science in Neuroscience from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.
For the past six years, she has worked as a neuroscience researcher. As a queer disabled woman in STEM, she has long advocated for disability representation and equity within academia, founding multiple organizations at Georgia State University and leading a successful graduate student campaign to increase wages in 2021. In addition, she continues to actively work as a science writer, covering topics like disability justice in scientific communication, Schizophrenia awareness, mental illness research/policy, and the impact of trauma on the brain. She brings years of experience working in research, grant writing, public speaking, and advocacy work.
In her spare time, Jennifer is studying to be a birth doula and postpartum doula, with a goal to set up a scholarship program to offer free birth and postpartum services to low-income and multiply marginalized folks in and around Portland, Oregon. Although a southerner at heart, she currently lives in Vancouver, WA, with her fiancé, sibling, and canine nephew Samwise Gamgee.