Hi! I'm Emma.

I grew up in Toronto, Canada and after a brief stint in Switzerland relocated to Cambridge, MA, where I lived from 2011-2025 doing science and some other stuff. Now I live in San Francisco, CA, where I’m the VP of Science at Terraferma, a biotech company that makes protein for fun stuff like vegan cat food. I love to read, write, talk, travel, and climb rocks. Welcome to my website!

I did my PhD in Biology at MIT investigating the interconnections of RNA processing events under the supervision of Chris Burge. Specifically, I studied the curious phenomenon of Intron-Mediated Enhancement (IME), whereby the presence of an intron has been observed to enhance gene expression at multiple levels and across diverse genes and organisms. I characterized this process in human cells using massively parallel experimental assays as well as genome-wide computational analyses. You can read about what I discovered here!

This project represents the latest chapter in my history with RNA, as during my undergrad at Harvard, I previously studied both extracellular vesicle RNA in the Church Lab and RNA enzymes in the origin of life in the Szostak Lab. For more details about my love of RNA and science, check out this MIT Biology profile.

When I’m not doing or talking about science, you’ll probably find me rock climbing, watching anime, playing dungeons and dragons, hanging out with my cats, or some combination of those activities.