What were you doing before you came to Rutgers Law School?

Over the past four years I have worked closely with Master Perfumers across the fragrance chemical industry to bring hundreds of fragrances from concept to market. Many products I have worked on are in the everyday home, from shampoos and lotions to detergents and soaps, as well as high-end niche fragrances.

How did you choose to come to law school, and why Rutgers?

I decided to attain a legal education to help address regulatory and intellectual property issues unique to the fragrance chemical industry -due to the secretive nature of the industry (formulas are trade-secrets, even within the same fragrance manufacturing house), the use of Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) organic chemicals, and the ubiquity of their products, which have limited government agency oversight. 

Rutgers was an easy choice for me; I have an undergrad degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Rutgers University–New Brunswick and am currently in the Masters in Business and Science program at Rutgers with a concentration in Biotechnology and Genomics. I have never been anywhere so diverse, and highly admire the value that different minds bring to the world of education.

What do you hope to get out of law school?

I hope to utilize biotechnology and green chemistry to address these issues unique to the fragrance industry and other consumer chemical industries, in order to better the interests of public and environmental health.

Tell me a little more about yourself.

I was born in Connecticut and lived in Silicon Valley in the mid-2000s, before my parents moved to Madison, NJ. My passion for serving the public interest stems from my high school’s motto—“cui servire est regnare”—“to serve is to rule.”

I fell into the fragrance industry after studying abroad in Paris for art history during my undergrad at Rutgers. My Biochemistry advisors were always a little annoyed to see art history classes taking up my schedule, but fragrance ended up being a perfect marriage between art and science. I am interested in seeing the industry advance in a safe and sustainable way.

I still enjoy art of all kinds, activities in nature (snowboarding is my favorite), and am a member of Jersey City’s Sustainable JC Green Team.