Pageant scholarships paid for two bachelors degrees and a masters degree in research psychology with an emphasis in statistics. After a stint in the FBI crime analysis division, I was employed at UCSF as a project statistician for a group investigating the effects of comorbidity on community service treatments. I left UCSF to obtain a Ph.D. in Social Psychology at UC Santa Barbara. I am now in the final stages of completing my doctorate. My research examines cardiovascular responses during intergroup encounters, focusing on the role of stigma during dyadic interactions. My husband, Michael Mendes, is President/CEO of Diamond Walnut Growers. We live in Berkeley.