Experience

• Texas A&M Health Science Center

  Graduate Assistant Researcher

  I am a student in Dr. Jeffrey Cirillo's lab, whose primary focus is to study host-pathogen interactions of bacterial pulmonary pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. My project focuses on characterizing and studying a TB gene in its role in virulence.

• Texas A&M Health Science Center

  Postdoctoral Fellow

  Under the advisor of Dr. Jeffrey Cirillo, I worked on a Merck funded project characterizing clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae. This work included identifying the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of these isolates and creating bioluminescent strains to be used in future guinea pig pneumonia models for further drug testing.

• Blinn College

  Adjunct Faculty

  I teach introductory biology courses and the accompanying laboratory sections to students at Blinn College. My duties include creating my own lecture materials, testing materials, holding office hours, and attending professional development seminars.

• Texas A&M University

  Instructor

  I teach the Fall in person Ento-320 course "Honey Bee Biology" and both the Spring and Fall online "Honey Bee Biology."

• Texas A&M University

  Research Associate

  Tonya worked at Texas A&M University as a Research Associate

• JLM Pharmatech

  Quality Control

  I sampled and tested products received and produced by JLM Pharmatech to ensure they met company and USP standards. I also monitored the local facility (water quality, instrument cleanliness, etc), to verify that everything passed JLM Pharmatech and USP standards and that production may continue.