Ashley is the Senior Research Coordinator for the Speer lab at Northern Arizona University. She has previously worked on soil ecology as well as various bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens in BSL2, BSL3, and ABSL3 facilities. She joined the Speer lab in August of 2025 and is currently working on a wide range of projects including 16S microbiome sequencing of roots, Deer and Deer Ked transmitted pathogens, aDNA work on historic fly samples, and the BioArc project. She got her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from NAU in 2019 and her Master of Arts in Emergency Management and Homeland Security (Biosecurity and Threat Management) from ASU in 2023. 

Fun fact: She is an active member of two guilds in Northern Arizona