Kirsten Allen, born and raised in the Metro Atlanta area, is currently a 5th-year Ph.D. Candidate at Rutgers University-New Brunswick pursuing her doctoral studies in Plant Biology with a concentration in Natural Products and Human Health. She pursued her Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Georgia along with a minor in Plant Biology and a Certificate in International Agriculture. There she engaged in research within five different laboratories and ultimately discovered her passion for investigating plant natural products and their biologically active secondary metabolites.