Carrie is thrilled to combine her passions for art, science, and the outdoors as the art teacher and 7th grade science teacher. Carrie grew up in northeast Georgia and attended the University of Georgia, earning a B.S. and M.S. in Physical Geography and B.A. in Spanish. During her summers off from college, Carrie raft guided on the Chattooga River. After graduating, Carrie worked as a chairlift operator at Steamboat Springs Ski Resort in Colorado before starting her Ph.D. in Geospatial and Environmental Analysis at Virginia Tech. Her dissertation examined headwater stream length dynamics across study sites in New Hampshire, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Carrie completed her Ph.D. in 2018 and moved to western North Carolina to serve as an AmeriCorps member for an environmental non-profit organization focused on water quality. 

Around this time, Carrie found her way (back) to painting and began a series of colorful river landscapes of the places she has lived and loved over the years. One of her most exciting artistic accomplishments was being selected to exhibit artwork at the Asheville Airport in 2021. Carrie became a certified teacher through the M.A.T. program at Western Carolina University and taught art at Asheville High School and Pisgah High School before joining FBRA. She specializes in cross-curricular art lessons that incorporate science, math, and the humanities. 

Carrie has also lived abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina and completed the Camino de Santiago in Spain on foot in 2018. She loves being outside above all else and enjoys running, kayaking, gardening, and hanging out with her cat, Charlie.