I earned my PhD in physics from UC Berkeley. Throughout my graduate studies, I developed a plethora of tools which made predictive understanding of non-equilibrium systems possible. Using modern techniques in statistical mechanics, I quantified dynamical fluctuations of relevant quantities which deepened our understanding of diffusion, energy dissipation, population growth, and the phase behavior of interacting active matter and bacteria. Now, I seek to develop a better understanding of liquid-liquid phase separation in bio-condensates and energy dissipation in cellular sensing.