Zoe Boosalis was born in San Francisco and grew up in Tiburon, where she learned ballet and was “the favorite” amongst 6 siblings. She went on to attend UC Berkeley, where she is studying Neurobiology. She previously studied the phylogeny of irises (Iris xiphium), but once she discovered these organisms did not have neurons, she moved on to rodents. She is working closely with Match McGregor studying dyskinesia.