Lab Members

Kimla was born in the Kansas City area but split her childhood between Kansas and Delaware. She earned her B.A. in Mass Media with an emphasis in Public Relations from Washburn University in Topeka, KS; gained design experience at Wilmington College (now Wilmington University) in DE; and earned a M.A. in English from Angelo State University in TX.   She began teaching English literature and writing as an adjunct for Park University at their Goodfellow AFB campus in San Angelo, TX right out of graduate school in 2009. For 15 years, the U.S. Air Force afforded her family the opportunity to travel, live, and work in several different places where they were stationed. She taught for State Fair Community College in Sedalia, MO (and in junction with Sacred Heart School's dual credit program), full-time for University of Alaska - Anchorage, and online for Park University before changing the focus of her career once settling in the Kansas City area in 2019. She has been with Stowers since February 2020, splitting her time between the Zanders and Hawley labs.  She has enjoyed experiencing the world of science while she manages the administrative aspects of the labs and uses her writing and editing expertise to support academic and scientific endeavors of both labs. In her free time, Kimla enjoys spending time with her teenagers, reading, and doing any kind of arts and crafts she can dream up. You may reach her at kvirden@stowers.org.