Cherrel is an environmental epidemiology doctoral student at UNC-CH. She completed both her undergraduate degree in biology and her masters in epidemiology at UNC- Chapel Hill. For her master’s work, she studied exposure to pesticides during pregnancy and potential effects on child neurodevelopment. Upon completing her masters, she pursued a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, where she studied drinking water contaminant exposures in agricultural settings. This experience inspired her dissertation work, which focuses on exposure to drinking water contaminants during pregnancy and impacts on pregnancy outcomes. In addition to her dissertation work, Cherrel has worked on several community-based and environmental justice-focused projects, and plans to continue working towards advancing environmental justice through her work.