Rachel Horness earned a B.A. in chemistry from Kalamazoo College (Kalamazoo, MI). As an undergrad, Rachel spent a semester at Oak Ridge National Lab (Oak Ridge, TN) where she examined the effects of polyacrylonitrile carbon fiber precursor properties on the thermal and mechanical characteristics of their carbon fiber products. She pursued graduate education at Indiana University under the advisement of Dr. Megan Thielges. Her research focused on elucidation of the role of conformational heterogeneity in the interaction between a signal transduction protein domain and its peptide binding partner using site-specific labeling and infrared spectroscopy. In addition to her research, Rachel taught at IU as a Briscoe Fellow before earning her Ph.D. in 2018.

Following graduation, Rachel taught general chemistry and general chemistry lab at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN). She is excited to return to IU in 2019 with a focus on teaching biochemistry and general chemistry.