RELEVANT RECENT EXPERIENCE

Senior Research and Innovation Consultant, College of Arts and Letters Office of Research, Michigan State University, June 2025-Present

  • Provides strategic consultation and editorial feedback on grant applications for faculty and staff pursuing internal, local, national, and international funding opportunities

  • Designs and advocates for improved pre-award intake workflows and research database solutions to support operational efficiency and information management

  • Develops, facilitates, and assesses online webinars focused on research development 

  • Researches generative AI use for research funding and public-private partnership matchmaking

  • Prepares strategic reports and recommendations for the Dean’s Office on technology solutions, process improvement, and emerging operational needs

  • Serves as co-founder and co-lead for College-level Accessibility Steering Group and AI Steering Group

  • Formed and organized the CAL Accessibility Meeting in Fall 2024, which led to the formation of the current CAL Accessibility Steering Group and strengthened the case for the newly formed CAL Accessibility and Inclusion team

  • Redesigned the Office of Research website information architecture and content strategy to improve transparency, navigation, and user experience for faculty and staff

  • Restructured grant kickoff meetings for faculty/grantees to incorporate marketing, communications, strategic consulting, fiscal officers, and other relevant parties and processes into grant operations

  • Successfully led College-level bylaws transformations focused on governance clarity and equitable processes for academic specialists and non-tenure-track faculty

Senior UX Researcher, College of Arts and Letters Office of Research, Michigan State University, January 2022-June 2025

  • Conducted interview-based research with faculty and staff on college-level priorities to inform strategic decision-making processes and make process recommendations at the College level 

    • Recommendations from this work continue to be integrated into College-level processes

  • Collaborates closely with cross-functional teams to identify team needs and translate user-insights into actionable recommendations

  • Led UX research for launch of Knowledge Commons Works, an open source repository (~6000 users/X deposits as of May 2026)

    • Used qualitative and quantitative methods including surveys, focus groups, heat maps, remote moderated user testing

    • Prepared research summaries and recommendations for cross-functional teams and diverse audiences of stakeholders, distilling user insights into actionable recommendations

    • Led efforts for integration of AI generation/creation checks on deposit form, leading to early adoption of AI policies compared to other open source repositories

    • Presented results at local and national conferences

  • Led UX research for Knowledge Commons, an open-source repository with (~60k users as of May 2026)

    • Conducted yearly community-wide surveys including qualitative and quantitative questions, analyzed data to provide summaries and recommendations for cross-functional teams

  • Created and facilitated ideation and design workshops to encourage team-wide creative thinking and problem-solving

  • Advocated for accessibility and inclusive design, research, and communication processes within College of Arts and Letters projects, including evaluating institutional offerings and organizing team trainings

  • Wrote and consulted on grant proposals for a variety of projects focused on open peer review and open-access publishing

  • Mentored peers and students through formal and informal processes

  • Collaborated on user experience design activities including wireframing and prototyping for a variety of College of Arts and Letters products (Pilcrow, PPJ, KC, KCWorks)

  • Served as Ttought leader in academia and UX research communities on generative AI and its applications to open-source publishing and user experience research

Managing Director, Center for Interdisciplinarity, Michigan State University, October 2017-Summer 2022

  • Designed and delivered in-person and virtual workshops using utilizing structured dialogue, co-creation activities, and design thinking techniques for academic and non-academic audiences

  • Generated comprehensive reports for clients, distilling qualitative and quantitative data into succinct summaries and actionable insights/recommendations.

  • Served as co-Principal Investigator for grants focused on enhancing communication and collaboration within teams (one with National Aeronautics and Space Administration, multiple with the National Science Foundation)

Research Associate, The Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, Dept. of Philosophy & AgBioResearch, Michigan State University, August 2015-October 2017 & Affiliated Researcher, The Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, Michigan State University, October 2017-January 2022

  • Designed data collection and data processing web apps using user experience research techniques

  • Designed and implemented dialogue-based workshops for 10+ academic and non-academic clients

  • Wrote reports based on quantitative and qualitative data for stakeholders

  • Led rebranding and name change while retaining the. “Toolbox” identity

Senior Research Assistant, Rock Ethics Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, Oct 2013-Dec 2013, April 2014-July 2015 & Postdoctoral Scholar, Rock Ethics Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, Oct 2012-Oct 2013

  • Developed architecture and led multimedia content development for four open-access online educational modules on topics related to ethics in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at the graduate level

PROFICIENCIES

SKILLS

Technical Skills:  Surveys, user interviews, usability studies, brainstorming/ideation workshops, heuristic evaluation, card sorting, wireframing   

Communication: Workshop design and facilitation, human subjects research applications, grant writing and editing, article/book chapter/report writing, online and in-person presentations

Qualtrics, Microsoft Forms, Google Forms, Adobe XD, Mural, Miro, Zoom, Teams, Python (intermediate), ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Teams

EDUCATION

PhD, Chemistry & Nanotechnology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2012

MS, Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2009

BA, Chemistry, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, 2007
Magna Cum Laude, Dean's List 2005-2006

TRAININGS

Deque University Web Accessibility, in progress.

-”Fast Track to Accessibility for Non-Technical Roles,” exam passed April 2024
-”Device-Independent Input Methods,” April 2024
-”Designing an Accessible User Experience,” May 2024
-”Disability Etiquette Basics,” May 2024
-”Effective Communication, Part 1: Communicating in Person,” May 2024
-”Effective Communication, Part 2: Remote Communication,” May 2024

Google UX Design by Google on Coursera, completed February 2022

  • My portfolio for this certificate program is password-protected here, please reach out if interested in viewing

Extended Reality for Everybody Specialization on Coursera (University of Michigan), completed February 2022.

  • View information about this specialization here

American Association for the Advancement of Science Community Engagement Fellow, 2017

Journey of Facilitation and Collaboration Facilitation Training, 2016

Summer Scholar, National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, “Teaching the History of Modern Design: The Cannon and Beyond,” Host University: Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 2015

Student, Winter School on the Anticipatory Governance of Emerging Technologies.  The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU).  Mesa, AZ, 2014

CLASSROOM VOLUNTEERING/MENTORSHIP

Portfolio Reviewer, XA 466: Experience Architecture Capstone, Fall Semester 2023 & Spring Semester 2024

Mock Interviewer, XA 466: Experience Architecture Capstone, Fall Semester 2023

SERVICE

Board of Directors Member, International Network for the Science of Team Science, July 2021-June 2022

Co-Chair, Program Committee, Science of Team Science 2019 Conference, 2018-2019

Member, Conference Leadership Committee, Science of Team Science 2019 Conference, 2018-2019

Advisory Committee, Digital Humanities @ MSU, 2021- 2024

Dean’s Arts Advisory Council, MSU College of Arts and Letters, 2020-2022

AWARDS

2018: Joint recipient (with the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative (TDI) team), 2018 American Philosophical Association/Philosophy Documentation Center Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs for TDI

2009-2010: National Science Foundation Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (NSF-IGERT) “Liquid Precursor High-Field Atomic Force Lithography for Green Nanomanufacturing”

2008-2009 : NSF-IGERT “Liquid Precursor High-Field Atomic Force Lithography for Multiplexed Deposition and Biosensor Development”

2007-2008: Lloyd E. and Florence M. West Graduate Student Fellowship in Chemistry, University of Washington Department of Chemistry

2008: Hypercube Scholar for Work on Computers in Chemistry, Carleton College