Outreach Program & Lab Manager | Deputy Director, Wisconsin Science Festival
Area:
Phone:
(608) 316-4716
Email:
[javascript protected email address]
I’m passionate about improving our world and breaking down barriers. As part of the Outreach group at the Morgridge Institute, I get to share the Institute’s groundbreaking work with the public AND I am able to build programs that encourage full participation by those who haven’t always felt welcome in STEM.
As part of the Discovery Outreach team, I work to connect public audiences with the Morgridge Institute’s mission of improving human health through biomedical research. Engaging with the public is a critical part of conveying the value of science to society, and I am proud to be part of a program that reaches thousands of youth and adults throughout Wisconsin each year.
In my role as Outreach Program and Lab Manager, I provide operational leadership for the Discovery Outreach team (staffed jointly by the Morgridge Institute and WARF). This includes collaborating with researchers within the Institute and across UW—Madison to create engaging programming for our audiences, working with community partners throughout Wisconsin to link the public with our state’s scientific enterprise, and providing oversight of teams that lead our robust summer science camp, volunteer, and teaching lab programs.
As Deputy Director of the Wisconsin Science Festival, I coordinate with a broad array of stakeholders (businesses, nonprofits, UW System, K-12 schools, and government agencies) to broaden participation Festival participation by audiences, participating sites, and STEM professionals. I lead an annual grass-roots effort to recruit 300+ events occurring in over 100 communities throughout Wisconsin and serving more than 30,000 people.
Areas of Expertise
- Science Communication
- Informal Science Education
- Program Management
- Biochemical engineering
- Microbial Metabolic Engineering
- Molecular Biology
- Bioreactor/Fermentation Biotechnology
Education
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, 2008, University of California, Berkeley
B.S. Chemical Engineering, 2001, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Honors
NSF Pre-Doctoral Fellow