Describe how your educational background and employment experience led you to UNI.

I've worked in libraries since I was in high school and throughout college so becoming a librarian just made sense. My first professional position was in South Carolina for a couple of years and for twelve years I was in Wisconsin. At both places I gained a lot of experience as a general reference and instruction librarian teaching a lot of "one-shot" library instruction classes. At my most recent institution I was able to teach some full-semester classes in the honors program and also developed an interest in managing and supervising which led to the position at UNI.

What classes/workshops/experiences do you teach?

Right now I teach one-shot library instruction classes. These are classes that faculty from around campus invite librarians to teach whether that is for a specific assignment or to build research and information literacy skills. We are in the process of developing a class for the new certificate program and I may teach that in the future, but nothing is on the books right now.

What are your research interests?

I am interested in critical thinking, information literacy, and intellectual humility. Whether they are discussed as part of the scholarship of teaching and learning or in a philosophical way, these ideas are essential to a well-functioning society and I want to do more to advance their use and understanding in higher education.

What do you enjoy most about your role at UNI?

I enjoy thinking big. I like thinking about the future of the library and higher education. The challenges of this past year have given us a great opportunity to reflect, think about what we do, and hopefully make changes that are future-focused.

What advice would you give to graduate students to maximize their use of the library?

Ask questions! Talk to a librarian when things do not make sense. If you're ever spending more than 30 minutes and still can't find what you're looking for, that's the perfect time to talk to your librarian. We love helping people which is why we got into this profession.

What is one (little-known or otherwise!) fact that you would like students to know about the UNI library?

We have librarians assigned to each discipline at UNI. It's how I would advise grad students to make the most about Rod Library - by talking to the librarian for your discipline. Plus, we're all really nice and friendly people. :)