About me

I'm a highly adaptable sociologist, UX researcher, and learning designer. I have 20 years experience working at the intersections of education, technology, research, and design including more than five years conducting applied UX research and seven managing diverse teams of user-centered practitioners.

My interests include user experience, identity in technologically mediated contexts, humane technology, digital media literacy, and the affordances of technology for education.

  • High empathy collaborative researcher focused on users as the pathway to building better experiences.

  • Ph.D. in Sociology | User-focused dissertation research on early social-mobile technologies

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Research Methods

I'm a Ph.D. trained researcher with particular expertise in qualitative social science methods along with UX methods including:

Generative Research | Evaluative Research Interviews | Focus Groups | Survey Design Participant Observation | Participatory Design | Case Studies | Sociolinguistics Grounded Theory | Usability Testing Personas | Design Thinking

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Skills/Expertise

Skills: Applied Research | Learning Design Technology Pilots & Evaluations | People Management | Budget Administration Data Analysis | Data Visualization Qualtrics | Github | Photo & Video Editing Tools for Thought (TfT) | Communication Collaboration | Presenting/storytelling

Processes: Agile | Design Thinking Experience Design | Digital Accessibility/Universal Design for Learning


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Management

Significant experience with IT and experience design management, software project management, Agile methodologies (Certified Scrum Master), PM tools and practices, and people management.

Applied Research Papers

Persistently Present: College Students, Social-Mobile Technologies, and the Transformation of Social Life, 2009

My Ph.D. dissertation argues that we need to more fully reassess our thinking about the relationship(s) between social connectedness and technologically mediated forms of communication (particularly social-mobile technologies).

Methods: Interviews, Focus Groups, Surveys, Grounded Theory

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Transforming Teaching Evaluation in Disciplines: A Model and Case Study of Departmental Change. Accelerating Systemic Change in Higher Education. 2020

We briefly present the overall framework for change and the structure of TQF activities, explore the departmental layer of change in detail by presenting a three-phase process, and then describe a case study of one department that has engaged in all three phases.

Methods: Participant Observation, Case Study, Interviews

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(Social) Media Literacy: Challenges and Opportunities for Higher Education. In Educating Educators with Social Media. 2011

Today's students are powerful consumers and producers of media. Yet for all their access and use of media, many students need assistance from educators to develop critical media skills.

Methods: Secondary Research, Literature Review

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Theory Through Application: A Study in the Use of Social Media for Teaching. Journal of Faculty Development. 2015

Anchored in a specific course implementation and informed by reflections of faculty, teaching assistants, student feedback, and relevant literature, this article offers recommendations for implementing social media as a learning tool.

Methods: Interviews, Surveys

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Marseille, France

What I do when I'm not working

Outside of work I love traveling and taking pictures, usually in tandem, spending time with friends, family, and our dog, and enjoying a cup of Earl Grey ☕️