➤ Research Classifier — Social Science Research Network (part-time, remote) — (2019-present) | 4 years, 3 months

• Develop taxonomy and classify research articles for the Communication Research network

➤ Researcher — University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA — (2013-2022) | 9 years, 1 month

As a researcher, I owned multiple end-to-end behavioral and neuroimaging research projects

• Designed original research protocols, managed timelines, and wrote scripts for three in-person behavioral and neuroimaging studies

• Created online screening surveys in Qualtrics, including one designed to segment participants by the strength of their entertainment preferences

• Recruited over 130 in-person and 1000 remote participants

• Developed new survey instruments to measure storyteller authenticity and fan identification

• Analyzed behavioral, neuroimaging, and survey data with R and Python

• Collaborated with computer scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists in cross-functional research teams

• Presented research at internal and external conferences

As a leader, I established functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a new neuroimaging tool

• Negotiated acquisition of over $200K in fNIRS hardware

• Designed user training for undergraduate, graduate, and post-doc researchers

• Mentored research assistants and supervised all fNIRS research studies

➤ Research Technician Associate — University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI — (2012-2013) | 10 months

• Managed screening, recruitment, and data collection for neuroimaging studies in the Communication Neuroscience lab, as well as personnel, grant applications, and budgets

➤ Production Manager — Dell’arte International, Blue Lake, CA — (2008-2012) | 4 years, 3 months

• Managed teams of designers and performers for national and international theater tours, development of new works and production of all school, company and summer festival productions

• From 2000-2008, managed over 30 professional and university theater productions. Credits include the Santa Fe Opera (Santa Fe, NM) and the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, MN).

➤ Indexing Editor — Alexander Street Press, Alexandria, VA — (2004-2005) — 1 year, 3 months

• Developed database and indexed historical material for North American Theatre Online

Research Methods

I have 9 years of experience in end-to-end research project management. Since 2021, I worked in an Agile-based lab environment. My previous work required (1) developing research hypotheses, (2) setting research timelines, (3) writing in-person and online research protocols, (4) participant screening and recruitment, (5) data collection, (6) data analysis, and (7) synthesizing and presenting results to stakeholders.

• Quantitative: Linear and multilevel regression, ANOVA, chi-square, t-tests, descriptive statistics. Survey development and validation. Basic experience with sentiment analysis and network analysis/visualization.

• Qualitative: Story elicitation (1:1 interviewing), experience sampling. Theater experience includes community ethnography, group facilitation, and sociometry.

• LinkedIn Learning certificates: Looker Studio for Marketers, Looker Studio for Beginners, SQL Essential Training, UX Foundations, Card Sorting, Journey Mapping, Mapping for UX Projects, UX Research for Agile Teams

Software and Tools

• Data analysis: R, Python, MATLAB, multiple fNIRS and fMRI analysis tools, LIWC, Gephi, NodeXL

• Survey research: Qualtrics, MTurk

• Project management: Notion, Slack, Trello

• Other: Adobe Premiere Pro, Microsoft suite

Management Skills

• Project management across fields with varying requirements, budgets and timelines: theatrical production (large teams, days-to-months timelines); scientific research (small, cross-functional teams, weeks-to-years timelines)

• Contract negotiation for personnel and equipment

• Peer training and mentoring

Ph.D. in Communication (2022) — University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

• Dissertation: Neural synchrony in successful communication

• Career Exploration Fellowship, hosted by Netflix

• Graduate Certificates: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Certificate; Center for Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Teaching Certificate

M.A. in Communication (2015) — University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

M.F.A. in Theatre Arts (2008) — Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA

B.A. in Biological Sciences (2004) — Carleton College, Northfield, MN

Professional Memberships:

• Present: PhillyCHI

• Past: International Communication Association, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Society, Society for fNIRS

Hobbies : Board Gaming, Hiking, Horseback Riding (30+ years!), Sewing

Trivia:

• I recorded background voices for the movie “Fear X,” starring John Turturro.

• The most well-known actor I worked with was Rene Auberjonois (Odo from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”).

• I did surgery on mice as an intern at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at NIH.