I am a classically trained librarian gone feral, determined to bring the core values of librarianship – education, preservation, accessibility, and social responsibility – to the tech world. I believe in harnessing the power of our innate curiosity to create engaging experiences that leave users with a sense of enrichment.

When I began my MLS program, I admit I had lofty visions of a future full of the musty smell of old books and looks of satisfaction on patrons’ faces as I pulled down just the right book to satiate their burning questions. But after completing an IMLS-awarded internship at the University of Nebraska’s Center for Digital Research in the Humanities (CDRH), I witnessed first-hand how communicating value transcends medium and I knew from then on that I wanted to focus on the intersection of where information and technology meet.

Building upon my experience at the CDRH, I began working at PubMed Central (PMC) making government funded full-text medical articles publicly accessible. I became fluent in JATS XML and assisted in the creation of a DTD extension that allowed the NLM to preserve journals’ context and save thousands of dollars a year by canceling unnecessary subscriptions. My team and I published and presented our findings at the 2012 JATS Con. I enjoyed working for an organization that promoted transparency and research but found myself wanting a new challenge.

Since joining DataStream as an Information Architect, I have been given the opportunity to tap into my creativity and that has made all the difference: I am happiest when I am able to pepper my days with creative outlets such as putting together presentations for investors or creating wireframes to communicate the potential of a product. I am a people-person and relish the opportunity to employ my positivity and enthusiasm to connect to stakeholders through requirements gathering, interviews, usability testing and presenting data-backed design solutions.

Projects