About Me
Basic Information
I'm a n-th year Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I am a member of GroupLens Research, the HCI group in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. My advisor is Loren Terveen, but I also have worked with John Riedl and Joe Konstan. In 2006, I was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. From 2009-2011, I had a Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowship.I graduated from Berea College with degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science in 2005. My advisor was Jan Pearce.
Work Experience
While the majority of my student career has been spent as a TA or doing research, I do have some other experiences as well. Most recently, I spent a summer interning a Google and learning how the academic principles behind user interface, design, iteration, and evaluation get applied in an industry setting. This has changed the way I view user interfaces, as I now have a much better understanding of the actual process that can be used to create the final interface.I also worked as the assistant to the chair of the Berea College Music Department, a camp counselor, and as a technical intern for Letcher County, Kentucky.
Career Goals
I am currently torn between a career in academia and a career as an industry professional. I need to figure out which way I am going soon, but so far no decisions have been made.