How long have you been at Oregon State?

I started in my position in March a little while after I finished my master’s degree in applied anthropology here at Oregon State. Applied anthropology is an interesting subset of anthropology because it solves real-world problems, and the program here at OSU is very unique in actually being labelled an applied anthropology program.

That’s great! What does your job look like?

As the online program coordinator, I manage the master of natural resources program and the three certificates we have in FES. My job resembles that of an academic advisor at times, though I do a lot of admin work as well. I really like helping guide our students through a process that may feel overwhelming. That brings me a lot of satisfaction.

You came here for your master’s program, so where are you from originally?

Oklahoma, but I’ve been in Oregon about five years now, and I don’t think I’ll ever move back there. I love the weather and the people here.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I live with my sister. She moved here last year, and we do a lot of cooking and baking together. Our mother always used baking to relieve her stress, which isn’t necessarily ideal, but we inherited the habit. My sister has also been filling our home with plants, which is nice because I usually kill them.

What’s your favorite thing to bake or cook?

I love to make ginger snap cookies. I got an apple coffee cake recipe from one of the grad students that I want to try soon. I also love to cook soup. I just made a great chicken tortilla soup.

Have you watched or read anything interesting lately?

I really like scary movies. One of my favorites lately is ‘Hereditary,’ It’s not for everyone, but it’s very good. Right now I’m reading a book called ‘The Cooking Gene,’ which is very interesting.

What is something you can do better than anyone else you know?

Hmm. I can snap pretty loud with pretty much all my fingers, and we just figured out that my sister can’t snap at all, so that’s kind of weird.

Which of the seven dwarves do you identify with?

Right now, Sneezy, because the Willamette Valley hit me hard in 2018. I’ve heard from several people that if you don’t have allergies when you start living here, you will get them anyway because there’s so much grass pollen.

Anything else?

I love to chat, if anyone ever wants to visit the FES office. I especially love to hear about people’s travels or a new scary movie recommendation.