I completed my undergraduate education at the University of Virginia in 2009, where I double-majored in Anthropology and Archaeology, and minored in Astronomy. I have been working full-time in public history, research, and historical archaeology since 2010 when I began working at Monticello; first as part of the field crew and then as a lab analyst. I specialized in advanced cataloging of artifacts and in maintaining information within the collections database. I was involved with active research and re-analysis of past projects, including the Mulberry Row Reassessment. During that project, I fell in love with an interdisciplinary approach to historical research, and in particular, the changing historic landscape. I also co-authored and presented papers at the Society for Historical Archaeology annual conferences and the Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference.

For graduate school, I wanted a program that would complement my archaeological training and help develop an interdisciplinary approach to my work. In the summer of 2014, I began an MA program in History at the University of Delaware, with a certificate in Museum Studies. In my first year, I held an assistantship in the Registration department at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, working primarily in collections management. During the summer of 2015, I interned with the Exhibitions Department, primarily working on the redevelopment of a display case. I was also allowed to shadow the other members of the exhibition team as they worked on other pending projects, gained practical experience with the preparators, and joined meetings with other departments. I was able to gain a holistic view of the exhibition process and learned a great deal about the various thought and decision processes that go into putting together a cohesive show.

In the summer of 2018, I began working as a subcontractor cataloging collections objects at the Holocaust Memorial Museum’s off-site facility in Maryland. The work we did there straddled collections management and curation. Not only were we responsible for documenting objects, but also integrated information about the objects with the personal narratives of Holocaust survivors, contextualizing them with historical events. The tangibility of the object provided a relatable entry point to learn about the owner’s story, all of which we published on the online catalog.

Since 2017, I have also worked part-time in digital course development for an educational technology company. I work closely with a variety of internal and external team members, partners, and stakeholders to shepherd web-based courses from creation to completion. I compile and organize content, scripts, and images through multiple revisions, in addition to copy-editing, and providing quality assurance throughout the process. I also manage and update course pages through coding and multiple content management and learning management systems. I bring valued attention to detail to all projects, resulting in high-quality deliverables for our clients.

Now, I am excited to take on new challenges in the museum field. I value working as a contributing member of a project team and believe that the best results emerge from a work environment that has interrelated and multi-disciplinary perspectives.