Laurel holds an M.A. in Public History from Loyola University Chicago and a B.A. in History from Anderson University. Her areas of focus include interpretation and collections management in addition to environmental history, gender history, and the history of science. She is passionate about making history and science relevant, accessible, and useful to everyone.

Her previous roles include:

Project Archivist, Chicago History Museum, 2020. Assessed condition, organization, and copyright of collections with connections to Chicago’s religious history in preparation for the Chicago Sacred initiative and created processing plans for relevant collections in order to increase their discoverability and accessibility to the public.

Sesquicentennial Scholar/Project Manager, Women and Leadership Archives, 2018-2019. Led team to prototype and produce a digital exhibit for Loyola’s 150th anniversary and created documentation and managed deadlines to monitor the project’s process.

Interpretation Consultant, Italian American Veterans Museum, 2019. Assessed current exhibits and provided recommendations for updates and temporary exhibits.

Curatorial and Collections Intern, Swedish American Museum, 2019.

Assisted with installation of temporary exhibits and researched collection for use in an upcoming social media campaign.

Collections Intern, Frances Willard House Museum, 2019. Curated, wrote, and conducted front-end evaluation for "Women and Prohibition: A War of Mothers and Daughters, Sisters and Wives."

Archives Assistant, Anderson University and Church of God Archives, 2014-2018. Researched and designed online exhibits on university history using Omeka software, accessioned new materials & maintained current collection, and organized, processed, and created finding aid for Mort Crim Papers.

Teen Programs Volunteer, Anderson Public Library, 2009-2018. Planned and facilitated programs and events, including author visits, writing workshops, and annual summer and winter reading programs.

Exhibitions Intern, Field Museum, 2017. Aided in development of "Ancient Mediterranean" and "Antarctic Dinosaurs" by researching exhibit topics, drafting labels, and prototyping infographics and interactive elements, created department user’s guide for EMu database for use by future interns and staff, and conducted evaluations through surveys and observation in order to improve public experience.

Cataloging Intern, Madison County Historical Society, 2016. Cataloged over 500 items from Delco-Remy collection.

Botany Collections Intern, Field Museum, 2015. Led major organization and digitization project of recently acquired specimens.