Meet the Admissions Team

Once you are a student, in addition to your Graduate Academic Advisor, I am here to answer any questions you may have especially regarding logistics for events such as capstone presentations and hooding ceremonies. I also keep your online "home base" up to date with a growing set of resources, course schedules, announcements, student digests, job and internship postings, and our student page which includes a brief introduction by your fellow students along with their photo so you can get to know your fellow students.

The best part of working at the Carsey School is meeting and getting to know the students who are a constant inspiration to me. Students bring an amazing energy and passion to their learning and strong desire to make positive change in this world and in their communities. It is a joy to welcome new students into our programs and support them through their academic journeys and beyond.

I live in downtown Portsmouth, a 20-minute drive from the UNH Durham campus. I prefer taking the Wildcat bus to and from work, however, as it reduces my carbon footprint and is also a relaxing start and finish to my workday. An added bonus is that I have also met a lot of great people on the bus – UNH faculty, students, staff as well as community members who also ride the bus.

In my spare time, I enjoy traveling to fun new places and visiting often with my three children. I also volunteer at the Music Hall in downtown Portsmouth – if you haven't had a chance to go, you should! Movies are free for all UNH students and they have an amazing offering of mainstream movies and wide variety of art films.

I grew up in Maryland before moving to Burlington, VT, in high school and completing my undergraduate degree at UVM in mechanical engineering. My passion was in biomedical engineering with my first job designing replacement joints (everything except hips and spines). I then transitioned into the high-tech industry's computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing software sector before choosing to be a stay-at-home mom to raise my three children. When contemplating a return to the workforce, I wanted to pursue a career to serve my community and realized I needed to develop the skills, tools, and knowledge to have a bigger impact. In my search for a sustainable community development program that would prepare me for this important work, I discovered the Master in Community Development program – it was everything I hoped for! The program not only prepared me for impactful public service work but I also gained lifelong friends around the world.

» What's your favorite part of working at the Carsey School?

The best part of my job at the Carsey school is getting to know such inspiring students. The passion students bring to our programs and the impact they have on our communities makes me very hopeful in the future of humanity!

» What advice do you have for graduate students?

The advice I’d give to graduate students, having been one myself, is to take full advantage of this unique experience! Get to know the other students in your cohort, learn from them, and share your knowledge. And, don’t be shy about connecting with your instructors outside of the classroom – they have so much knowledge and experience to share as well as large professional networks and are happy to help connect you with people and opportunities.

» If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I have three grown children and visiting them where they live are my top 3 favorite places to go. Aside from that, I’d love to explore places I haven’t been to yet in Europe like Spain and Wales. I’ve also never visited South America so would like to pick a few places to visit there. Lastly, I’d like to visit Alaska before we lose all the glaciers there.

» What do you like to do in your free time?

I love to travel-explore new places and different cultures/ways of life, volunteering, spending time with family and friends, hiking, reading, and just chilling at home.