Senior Computer Specialist

I began working at the Boersma lab while I was an undergraduate at the University of Washington. During this time, I studied penguin foot color as a morphological indicator of age in Magellanic, Galápagos, and Humboldt penguins. When the Penguin Sentinels expanded to become the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels in 2017, I designed and built the new website and created our Instagram account as a form of digital outreach. Outreach is one of my main passions within the realm of science, so beyond our website and social media accounts, you’ll always find me at the Pacific Science Center’s Polar Science Weekend or the Burke Museum’s Bird Day teaching kids and adults alike about penguins and conservation.
 
While many of these tasks are still on my plate in some capacity, I’ve taken on a more active role in our databases and field entry systems since graduating from the University of Washington. With over 35 years of penguin data, the Center maintains one of the most complex databases you could find in a wildlife ecology setting. Keeping the data clean, organized, and ready to use is no small feat. I work closely with our Data Architect Clay Gravelle to keep all the background systems that support our research running smoothly.