In Summary
Bio
I am a have spent the last decade-plus in the company of the brightest students, smartest colleagues and cutest kids a person could find. My three pillars are my family life, my teaching and my professional work. I spend a good deal of time trying to keep those pillars at the proper heights and using technology to accomplish some leveling as needed. A confessed media junkie, I'm thrilled by the potential of new media to engage people in new ways.
If you asked people for my best attributes, I think some would say: enthusiastic, energetic, committed and quick-study.
If you asked them my worst, I'm betting those would be: chatty, stressed, distractible and "addicted to busy."
Professional
Career: I am a seasoned instructor, adviser and communicator with professional experience in higher education and the private sector. I currently serve on the faculty of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My broad variety of academic experience and training includes a doctorate in mass communication with an emphasis in media law. I excel through my communication, organization and project management skills honed through work on newspapers, newsletters, magazines and marketing in print, audio, video and online. I now specialize in media ethics and digital media, especially social networks online.
Teaching specialties: journalism, strategic communication, magazines, multimedia, law, ethics
Experience: reporting, editing, marketing, online development, graphics, training
Personal
Home: I live in Madison, Wis., with my husband, Scott, two sons, Pete and Joe, and daughter, Ellie. Our dog, Reagan, has rounded things out nicely and completed a personality gamut that runs from calm (dog during nap) to harried (mom during drive time). Together we live a life some would call typical but feels pretty atypical to me as I learn my way through it. Yes, the minivan is beige, but I rarely lay my head to pillow at night without feeling surprised by what the day has produced.
Family fun: swimming, music, cooking, "Monk"
Obsessions: I cannot recall being separated from my iPod since I bought my first in 2001. Currently, I'm on a 32GB iPod Touch, a regression as a music player but stunning advances in all other regards.