Education:
BA in history (minors: English and Latin), Truman State University
MS in information (specializations: archives and preservation), University of Michigan

A lifelong lover of history, I discovered the archival profession as an undergraduate looking for an interesting career in historical work. My passion is promoting, encouraging, and helping others share and discover historical knowledge. Working as an archivist, I do this every day!

I’ve worked in Kent Library's Special Collections and Archives since 2014, and have been the unit head since 2022. Before that, I worked in a variety of archives in 3 different states, including a state government archives, 2 museums, and 3 different libraries at other universities. My first experience in the field came from an undergraduate internship at the Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum in Altenburg, Missouri, which preserves and interprets the history of many of my ancestors. While in graduate school, I also worked at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, run by the National Archives, and interned at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

I grew up in Perryville, Missouri, and graduated from Saxony Lutheran High School in Jackson, Missouri. I love that my work enables me to preserve and promote the history of my native southeast Missouri, lets me help everyone in the Southeast community and the broader region access and learn from the historical record, and introduces students to historical resources and research. Connecting people to history is what we do in the Archives!

My parents and brother farm full-time in Perry County, Missouri, and also own and operate a pumpkin farm open to the public every fall.