Meet Our Staff

Program Director, Center for Health Promotion

I started working for Ithaca College CHP in Fall 2021. Before joining the Ithaca College family my previous professional roles were in an Office of Health Promotion at another institution and a non-profit agency for substance use concerns. I have my Master’s in Public Health degree (Boston University) and a BS in Health Science & Exercise Physiology (The College at Brockport, SUNY). I chose my career path in College Health Promotion and Prevention work after my incredible experience as a Peer Educator at Brockport – where we strived to, “make health contagious!”

My professional areas of expertise include sexual health, prosocial bystander intervention, substance use, and interpersonal violence prevention work. Although these are my areas of expertise, I have done work on a variety of additional wellness topics and strive to keep learning! I am passionate about college wellness and working with students and colleagues to weave wellness into the fabric of the campus community.

In personal time I enjoy spending time with my cats, family, and friends, reading, amateur couponing, crafting and board games!  

Health Promotion Specialist, Center for Health Promotion

In my role as the Health Promotion Specialist, I collaborate with campus staff/faculty, administrators, and students to evaluate, plan, and implement various initiatives around health promotion and substance use prevention strategies at Ithaca College. Some of my primary responsibilities include:

• Developing health and wellness trainings and workshops around various dimensions of health (social, physical, spiritual, environmental, emotional, financial, vocational, intellectual). Woven into this work is an awareness and intentionality around diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and accessibility.
• Providing BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students) appointments and other health-related consultations for individuals and groups.
• Serving as the RLC Associate for the Health & Wellness Residential Learning Community in collaboration with Residential Life Staff.
• Collaborating with campus partners and participating on various committees (e.g., Nature Rx, IC JED Campus Initiative, AOD Team, etc.).
• Creating marketing materials for health promotion and substance use prevention marketing as well as facilitate related programs and events.
• Working with various student groups including Student Health ambassadors, Sanvello Brand Ambassadors, Mental Health Awareness for Musicians Association (MHAMA), IC EcoReps, and more!

PROFESIONAL INTERESTS AND EXTRACURRICULARS:

Some of my professional interests include holistic approaches to medicine and healing, including the qualitative and quantitative investigation of plant medicines (e.g., cannabis and psychedelic substances). In particular, I am passionate about the intersection of consciousness and the mind as it relates to mental health and overall wellness. In the future, I would love to engage in policy reform around plant medicines and their use in clinical settings. Other areas of study I am interested include critical race theory, Marx theory, and Jungian analysis.

In broad strokes, my academic and professional background thus far has pushed me in the direction of health and wellness with an emphasis on advocacy and justice across all dimensions (social, political, environmental, economic, etc.). I hope to continue my collaborative efforts to make positive changes on an institutional (Ithaca College) level. Perhaps a "lofty" goal would be to change the Big System while finding contentment in influencing change in the communities I reside in.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time outdoors and exploring my community, traveling to new places, participating in creative endeavors (e.g., painting, wire-wrapping jewelry, abstract drawings, sewing), playing Nintendo games, watching anime, and engaging with the arts. I am a big fan of music and enjoy singing in my downtime (including karaoke!). I would love to get involved in vocal performance and music production one day. I have two fur babies--a German shepherd lab mix named Whiskey (she/her) and a fuzzy black cat named Oswald (Ozzy, he/him).

EDUCATION:

Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) | Active: August 2023 - July 2026

Master of Social Work (MSW), 2022 | Binghamton University

B.S. Psychology, minor in philosophy, 2019 | Idaho State University

B.S. Exercise Science, 2016 | Idaho State University