Projects & Experiences

Here I present a timeline of key projects I have worked on and noteworthy experiences I have had, all of which have shaped my mind and contributed to my multidisciplinary approach to my work. For my portfolio, see here. For a list of some books I have read, see here.

  • Conducted genealogy research and created family trees for key pioneer families buried at the Newland Pioneer Cemetery for a 2025 Dayton Historical Depot Society exhibit (December 2024–January 2025)
  • Learned how to start (and keep running for at least fifteen minutes!) a well-maintained 1934 Chevrolet Master Deluxe, practicing on a weekly basis at the Boldman House Museum (2024)
  • Learned how to properly accession and label museum artifacts using correct archival quality label materials (2024)
  • Helped develop training materials on artificial intelligence and machine learning concepts, terminology, and phrasing for AJE academic editors from non-computer-science backgrounds (2024)
  • Served as the English language editor of Ancient Chinese Gold Techniques II for the The Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum (2022)
  • Served as a volunteer junior contributor to the fifth edition of Garner’s Modern English Usage (2022; I worked on the “Timeline of Books on Usage” and “Glossary of Grammatical, Rhetorical, and Other Language-Related Terms” sections of the book and am mentioned in the acknowledgments)
  • Wrote research summaries and grant proposals (as an Upwork freelancer) on the following topics: (1) the 2001 Amerithrax attacks (history, pathology, and government agency responses); (2) plant systematics; (3) academic Integrity and commodification of international student recruitment in Western higher education institutions; (4) men’s shed programs in Western Queensland; and (5) livestock feedlots and veterinary services in the Southern Downs Regional Council Area of Southeast Queensland (2022)
  • Created the following new Wikipedia pages from scratch, which required me to learn (through trial and error) how to do the setup and Wikipedia Style Guide formatting for the pages’ source code: Bo Huff, Castilleja bella, Castilleja hispida, Conservation land trust, Elaeomyxa, Iberis saxatilis, Robert Hagelstein, Rolling Nowhere, Victor Folke Nelson, Inside Olympia, Persistence (botany), psammophyte, and Washington Council for the Blind Newsline, and more (2022)
  • Catalogued and mapped a small arboretum collection, drafting educational taxonomy signage and creating a formal living collections curation record for over 200 woody plants at Green Valley Gardens Nursery & Arboretum in Walla Walla, Washington (2020–2021)
  • Synthesized five years of interviews, government agency records, public meeting notes, and academic research as the lead researcher and author of the Washington Corrections Watch report Punishing Relations – How WA DOC’s hidden costs and collateral damage imprison families (2021)
  • Built a temporary Square retail software online store for Green Valley Gardens Nursery & Arboretum curbside pickup sales in Walla Walla, Washington to adapt to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown business operations (2020)
  • Adapted in-person lab science courses for modified COVID-19 pandemic online classes—with an emphasis on accessibility for visually impaired and deaf students—as a remote adjunct faculty member for Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Washington (2020)
  • Mentored and tutored alternative high school and special education middle school students for the Walla Walla School District in Walla Walla, Washington (2019–2020)
  • Performed a public reading of an excerpt from James Joyce’s Ulysses with the Wild Geese Players of Seattle to celebrate Bloomsday in Seattle, Washington (2019)
  • Updated family, genus, and species names on herbarium specimen labels for the full Shoreline Community College herbarium collection to reflect current accepted plant taxonomy (2019)
  • Collaborated with students and fellow faculty members to map the Shoreline Community College campus woody plant collection for the college’s Tree Campus USA mapping project in Shoreline, Washington (2019)
  • Synthesized over 2,000 handwritten prisoner survey responses into summary reports to the director of the Washington state Office of Corrections Ombuds [sic] (Olympia, Washington) for two survey projects: (1) nutrition and quality of mainline prison meals at Washington State Penitentiary and (2) quality of life concerns for women prisoners at Mission Creek Corrections Center and Washington Corrections Center for Women (2019)
  • Serve as an elected officer representing families of the incarcerated in the Washington Department of Corrections Statewide Family Council (2016 to 2022)
  • Became an adjunct faculty member at the very college, Shoreline Community College, that had helped me succeed as a first-generation undergraduate student in Shoreline, Washington (2019–2020)
  • Worked as a freelance and contract thesis and dissertation editor and for over 100 graduate students at Stanford University, University of Washington, University of Edinburgh, Antioch University, University of London, and University of the Rockies (2018–2020)
  • Presented my work on the Washington state prison food system at the American Heart Association Roundtable in Washington, D.C (July 2018)
  • Served on a fundraising and event planning committee for University Beyond Bars in Seattle, Washington (2018)
  • Represented families of the incarcerated at regular work group meetings with the Washington State Department of Health, Washington Department of Corrections, and Washington Correctional Industries for the Healthy Commissary Project, which succeeded in a collaborative effort to identify and source security-panel-approved healthy commissary food items for incarcerated consumers (2017–2018)
  • Mentored University of Washington undergraduate seniors and first-year graduate students in composing their research proposals and personal essays for their NSF Graduate Research Fellowships Program applications (2017)
  • Carried out two years of fieldwork, data collection, and laboratory research to investigate the chemical ecology of endangered and invasive plant species on the University of Washington Terrestrial Restoration Ecology Lab experimental plots at Glacial Heritage Preserve outside of Littlerock, Washington (2015–2017)
  • Served as a volunteer researcher and author to synthesize public records, academic research, and primary source documentation into a report for Prison Voice Washington entitled Correcting Food Policy in Washington Prisons (2016)
  • Attended Seattle Lichen Guild meetings to learn basic techniques for identifying lichen genera and species (2016)
  • Typed and formatted legal briefs for pro se petitioners challenging wrongful convictions in the King County, Washington state, and federal Ninth Circuit court systems and ran a social media account for a wrongful conviction case (2015–2016)
  • Synthesized client intake records, court dockets, prison records, and Washington State Patrol reports into summary memos for staff attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington Second Chances Project in Seattle, Washington (2015)
  • Taught college level certificate courses in biology and African American literature for University Beyond Bars at Monroe Correctional Complex (2014)
  • Reared endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly larvae and performed native forb and grass seed germination and viability testing in partnership with the Center for Natural Lands Management as a lab technician in the University of Washington Terrestrial Ecology Lab (2013–2015)
  • Cultivated bacterial endophytes, collected CO2 growth chamber data, and prepared and administered endophyte inoculum for grain crop plants as a volunteer lab technician in the University of Washington Plant Ecophysiology Lab (2013–2014)
  • Helped to compile a digital catalog of herbarium records for the University of Washington Otis Douglas Hyde Herbarium and learned correct herbarium specimen mounting techniques (2013)
  • Spent a summer studying intensive fourth-year Mandarin Chinese at Sichuan University (2009)
  • Led the weekly Seattle creative writing group, Write Club, which provided participating writers with a structured and supportive place to make real progress on writing projects (2009–2013)
  • Served as an International Rescue Committee volunteer English as a Second Language instructor for Somalian and Burmese Karen refugees in Tukwila, Washington (2007)
  • Participated in a three-week study abroad program in Thailand, which entailed (1) visiting sites around the country that showcase innovative sustainable agriculture techniques, (2) visiting a girls’ school that provides education and job training to human trafficking victims, and (3) collecting and distributing school supply donations for low-income schools in Bangkok and hill tribe regions outside of Chiang Mai (2006)
  • Helped to run a collectible and antique books booth for Half Price Books at the annual Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair (2004 & 2005)
  • Collected school supply donations in Seattle as part of a partnership between Shoreline Community College and the Kenyan non-profit organization Enkishon Nataana, and delivered the donations in person for the local Masaai community in Kiserian, Kenya to distribute to their local schools as needed (2004)
  • Worked at a used bookstore for five years while putting myself through my undergraduate education, learning to identify and assess antique and collectible books, and where I expanded my knowledge of diverse publications through daily work with store merchandise (2002–2007)
  • Learned basic electronics, soldering, and Sun Microsystems UNIX commands (plus basic programming skills in the then already obsolete languages Fortran and IDL) as part of my work with an aging student-built satellite in the role of Colorado Space Grant Consortium Citizen Explorer student team lead (2001–2002)
  • Became the first person in my family to attend university (2001)
  • Worked as a Fixed-Base Operator assistant for the now defunct Glenwood Aviation in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where I learned to carry out FAA radio communications with pilots of small aircraft and perform various tasks related to airplane servicing and flight school operations (1999–2000)
  • Was part of a Rifle High School Odyssey of the Mind (a.k.a. Destination Imagination) team in Rifle, Colorado that placed second at the international competition in Knoxville, Tennessee for an innovative philosophical skit based on Edvard Munch’s The Dance of Life (2000)
  • Competed in student business law competitions at Future Business Leaders of America Colorado regional and state-level competitive events (1999–2000)