About

I'm a learning experience designer who thrives in cross-disciplinary environments, especially at the intersection of education, design, and technology.

Transformative learning experiences exist in diverse forms—formal and informal, analog and digital, facilitated and self-driven. Given that, there are endless opportunities to leverage knowledge and practices across domains to enhance education and make it more accessible, engaging, and effective. My work accordingly focuses on finding clarity in ambiguous spaces through a combination of rigorous inquiry and creative problem-solving. Currently at Kaiser Permanente as a Learning Experience Designer, I research and design scalable training solutions for various clinical and business needs.

I received an H.B.Sc. in Human Biology and Communication, and then an M.Ed. and K-12 teacher certification from the University of Toronto. Developing further interest in technologically-mediated learning, I then received my M.A. in Learning, Design & Technology from Stanford University. Concurrently while working in instructional design roles, I received my Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California, with a doctoral thesis exploring the perceptions of corporate instructional designers toward their own professional practice and experiences.

I bring a multidisciplinary background spanning music, education, consulting, and engineering... spanning the fields of communication, computer science, education, environmental science, law, linguistics, marketing, medicine, political science, and psychology. Our lab employs converging approaches from cognitive science, computational neuroscience, and artificial intelligence to reverse engineer the human cognitive toolkit One of my central goals is to connect fundamental questions about human cognition to the project of equipping more people with the cognitive skills that will help them throughout their lives. potential for AI to support ethical and effective learning experiences Across these domains, a consistent thread has emerged: I build and scale systems—technical and human—that enable others to do their best work. This includes designing developer platforms, creating learning ecosystems, improving organizational processes, and driving cross-team alignment.

Learning is complex. Decades of research in the science of human learning have produced results that could transform higher education; however, research findings have not often made a positive impact on teaching practice, educational technology design, or student learning. My mission is to build learning environments and data systems that not only facilitate the transfer of knowledge from learning research into teaching practice, but also engage researchers, practitioners and learners in making progress on our fundamental understanding of human learning. The focus of my work is in applying the results from research in the science of learning to the design and evaluation of open web-based learning environments for college level courses, and in using those environments to conduct research in human learning.

I'm exploring how we can design more equitable and engaging educational environments. Through my research, I investigate which future-facing STEM knowledge, tools, and practices are important for active participation in our increasingly digital world. I then use educational design research to create practical examples of how to bring these ideas to life. Currently, my work focuses on data literacy, K-12 data science education, and AI literacy for both students and teachers. and artificial intelligence literacy for both students and teachers.

Statistics and Ph.D. in Communication, with a doctoral thesis on designing psychologically welcoming online learning environments, which was awarded the Nathan Maccoby Outstanding Dissertation Award. Prior to joining Cornell, I spent a year as a research assistant professor at Arizona State University and as a research director at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. My current work as a doctoral student at the University of Southern California, where I examine how humans adapt to technologically-mediated environments during periods of rapid systemic change. My research is fueled by a passion for understanding the motivations and persistent barriers that define the modern learner’s journey, ensuring that the "why" of engagement is never lost in the "how" of delivery.

This research, in turn, informs my professional identity as a learning experience designer rooted in building systems that are as intuitive as they are impactful. I have architected digital infrastructures for 41 graduate-level courses at the USC Price School of Public Policy and helped scale Norway’s first global MOOC at Stanford University, reaching over 1,400 learners through high-fidelity multimedia production. Whether I am teaching human-centered design at the Stanford d.school or consulting for higher education agencies, my goal remains to transform complex pedagogical research into enriching, low-friction experiences.

My work—and my life—is a constant exploration of how we can better design the synapses between information and insight. This journey is grounded in a Bachelor’s in Human Biology and Semiotics and a Master of Teaching from the University of Toronto, as well as an M.A. in Learning, Design & Technology from Stanford University. Ultimately, I am dedicated to imagining and then building the educational landscapes of the future.

In my spare time, I'm also an artist and fabricator, creating monumental steel sculptures and immersive/interactive installations. I work mostly out of The Box Shop, and can often be found building with the Flaming Lotus Girls.

I have a wide variety of other interests, from competitive punning to SF public policy to songwriting, and love spending time with my 11 housemates and other good friends.