Graduate Assistant Introductions
We are pleased and excited to welcome four new Graduate Assistants to our department!
Here are their brief biographies and the different projects to which they are contributing:
Allison Brown will be working on the general education assessment pilot and is funded by the Davis Family Education Foundation Grant.
I have lived in Connecticut my entire life and have not yet traveled far beyond the Northeast, but I take every opportunity to explore this region and the variety of landscapes and people that compose it. I received my BA in Anthropology from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) and have come to Maine to obtain my Master’s in Anthropology and Environmental Policy. My interests lie specifically in environmental education policy reform, and my hope is to move environmental education towards a more systems-based approach in a K-12 setting. Working as an educator for the Connecticut State Parks system for three years, I have tried to bring more socio-cultural discussions of climate change into the world of scientific practice. Besides my professional aspirations, I have an interest in music and the arts. I play guitar and have been dancing for 20 years (tap is my favorite). I have performed in a variety of contexts throughout my life from competitions, art gallery openings, and charity events for childhood cancer hospitals, domestic violence awareness groups, and maternal health organizations. I pursued fine art and art history academically as an art minor at CCSU, and I continue to turn to the arts during my free time.
Kaitlyn Groh has joined the Assessment team and will be working on supporting program assessment at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
I am originally from Pismo Beach, which is a small coastal town in central California. I have an AA in Anthropology from Monterey Peninsula College and a BA in Anthropology from UC Davis. I miss the proximity to the ocean, which has dominated most of my life, but I am thoroughly enjoying all of the trails and rivers of Maine! After finishing my undergraduate studies, I moved to China to teach English. I lived in Shanghai for 4 years, which is where I met my husband and countless friends from all over the globe, as well as learned to speak Mandarin. While living abroad I visited Greece, Laos, Thailand, Hong Kong, and many cities and villages within China such as Beijing and Xian. My husband and I (along with our 3 cats) moved back to the US in 2021 so I could pursue a graduate degree. I am attending the University of Maine as a Master’s student of the Anthropology and Environmental Policy program with the goal of understanding how human activity is affecting our climate, as well as exploring solutions to the global crisis. In my free time I love to teach yoga, read, bike, paddle-board, and watch The Office with my husband.
Afua Kwarteng is conducting work for the UMS Transforms grant. Right now, she is working on meeting all the faculty at UMaine who are leading the Gateways to Success pilot projects to identify their specific needs with respect to assessment, data analysis, and reporting. These conversations will define the scope of projects she will work on throughout the rest of the year.
I come from the Western North region of Ghana which is generally different from the US and more specifically Orono in terms of culture and languages spoken. I have an MA in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University and a BA in Political Science and Swahili from the University of Ghana. I also hold an Exchange Students Program Certificate in Swahili from the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate and Computer Assisted Language Learning Certificate. During my time in Tanzania, I visited places like Mount Kilimanjaro, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and Zanzibar. I enjoyed my time in all those places, made new friends, and ate delicious Tanzanian cuisines. My time in the US has also seen some adventure, and I especially enjoyed my visit to Chicago, Millersburg Amish Country in Ohio, Lexington, KY, and Cincinnati, OH. I am currently pursuing a dual master’s degree in Global Policy and Business Administration at the University of Maine, with the goal of establishing an NGO in Ghana to help less privileged children get quality education. I am a language enthusiast and can speak three international languages: English, Swahili, and Chinese (on an intermediate level), and two Ghanaian languages. In my free time, I like to watch movies, visit new places, and chat with friends on social media.
Natalie Robinson is assisting with a variety of Institutional Research projects and the National Survey of Student Engagement results.
I’m Natalie and I’m one of the new Institutional Research graduate assistants! I’m from Wells, Maine, and I’m a 4+1 student working towards my M.S. in Data Science and Engineering. I graduated from UMaine in May 2023 with a B.A. in Mathematics and a minor in Economics, and I’m also an Honors College graduate. My Honors Thesis focused on the mathematics of queuing theory and writing an R simulation to model the queue behavior of a restaurant in my hometown that I’ve worked at for the past five summers. In addition, I’m an active member of the Society of Women Engineers, and I’ve held multiple executive positions and traveled to national conferences in Indianapolis and Houston with the UMaine section. Overall, I’m really interested in learning more about data analysis techniques and programs in my work. I love working with spreadsheets in particular (one might say I Excel at them), and I’m known to create them for any excuse I can think of. In my free time, I love watching shows and playing games with friends, reading, listening to music, and taking walks around campus!