Extracurriculars

Outside of Linguistics

When I'm not researching or teaching, I love spending time with my family, playing the mandolin, hiking, cooking, and road-tripping to outdoor playgrounds and historical sites. I am an amateur historian of the logging industry in the western U.S. and the role that women played in its development and have had the incredibly fun opportunity of portraying that through living history.

Below are a few pictures of my favorite places on earth, and the role they played in shaping my present linguistic pursuits.

Galilee, 2012

I had the life-changing opportunity to study abroad at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies in Winter Semester of 2012. I spent 4 months living on the Mount of Olives and being immersed in the ancient and modern history of the Levant. This experience changed my perspective on risk and reward and gave me a taste for immersive study experiences.

Philmont Scout Ranch, 2015, pc: Zach Garmoe

While in Jerusalem, I was offered the opportunity for seasonal summer work in New Mexico at Philmont Scout Ranch. I was told I would be doing living history in a wilderness setting. This required me to conquer a number of fears very quickly, but to this day continues to be my favorite job I've ever had. I spent 4 summers working at Philmont, located on Jicarilla Apache homelands, and gained a fierce love for the land.

Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua in 2015

I spent a year and half giving volunteer service in Nicaragua shortly before graduating with my undergrad. During that time, I became fluent in Spanish - which I had studied for years prior to my time in Nicaragua - and became conversant in Miskitu with almost no resources beyond daily interaction with native speakers. The language policy and diglossia of the RACCN and RACCS inspired my interest in language documentation.