University of Minnesota
student writing support
center for writing
writing.umn.edu


Student Writing Support.Center for Writing's home page.

Consultant biographies

 

Spring 2024

Abby

Abby is a current undergraduate majoring in Biology within the College of Biological Sciences (CBS). She is excited to meet writers wherever they are in the brainstorming or writing process and is eager to help writers find their own unique voices. She is happy to consult on any kind of writing project and enjoys many different styles of writing, but she has a passion for scientific literature and especially loves working with research papers and lab reports. When she's not consulting, Abby spends her time reading, baking, hiking, canoeing, backpacking, or going on walks with her two (very fluffy) dogs, Dart and Dash.

Anne

Anne has been a teacher of writing for 30 years, both in the U.S. and overseas, and a Multilingual Learner Specialist writing consultant for the last six years at the U of M. She likes to work on all kinds of writing with students, from application letters, to course lab reports & essays, to dissertations. She says, "Bring it on!" She speaks French but does better consulting in English. This photo is of her very BIG dog, Millie, who is just as tall as she is—maybe taller—on her hind legs...

Ben

Ben (he/him/his) is currently a junior at the U of M. He plans—heavy emphasis on plans—on majoring in Economics and Communication Studies with minors in Spanish and Statistics. He spends most of his free time reading, making coffee, and obsessively making Spotify playlists. He has a particular soft spot for creative writing, argumentative essays, research papers, and prose.


Brynn

Brynn (she/her/hers) is a third-year student studying Political Science and Global Studies. She's in the Undergraduate Student Government on campus, and is particularly interested in student advocacy, women and government, and social policy. She also enjoys creative writing (both reading and writing it). Brynn's favorite study spots on campus are the Law Library and the Nolte Center, and in her free time she likes to read, go on walks, bake, and travel. Her favorite season is spring, and her favorite drink is a raspberry mocha.

Christine

Hello! Christine is an undergraduate pre-med student. She loves to read fiction books and write poetry in her free time. Writing is joyful to Christine, and she would like to share that joy with everyone else!

 

Daniel

Daniel is a Ph.D. candidate studying religion, race, and culture. Originally from Southern California, Daniel is starting his fifth year in the Department of Sociology. While Daniel is happy to work with all writers, his specialities include fellowship/funding applications, graduate school statements, and research papers.

Dante

Dante (he/they) is a poet, translator, glossophile and humanitarian of mixed cultural, linguistic, life spaces of belonging. A Linguistics, Philosophy & Global Studies Major (+ Arabic Language Program), ecstatic to inspire and consult in both academic and creative writing with his international student experience, especially within poetry or linguistics. Available as an advisor in English, Italian, Spanish, Polish, French and Portuguese, as well as a quick assistant in basic Japanese or Arabic. Some of his hobbies include (over)analyzing movie dubbings/translations or exploring new places barefoot wherever and whenever possible, his favorite song would be currently "Думи" by Artem Pivovarov and Dorofeeva, and he hopes to learn playing violin one day like Hanine El Alam.

Dimitri

Dimitri believes that writing can be a rewarding experience—even enjoyable—when done with self-care and in community with others. Meeting the writer where they are at any given day is the priority, whether that means they are getting started, organizing existing thoughts, editing, or just needing to write. Dimitri is an interdisciplinary scholar with a focus on issues of education, environmentalism, sustainable technologies, equity and justice, and human responsibilities towards the rest of the living world. But, please bring any topics and writing formats, from the natural sciences to social studies, from research papers to personal statements! Outside of academia, Dimitri loves to be outdoors, cook with friends, or read for fun – which sometimes overlaps with Ph.D. readings!


Em

Em loves supporting all writers, and loves working with international and national students on fellowships and grant applications.

Emily

Emily (she/her/hers) is an undergraduate student majoring in Anthropology and Asian & Middle Eastern Studies. She speaks English and Korean and welcomes the opportunity to work with multilingual writers. She is happy to work with writers in any stage of the writing process; she especially enjoys working with students as they develop their personal narratives for statements, cover letters, and other application materials. Emily’s goal in any consultation is that the writer can walk out of the consultation feeling more confident than before. Outside of work and classes, Emily is training for a marathon and getting ready for graduate school. Her current interests include reading memoirs, trying new restaurants, and hanging out with her three standard poodles.

Erin

Erin (she/her) is a graduate student in the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Department. Her dissertation research focuses on nutrient cycling in urban freshwater ecosystems. While she is particularly familiar with science writing, Erin is always eager to work with other disciplines. As a long-time teaching assistant, she has a lot of experience helping undergraduate students interpret prompts, brainstorm content, and articulate their great ideas onto a page. As a graduate student, she is familiar with the challenges (and excitement!) that come from using proposals and manuscripts to grapple with big ideas. Regardless of your career stage or the status of your writing project, Erin’s goal is for you to feel energized and confident in your next steps.

Euan

Euan is a senior pursuing a B.A. in English and minors in French and Biology. He enjoys helping with any genre of writing or part of the writing process, though he has the most experience in creative writing narratives and research papers. Euan is skilled at sentence-level edits, but works best when he's giving big-picture feedback. His goal is to always initiate a dialogue with writers, so he can align his advice with the writer's vision for their work. In his free time, you can find him working on his senior thesis: a fiction novel about Chinese-American identity.

Gabby

Gabby is a fourth-year Developmental Psychology major with a minor in Spanish Studies and Education Psychology. She speaks English and fluent Spanish. In her free time, Gabby enjoys spending time outdoors and reading. As a consultant, Gabby wants to work with writers at all different stages of writing. It is very important to her that a student's voice and identity is reflected in their writing, and she hopes every writer feels comfortable sharing their work and leaving confident in where they want to take their writing next!

Gabrielle

Gabrielle is an avid language learner, and she is constantly working to better understand communication and accessibility in education and Indigenous language revitalization. She is an Ojibwe language learner & teacher, and she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. Gabrielle graduated in 2022 with her B.A. in Ojibwe Language and Speech–Language–Hearing Sciences. Gabrielle most enjoys working with students on scholarship & application essays, writing or speeches in Ojibwe, identity-based pieces, and revising the organization of a piece. Gabrielle also likes to knit, sew, and do puzzles with her grandma.

Grace

Grace is a junior studying Developmental Psychology and Political Science with hopes to attend law school. As a consultant, she hopes to create a comfortable, inclusive space for the writer and help them feel confident in their writing. She loves reading and working with all types of writing and wants every writer to leave the consultation feeling better than when they arrived. In her free time, Grace enjoys reading, hiking, being a barista, and spending time with friends.

Jamie

Jamie is a fourth year majoring in Studies in Cinema and Media Culture with a minor in Creative Writing. She enjoys writing and working on creative writing pieces, personal narratives, personal statements, and much more. As a consultant, she wants to help writers become more confident in their writing abilities and feel like their voice matters. She hopes to create a welcoming environment for students and to encourage writers to share their unique experiences. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, playing video games, and spending time with friends.

Jasmine

For her own writing, Jasmine (she/her/hers) finds getting started to be the hardest stage of any project, but for whatever reason, she loves supporting other writers' brainstorming. She also enjoys supporting high-stakes writing such as statements of purpose and fellowship essays, as well as dissertations. She likes to strategize with writers about how to break up a big project into manageable chunks in ways that work for one's personal style of writing and learning. Jasmine also has researched the experiences of doctoral writers of color and thinks a lot about the tension that many people encounter when they write in the academy. Jasmine grew up speaking Cantonese and English at home and is an alum of the U’s American Studies doctoral program.

Jennifer

Jennifer values collaborative writing and knowledge exploration, working with and alongside other writers at all stages of writing. As an interdisciplinary scholar pursuing her Ph.D. in agroecology, Jennifer adores working across disciplines including (but not limited to) environmental and agricultural sciences, urban planning, and geography. Within academic writing, Jennifer particularly enjoys supporting writers (individuals and teams!) working on lab reports, personal statements, grants, thesis papers, and dissertations. Beyond academic writing, Jennifer is committed to holding space for and supporting people engaging in the many types of writing that are required to access critical services such as healthcare, disability accommodations, and food/housing. Outside of SWS, Jennifer is passionate about theater, biking, reading, and all things food—including growing, foraging, cooking, eating, and sharing meals.

Joe F.

Joe F. has worked as a writing consultant in writing centers with several years of experience working with students who speak languages in addition to English. He’s a consultant who enjoys learning about writers and the contexts of their writings. Joe speaks French, Spanish, and some American Sign Language (ASL) as well as English. He has an M.A. in Spanish Linguistics, finished his coursework in the M.A. in TESOL program, and began the K-12 dual licensure program in ESL and Spanish in the summer of 2022. His interests include traveling, linguistics, nineteenth-century English, literature, cooking, and single-origin, two-ingredient, bean-to-bar chocolates.

Joe M.

Joe M. likes to write and to help others with their questions about writing. He has taught courses in first-year writing, technical and professional writing (memos, letters, descriptions, reports, proposals, presentations), project design and development (planning, documentation, user guides, crisis communication, information graphics), writing for digital media (blogs, newsletters, articles), business writing including resumes and cover letters, business plans, and marketing materials. He has published scholarship, a trade book on wireless security, marketing content for Deloitte, Ricoh, Bristol Myers Squibb, and most recently two books about collaborative (team) writing as co-author with a former graduate student at the U. He is especially interested in meeting with individuals or groups who are working on team writing projects. He’s happy to meet with visitors who want to work on individual writing and has volunteered at SWS especially to help teams think about making their group projects rewarding and productive. He chose the dog as his image because she’s the newest member of his family. She’s his son’s dog. Her name is Ava—she’s an Australian Shepherd and lot bigger than that already.

Katie

Katie is currently a junior majoring in Technical Writing & Communication with a subplan in Biological and Health Sciences. Additionally, she is pursuing an English minor. Her dream job is an editor at a publishing house, so this position is a perfect step into the field! In their free time, they really enjoy reading (of course), going on walks, playing video games, and procrastinating knitting a sweater that they started back in January. She also loves to watch movies and hang out with friends.

Katie L.

A liberal arts nerd who majored in English; had almost-minors in Music, Art History, and Philosophy; switched focus in graduate school from Victorian Literature to Composition to Writing Center Studies; and took a loooong time to finish her own dissertation, Katie L. (she/her/hers) enjoys working with and learning from writers from across the disciplines. She wishes she could take more classes, including math, with which she struggles mightily. As a consultant, she is empathetic; curious about the ideas and experiences that writers want to share; and truly, nerdily, gleefully excited to support other people as they write. Katie is interested in collaborating with writers on finding ways to use their own voices and bust open new possibilities for writing in—or against—the university, or whatever other spaces and systems matter to them.

kerry
Kerry

Kerry (she/her/hers) is a dedicated educator who has an M.A. in Teaching ESL in Higher Education and has worked in a number of English language programs around the Twin Cities in addition to her work at the Center for Writing. She loves talking through the
structure of papers and working with writers on how to organize complex thoughts into logical papers with smooth transitions. She very much enjoys analyzing the more formulaic aspects of papers as well as discussing the creative choices. Outside of teaching, Kerry loves hiking, hanging out with her dogs, and sometimes cooking.

Kevan

Kevan is working towards a Masters of Public Health and is interested in big picture intersections between ecological and human health, extreme weather, and maps– among other things. In consultations, they aim to provide whatever support, assistance, and/or accompaniment each writer is needing. They love talking about ideas, writing messy notes, and collaborating on all types of projects and assignments. Outside of SWS, Kevan enjoys playing board games, running, reading wikipedia articles, and napping.

Kim

Kim is a SWS.online consultant who is also an online teacher in the Department of Writing Studies. Kim is one of the Department’s Multilingual Learner Specialists and has worked in this role for 25 years. Kim currently teaches first-year writing and has taught technical and professional writing (she especially enjoys job seeking writing like cover letters, resumes, and C.V.s) and graduate writing. Kim looks forward to working with you on any kind of writing you are doing at any stage of the writing process!

Kriti

Kriti is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology with a minor in Development Studies and Social Change. Before starting her Ph.D. at the U, Kriti studied and taught Political Science in India. She welcomes both undergrad and grad writers, especially in the social sciences and humanities. Kriti enjoys working with writers on their research projects and assignments, as well as on high-stakes documents such as grant applications. She also enjoys brainstorming ideas for creative writing projects.


Lee

Lee (he/him) is excited about all parts of the writing process and wants you to know that you are a writer! He taught high school language arts and theatre for a while before studying critical literacy and sociocultural theory (among other things) here at the U. He is particularly interested in how narratives are constructed.

Lisette

Hi all! Lisette is a second-year Ph.D. student in Psychology. This is now her second year at SWS and she loves every moment of it. Lisette has a background in Psychology, Spanish Studies, and Chicanx/Latinx Studies and enjoys working with writers from all disciplines. She also enjoys writing at every stage and for every audience, especially for application material for higher education and cover letters for jobs/internships.

Manasi

Manasi (she/her) is a senior pursuing a BA in Global Studies with a minor in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Her research interests include questions of modernity, epistemic (or knowledge-based) violence, and democratic development, especially in post-colonial societies. This year, Manasi will be writing her Honors Thesis on the intersection of gender within processes of decolonization. In her free time, Manasi loves doing photography work, playing the violin (8 years and counting!), and overthinking pretty much everything.

As a consultant, Manasi loves working with writers at all stages of the writing process and from a variety of disciplines. She has the most experience working on academic essays, reflection papers, and literary analyses, but is open to looking at pieces from any style or genre.


Marissa

Marissa is a second-year student majoring in English. This is their first year working as a writing consultant at UMN, though they have worked as a peer writing tutor previously at another college. Literature, politics, history, and social issues are especially interesting to them, and they enjoy talking about these with a wide range of people. While they can have lengthy discussions on these more academic topics, they can also spend hours talking about pop culture moments and silly celebrity scandals. They look forward to meeting students from across campus this year, and being able to discuss writing with a host of different students across different disciplines.

Muno

Muno is a senior majoring in Management Information Systems and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, with minors in Business Law and Food Science. He is an avid café enthusiast and traveler who loves to learn new things, such as languages. He is fluent in Korean, has intermediate proficiency in Japanese, and is trying to learn Chinese and Spanish. He is passionate about design, sustainability, and law as ways to innovate systems thinking.

Nish

Nishtha (Nish) is an international student from India. She is a sophomore planning to double major in Management Information Systems and International Business from the Carlson School of Management. Nishtha enjoys supporting writers across various disciplines of writing processes but best helps writers navigate through personal statements and academic reflections. Apart from her academic background, she loves to travel, play with her dog, dance, and practice journal writing in her free time.

Olga

Olga is a doctoral candidate in Cultural Studies, specializing in intersections of alternative film history and disability. She feels most at home in social science and humanities disciplines, having taught classes (and helped student write) on subjects including cinema, media, gender & queer studies, disability studies, critical theory, sociology, philosophy, and (art) history. Parallel to this, she is actively engaged in community writing efforts around the Twin Cities. Olga enjoys helping academic and non-academic authors (undergraduate, graduate, and beyond) at all stages of the writing and research process, from brainstorming ideas to finding and structuring arguments to proofreading or putting final touches on writing projects that are ready to be graded/published.

Peter

Peter is a graduate writing consultant and a doctoral candidate in Political Economy, specializing in the politics of exchange rate policymaking and quantitative methods. He has experience working with students in higher education, second-language learners, and policy-based writers. He enjoys working with writers on all types of writing, including professional emails, fellowship and job applications, lab reports, argumentative and persuasive essays, policy briefs, and research papers. As a team member at SWS, Peter provides a welcoming and supportive space for students to strengthen their writing skills, confidence, and sense of achievement.

Sarah

Sarah enjoys talking about writing (her own writing, others' writing) even though she finds it to be endlessly complicated. Sarah aims to embrace these complexities and to work with writers as they navigate tricky decisions, like whether to go into more depth about a particular topic at the cost of covering a wider range of ideas, or how to balance their own voices and priorities with outside feedback and constraints. Sarah’s interest in writing also extends beyond SWS. She teaches two First-Year Writing courses each semester and also serves as a Faculty Coordinator for the WRIT 1301 cohort College in the Schools. Even though she's worked as a writing consultant and teacher for a number of years, Sarah thinks she still has a lot to learn about the many ways writing can take shape in and outside of the University, and she looks forward to continuing to learn from the writers she works with.

Tala

Tala is a second-year student studying Anthropology. She is passionate about what it means to be human, and how the past is interwoven throughout our lives today. Typically, English, History and Anthropology are her strongest subjects, but she is open to working with everyone, no matter their academic background. When she’s not doing schoolwork, you can find her deep cleaning, painting or embroidering. One of her favorite activities is reading outside, preferably on a sunny day with snacks nearby.

Tara

Tara is an international third-year student from India, majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Math. English is her third language with Hindi and Marathi being the first two. She loves reading and helping with most disciplines of writing like essays and reflections, but especially enjoys scholarship- and job-seeking writing like applications, scholarships, resumes, cover letters, etc.. Her priorities in a consultation are to make writers feel comfortable sharing their writing and hopefully, more confident. Tara also loves fluffy cows, making chevron bracelets, and watching White Lotus.

Tim

Tim (he/him) has taught writing for a quite a while and is happy to consult with writers on a variety of projects, wherever they are in their process: understanding an assignment or writing task; thinking about audience(s); brainstorming; developing ideas and organization; considering style and editing strategies—and more. He is most familiar with MLA conventions. When not writing, consulting, or teaching, Tim enjoys playing music, writing songs, camping, and canoeing.

Vandita

Vandita is a sophomore majoring in Developmental Psychology. She is an international student from India who can speak both English and Hindi. She used to run a creative writing blog in high school, and now likes to read, dance, and play board games in her free time. While still figuring out the specifics, she wants to go to graduate school and continue with research in the future.