Tell us a bit about yourself! What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy various activities like walking, biking, gardening, and cooking. I’m also an amateur ‘iPhone photographer’—still learning, but passionate! I love capturing anything from nature scenes to street photography and portraits. I can easily spend an entire day in a park or at an event like an arts festival, exploring different angles and perspectives.
I also enjoy gardening and growing vegetables that are either hard to find in the market or too expensive. I love the freshness of going straight from garden to table.
What has your professional journey looked like? What led you to working for OPAIR?
I graduated from Penn State and have since worked at the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. In these roles, I utilized my skills in modeling and database management to tackle a variety of projects, including climate change, agricultural adaptation, shale gas extraction, and river restoration—focusing on their impacts on water quality and the environment. Throughout my career, I’ve handled large datasets from different sources, and I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of uncovering insights from big data.
During my time at Penn State, I often heard great things about OPAIR, and I dreamed of one day using my skills in higher education. When the opportunity came, I applied, and now I’m very happy to be a part of OPAIR.
What have been some of your professional highlights since joining the OPAIR team?
I joined OPAIR in April 2023, and since then, I’ve primarily been working on assessing the impact of initiatives, scholarships, and financial holds on student success, with a focus on student retention and graduation rates. One of the highlights was our assessment of the Comprehensive Studies Program, which was cited during this year’s University Faculty Senate meeting and featured in an article in the Centre Daily Times.
Most recently, our data science team has been working on a project to identify the key factors influencing student graduation rates and uncovering graduation gaps among racial and ethnic groups. We’re also developing strategies to address these disparities. Although the project is still a work in progress, we’re excited about the preliminary results, which have the potential to help the university enhance student success. I’m proud to be part of this effort.
Are there any projects the Data Science and Analytics team has been working on that have been especially challenging or rewarding?
As I mentioned earlier, we’re currently working on a student graduation gap analysis. In this project, we’re using machine learning and statistical modeling to identify the factors influencing student graduation rates. While modeling itself isn’t new to me, modeling human behavior is quite different from modeling natural systems. It has been especially challenging due to the lack of data on student backgrounds and socioeconomic factors.
Despite these challenges, the potential success of this project is incredibly rewarding. If our analysis can help identify at-risk students and improve their chances of graduating—and ultimately succeeding in their careers—it would be immensely gratifying.
Do you have any upcoming personal or professional goals you’d like to share?
There’s always so much to learn when entering a new field. For me, I’d like to deepen my understanding of higher education and student success. On a personal level, both of my daughters have graduated and are now working, so I hope to find more free time to travel and, hopefully, take more photos!