Supporting people through service is professionally and personally important to me.  My pursuit of sociology is deeply tied to a belief that our knowledge and collective actions can lead to important changes for people, communities, and society.  It might sound a little cliché, but seeing the impact of service unfold is also incredibly rewarding.

Most of my community service has been through advising and consulting with community nonprofit agencies and civic organizations, including assisting with needs assessments, program planning, data collection and analysis, and applying my sociological expertise.  Below are some specific examples, but if your agency or community has a project where you think I can be helpful please get in touch! 

• 2024 - Present: Canton Area Heritage Center (Canton, IL)

  • Consultant and presenter on the "Salute to Fulton County Area Historic Farms" Exhibit, part of the Canton Bicentennial Celebration in summer 2025.

  • Currently partnering with members of Canton Area Heritage Center to publish findings from their 2024 - 2025 sesquicentennial family farm interviews. 

• 2020 - Present: Black Hills Area Community Foundation (BHACF) (Black Hills, SD)

  • Consultant on 2025 BHACF Food Security Needs Assessment of Rapid City

  • Member of BHACF "Friends of Food Security" working group

• 2020: Victims of Violence Intervention (aka Artemis House) (Spearfish, SD)

  • Consultant for the VVIP 2020 Needs Assessment

As faculty at a rural regional university, service is more than a contractual obligation.  Core functions of the university run off of service, including hiring, organizing campus events, mission and strategic planning, and more.  Additionally, academic programs like those I serve depend on active management, including recruitment of new students, retention of existing students, program evaluation and assessment, curriculum development, and more.  Faculty also often serve to support their fields as members of scholarly communities, including membership in professional academic associations.  Here are some select examples of my university service experience.

• 2015 - Present: Coordinator for the BHSU Human Services Program

  • Organize and support recruitment, retention, and communication efforts with current & prospective students.

  • Curriculum development

  • Program assessment and evaluation

• 2018 - Present: Black Hills Research Symposium (BHRS)

  • 2020 & 2023: Program Chair

  • 2018 - Present: BHRS Marketing Subcommittee 

• 2023 - Present: Make A Difference Initiative scholarship (MADI) committee

• 2019 - 2021: Great Plains Sociological Association (GPSA) (no longer active)

  • 2020-2021 - GPSA President

  • 2019-2020 - GPSA President-elect

• 2018: Principal Investigator: Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Grant 

  • Coordinated & authored successful Fulbright SIR application to fund international scholar-in-residence at BHSU - Dr. Miro Hacek (University of Ljubljana - Slovenia)