Public historian interested in the built environment and its influence and impact on the groups that call the city home.
After graduating from Lincoln Christian University and the University of Illinois at Springfield I worked in the National Park Service both as a Park Ranger as well as in the maintenance division.
In the public history realm I have worked at both the state and national level. At the state level I have worked for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site, as well as at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in the Oral History Program. For the National Park Service I worked as a Park Ranger at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, in 2013 I came back to the park to work Maintenance there. I also worked in the Western PA group of parks at the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, and at the Johnstown Flood National Memorial.
Outside of work at historic sites I have been a classroom teacher, both in the Chicago Public Schools system, as well as at a small high school in Central Illinois. I am also a Fire Support NCO for the Illinois Army National Guard, and have been a member of the ILARNG since 2014.
Currently I am completing an MA in Public History at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and have added a GIS certificate to the program. Studying the intersection between mapping and history and the ways that GIS can connect the public to the stories of historic sites and National Parks.
My academic interests lie in studying the forces that shape urban life and the patterns of infrastructure that influence and respond to the social pressures of everyday life in the city.
Other interests: -Amusement Parks & Rollercoasters -SUE the T-Rex -Chicago -CrossFit -Coffee -Pitbulls -Tiny Houses