CV

EDUCATION

MFA in creative nonfiction & journalism. University of Pittsburgh. 2018. 

MA in American studies & folklore. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2014.

BA in English & creative writing with a concentration in poetry. Bryn Mawr College. 2009.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE 

New Mexico School for the Arts. Creative writing faculty. January 2022–Present.

Private tutor in writing, history, English language, math, executive function skills. August 2020–December 2021. 

Desert Academy. Instructor & Faculty Advisor for Oasis Literary Magazine. August 2019–May 2020. 

Central New Mexico Community College. Instructor. January 2019–August 2019. 

Young Writers Institute. Instructor. Summer 2017 & 2018 & 2019. 

University of Pittsburgh. Instructor. August 2014–June 2018. 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Teaching assistant. August 2012–May 2014.

New River Middle School. Math teacher. August 2011–June 2012.

Deerfield Beach Middle School. Math teacher. August 2010–June 2011.

SELECTED WORK

Journalism

“Psychedelics and physical healing” in Outside Magazine. Forthcoming. 

“Tara Brach: the woman exposing spiritual sexism” in The Guardian. December 2021.

“He buried a treasure in the mountains, and someone found it. Or did they?” in The Guardian. September 2020. 

“Trafficking in Teachers” in Oxford American Magazine. August 2020. 

“The Good Fight” in Oprah Magazine. January 2020 issue. 

“A Game to Change Your Mind” in Postindustrial Magazine. May 2019. 

“Sister, Can You Spare a Kidney?”in Oprah Magazine. November 2018. 

“Living Organ Donations Save Lives. Why Are They Rare in America?” in Washington Monthly. September 2018. 

“Death for Drug Dealers, or Hope for Addicted People?” in Medium. April 2018

“Treating Migraines: How Women Are Harmed by Gendered Medical Language” in Catapult. February 2018

“Does Being Clean Require Abstinence?” in Medium. January 2018. 

“Pregnant and Addicted: Overcoming Stigma to Find Treatment” in Medium. December 2017. 

“A New Hope for Male Fertility After Cancer Treatment”in The Atlantic. October 2017. 

“What Is It Like to Regain a Sense of Touch, Only to Lose It Again?”in The Atlantic. April 2017. 

“The Many Lives of Pittsburgh’s Saints Peter and Paul Church” in The Wilson Quarterly. Summer 2016. 

“The Last Italian in Larimer” in Belt. February 2016. 

Essays

“Getting Away from Getting Away from It All” in Creative Nonfiction. Fall 2017. 

“Sorting Through a Hoarder’s Lifetime of Clutter, We Learned the Meaning of Love” in Narratively. March 2017. 

“Living with my ex and her girlfriend made us want to be roommates for life” in The Washington Post. October 2016. 

“Least Favored Animals: On Confronting Death, in the Road and Elsewhere” in The Paris Review. September 2016. 

“Souvenirs and Memory: The Meaning of Lost Family Photos” in The Wilson Quarterly. Spring 2016. 

“My Dad Is a 60-Year-Old Undergrad” in VICE. March 2016. 

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor” in The Pittsburgh Anthology. September 2015.

“Mason Jar” in Southern Things. Spring 2013. 

Searchlight New Mexico 

“Busted.” July 2020.

“When History Deals a Bad Hand.” June 2020. 

“Designated Hot Spot.” April 2020.

“When No Place is Home.” April 2020. 

“Taking it to the Streets.” March 2020.

Q&A

“Keeping Yourself in Check: An Interview with Amos Barshad” in Hot Metal Bridge. Spring 2015. 

Folklore Master’s Thesis 

The Old Widow: What Do You Take if the House is on Fire. 2014.

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND RESIDENCIES

Society of Professional Journalists award for COVID-19 Feature Reporting. 2021.  

Economic Hardship Reporting Project Grant. 2020.

Desert Academy Best Teacher Award. 2019.

Research Fellowship. University of Pittsburgh. August 2017–April 2018. 

Art Farm Residency. Marquette, Nebraska. June, 2017. 

Elizabeth Baranger Excellence in Teaching Award. April, 2017. 

Summer Research Grant from The University of Pittsburgh. June, 2016. 

Graduate tuition waiver, stipend, benefits, and teaching assistantship, University of Pittsburgh. 2014–2017. 

Research Grant from the Center for the Study of the American South. Summer, 2013. 

Daniel L. Patterson Fellowship for Summer Research. Summer, 2013. 

North Carolina Documentary Photography Award. 2013. 

Graduate tuition waiver, stipend, benefits, and assistantship. University of North Carolina. 2012–2014. 

PUBLIC READINGS 

Excerpt from Pitiful Pearl: The Peculiar Longevity of Things Not So Bad, “Funny Ladies: A Much-Needed Night of 

Laughter” at City Books, Pittsburgh, October 21, 2017.

“Least Favored Animals: On Confronting Death, in the Road and Elsewhere,” In Brackets radio show and podcast. 

March, 2017.

“Least Favored Animals: On Confronting Death, in the Road and Elsewhere,” White Whale Books, Pittsburgh. 

November 16, 2016. 

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” Faculty and Graduate Reading Series, University of Pittsburgh, September 2014. 

LECTURES, PANELS, and CONTESTS

“Scholastic Writing Awards for the Pittsburgh Region.” Judge. Winter 2022. 

“Melissa Difatta Undergraduate Writing Award.” Contest judge at the University of Pittsburgh. Spring 2019.

“First Year Teaching.” Panel at the University of Pittsburgh. August 2017.  

“Dispossessed/Repossessed: Redefining Territory Through Vandalism.” Presentation at the University of North  

Carolina Library. Fall 2013. 

“Ethnographic Fieldwork and Reporting.” Lecture at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies. Fall 2013.

“A Life in Objects: Widowhood and the Exploration of Identity through Possessions.” Panel at the American Folklore

Society Annual Meeting. October 2013. 

“Widowhood and Livelihood.” Panel chair at American Folklore Society Annual Meeting. October 2013. 

 “How We See/Remember Ourselves: Social Networking and Self-Representation.” Lecture at the University of 

Chapel Hill. 2012, 2013. 

COURSES TAUGHT 

New Mexico School for the Arts 

Nonfiction

Poetry 

Desert Academy

Earth Science

New Mexico History

Civics 

World History

Central New Mexico Community College 

ENGL 1110—College Writing. Spring & Summer 2019.

University of Pittsburgh 

ENGWRT 0610—Introduction to Nonfiction and Journalism. Summer 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017. 

ENGCMP 0200—Seminar in Composition: Walking as Method. Fall 2015, Spring 2016.  

ENGCMP 0400—Written Professional Communication. Summer 2015 & Summer 2018. 

ENGCMP 0200—Seminar in Composition: Let’s Talk About Taste. Fall 2014, Spring 2015. 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

AMST 466—You Are Where You Live: The American House in Critical Perspective with Kathy Roberts. Spring 2014.

AMST 284—Visual Culture with Bernard Herman. Fall 2012, Fall 2013 (head teaching assistant).

AMST 211—Approaches to Southern Studies: The Literary and Cultural Worlds of the American South with Tim 

Marr and Jocelyn Neal. Spring 2013 (led weekly recitation section).

Young Writers Institute at the University of Pittsburgh

What Story Can You Tell from a Photograph?

Meaning Making: Found Object Art & Writing 

Scene Writing Part I & Part II

Constructing an “I” on the Page 

Structure: How is a Story Stitched Together? 

Memoir 

Personal Essay 

Verb Tense