About Me
I'm currently looking for a job in the field of active transportation. My focus is on program positions involving outreach, advocacy, and encouragement, and I also enjoy research and writing. I'm easily reachable by email.
In summer 2011 I worked at SMART in Wilsonville as a Program Assistant on the Discover Wilsonville SmartTrips-style individualized marketing program. I also write for Portland Afoot and the WPC Blog, am involved with Active Right of Way, and have been published on BikePortland. I volunteer with the BTA and with PBOT's Options group as a Transportation Options Ambassador.
You can see some of my transportation writing on the web at:
- BikePortland: Are We Ready for Vision Zero?
- WPC Blog: The View from Guadalajara
- Portland Afoot TriMet app reviews
- Portland Afoot/Active Commute PDX Trip Planner Guide
- Portland Afoot Best Employers for low-car commuters (research & mapping)
- Towards Carfree Cities X writeups at Active Right of Way
Prior to doing advocacy and encouragement in Portland, I volunteered with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and did a lot of riding and hiking, including Waves to Wine 2008.
Until 2010 I was a linguist in the technology industry in Silicon Valley (and Portland). I worked at Sensory, Inc. for almost five years as a linguist and project manager. I created and tested speech recognition vocabularies for customer products including toys with Playmates and Hasbro, clocks with Natural Time Set™ and Bluetooth headsets with BlueAnt, Plantronics, and Motorola. I also worked as the customer linguist and internal project manager for speech synthesis development for just over two years and gathered recording data for recognition testing, speech output, and speech synthesis.
If you're interested in hiring me to do this sort of thing, I'm still open to the possiblility of returning to the field. Feel free to send me email.
In 2005, I received my MSc from the University of Edinburgh in Speech and Language Processing. I graduated from Rice University in May 2003 (Jones College, B.A. Linguistics & Cognitive Science).
While in school I worked in the IT department on web content and as a Linguistics TA, was in the Marching Owl Band and performed in musicals (including many with the Rice Light Opera Society), wrote FAQ content for LiveJournal.com, and sang in the EUMS Chorus.
I do a lot of cooking, cycling, hiking, reading, and exploring the city I live in. I like music and musicals. I prefer tea to coffee and both of them to beer. I think a lot about systems, beauty, and community. I'm more inclined to the real than the surreal.
You can also find me in the following web locations:
- Active Commute PDX
- Google Plus
- LiveJournal (This account is inactive, but the archives are available.)
- Flickr (I mostly use this account for stuff to send around or link to; check my own gallery for most of my photos.)