Meet the Board

Organization: Florida State University

Title: Director of International Travel, Safety, and Risk

Pulse Member Since: 2019

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What is one way that Pulse helps you do your job? My favorite part of Pulse is the membership and community. I can ask questions, get advice, and make the best informed decision for FSU.

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What do you hope Pulse achieves in the next two years? I’m excited to see Pulse advocate for the field of international safety and security. I look forward to growing our membership and the field.

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What is the best meal you have ever eaten while traveling? I’ll preface this with “this is a moment of do what I say, not what I do”- but the best meal I have ever eaten while traveling was in Peru. There was a street vendor, known to the students as “La Tia”, and she made the best anticucho. People would wait for hours to get some, and would just hang out in the street.

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If you were hosting a dinner party and could invite three famous people (dead or alive), who would get an invite? 1) Petra Herrera (a Mexican revolutionary/soldadera), 2) Eleanor Roosevelt, and 3) Wangari Maathai

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If you had the opportunity to take an all-expenses paid trip to space, would you go? I would have some risk questions (obviously), but it would be an incredible opportunity and definitely the trip of a lifetime.

Organization: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Title: Director of Global Travel Safety and Security

Pulse Member Since:

Pulse Role: 2012

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How did you get involved in international risk management? I graduated with a master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution at the time of the housing bubble bursting, so jobs were tough to come by. I started out my career at an emergency assistance provider but had an opportunity to interview for a new and unique position at a large state institution and never looked back once I got into international risk management!

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Which international location is next on your (work) travel list? Great question… hopefully Botswana!

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Which international location is next on your (personal) travel list? MEXICOOOOO!

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What’s the best meal you have ever eaten while traveling? Besides an amazing wine and cheese tasting in Paris in the early 2000’s, definitely Kuku wa Mchuzi – chicken curry-like dish from Tanzania. I am still chasing the exact spice formula!  

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What television show should Pulsers be watching right now? Slow Horses on Apple TV – amazing show! Gary Oldman’s character is the best part!

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If you were hosting a dinner party and could invite three famous people (dead or alive), who would get an invite? Robin Williams, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Wangari Maathai… and my paternal Grandfather although he was only famous to me😊

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Organization: University of Kentucky

Title: Director of Global Risk & Strategic Operations

Pulse Member Since: 2015

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What do you hope Pulse achieves in the next two years? Now that we have finished incorporation and really established ourselves as a formal organization, it seems like the next phase for us will be to further define what our role is, both to our membership and to the broader field. I hope we’re able to start tackling questions about how and when we should speak out on issues relevant to our work, what our membership criteria should look like, what kind of service we can provide to the broader higher education community, and more.

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What is your favorite professional event or engagement each year? Definitely the OSAC Annual Briefing and the Pulse meeting that follows. It’s the one time of the year that I feel surrounded by a community that really ‘gets it,’ and the opportunities we have for networking and idea sharing are second to none.

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Which international location is next on your (work) travel list? Japan. We are sending an increasing number of students to exchange partners there, and I have very little knowledge of the country or its higher education system.

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Which international location is next on your (personal) travel list? I’m hoping to take my parents on a trip to Guatemala in February. It’s one of my very favorite places to visit.

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What’s your favorite fun fact? There are more than twice as many barrels of bourbon in Kentucky than there are people.

Organization: Virginia Tech

Title: Associate Director for Global Safety and Risk Management

Pulse Member Since: 2015

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How did you get involved in international risk management? After serving as a Military Policy Officer in the Army, I jumped into higher education in student affairs at my alma mater. When I saw this role opened, it looked like a dream combination of my interests and skills.

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Which international location is next on your (work) travel list? Botswana

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Which international location is next on your (personal) travel list? France

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What’s the best meal you have ever eaten while traveling? Tea in a orchard in rural Afghanistan.

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What television show should Pulsers be watching right now? Anything that is unrelated to work and restorative.

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What songs are on your “getting work done” playlist? My Spotify Wrapped 2023 was dominated by VUKOVI.

Organization: CET Academic Programs

Title: Director, Health + Safety

Pulse Member Since: 2019

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How did you get involved with international risk management? I was working in a study abroad office and saw a growing number of students with complex health and safety issues that we were not supporting well. I asked my director if I could attend an OSAC ASC conference to “learn where to start” and the rest is history.

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What do you hope Pulse achieves in the next two years? I hope that Pulse can leverage our collective expertise to drive (and not just respond to) conversations in the broader international education community towards better student and traveler health, safety, and security outcomes.

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Which international location is next on your (work) travel list?  Taiwan and mainland China (for the first time since 2019!)

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What’s the best meal you have ever eaten while traveling? It’s a tie between an exceptional eight-course French dinner at Trois Gourmands in Saigon and authentic falafel at Hashem in downtown Amman.

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If you were hosting a dinner party and could invite three famous people (dead or alive), who would get an invite? Andy Cohen, Michelle Obama, and José Andrés—there would undoubtedly be good food, good gossip, and a bit of shade.

Organization: Iowa State University

Title: International Risk Manager

Pulse Member Since: 2018

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What do you hope Pulse achieves in the next two years? We have gone through a period of tremendous growth as a field in the past 4-5 years and that is reflected in the membership of Pulse. I’d like to see us capitalize on those gains to develop and strengthen the (now larger) profession.

 

What is your favorite professional event or engagement each year? OSAC Annual Briefing.

 

Which international location is next on your (work) travel list? Cairo, Egypt

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What television show should Pulsers be watching right now? Travel Man with Richard Ayoade

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What’s your favorite fun fact? Tomatoes are not native to Europe and weren’t introduced into European cooking until the 16th century.

If you had the opportunity to take an all-expenses paid trip to space, would you go? 

No. Sounds uncomfortable, dangerous, and empty. No good restaurants.

Organization: University of Minnesota

Title: Director of International Health, Safety, and Compliance

Pulse Member Since: 2016

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How did you get involved with international risk management? It first started when I worked for Housing & Residential Life and created support systems for international students living in our residence halls. That piqued my interest in taking the crisis response components of my housing experience and combining it with my growing interest in international higher education.
 

What is one way that Pulse helps you do your job? The networking and benchmarking are critical to my role. My institution loves to answer any request with: "But how are our peer institutions handling that?"

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What do you hope Pulse achieves in the next two years? Greater connections among members, especially for newer Pulse members. It seemed a lot easier to build connections with peers when I first joined the organization. I'd like us to take less interest in the numbers of members we have any more interest in helping and supporting those newer members feel a sense of belonging in the organization.

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Which international location is next on your

(work) travel list? ? I'll be joining an SIT site visit to Samoa this winter. (I may be obligated to post on Slack the temperature difference between Minneapolis and Samoa in March!)

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What’s your favorite fun fact? In an average year, more U.S. citizens are killed by falling televisions than by international terrorism.
 

Organization: The University of Texas System

Title: International Program Manager

Pulse Member Since: 2015

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How did you get involved with international risk management? I accepted a position with UT Austin’s International Office (now called Texas Global) shortly after separating from the Air Force.  Several months later, an “international risk analyst” position in the office opened up, and I basically fell into it.  Some of the responsibilities aligned well with my educational background and a few of the roles I had held in the Air Force.

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What is one way that Pulse helps you do your job? Colleagues in Pulse have been instrumental in sharing advice and resources amid a variety of complicated incidents over the years.  This community has also been invaluable with benchmarking approaches in response to major events.  I’m not sure I would have survived the first six months of the pandemic without all of you, so thank you!

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What’s the best meal you have ever eaten while traveling? Chiles en Nogada at a small but amazing restaurant in Mexico City.  They also had fabulous margaritas at this place, but after just two (I was dining with my Vice Provost at the time) – which were served in small little glasses I might add – I had the strangest Día de los Muertos-inspired dreams!  This despite the fact it was only July at the time…go figure.

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If you had the opportunity to take an all-expenses paid trip to space, would you go?  Yes! Growing up, I really wanted to be an astronaut (yes, I was “that” kid). I am fascinated by space. I’d probably spend the rest of my life trying to support climate action / carbon offset initiatives, but I would love the chance to go.

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Organization: Brown University

Title: Sr. Director, Office of Global Travel Operations, Risk & Resilience

Pulse Member Since: 2017

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How did you get involved with international risk management? I fell into it by chance. While I was working in the Office of Global Engagement, Brown was starting conversations on campus about the importance of having a point person to oversee international safety, security, and risk management, but despite recommendations from various campus stakeholders, funding was not available so the position request was denied. I volunteered to start setting the groundwork for a future position thinking I would then hand it off once the full-time funding was approved (this was in addition to my full-time role managing international agreements and partnerships, and welcoming global delegations), but I ended up really liking the work. I was then offered the opportunity full-time and gladly accepted. 

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What is one way that Pulse helps you do your job? Through the invaluable networking and information sharing among membership. I so appreciate the non-competitiveness and willingness to help each other. 

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What’s the best meal you have ever eaten while traveling?

My husband and I traveled to Italy this summer with our two daughters. We had lunch in a tiny hole in the wall restaurant in Venice almost immediately upon arrival there. I don’t even remember what I ordered, I just remember it was the best because I got to see my girls appreciate authentic Italian food and experience their first meal during their first ever trip to Italy–it was absolutely priceless. 

 

If you had the opportunity to take an all-expenses paid trip to space, would you go? No, not interested. I travel to experience different cultures, food, languages, and people. Chances are the only cultural interactions would be in the shuttle (capsule?) up and back. I sense this would be a rather homogenous and stodgy group (no offense to anyone reading this who has already booked their ticket).