Growing up, I spent almost every summer up to my elbows in the mud of coastal wetlands in Mississippi and Alabama. I always thought I would be a marine biologist, but I found I loved people's histories and stories of their lives at least as much as the mud that gives so much life on the coast. Looking back, it's unsurprising that I would end up cultivating broad interests to encapsulate all that drives me. As an historian, honors faculty member, and higher education scholar-practitioner working to advance community and civic engagement, my focus has always been on leading higher education & communities toward a more equitable future.My passion for people's histories and stories has persisted through the years and permeates my broadly interdisciplinary background and work experience. Education, after all, is about helping students and colleagues imagine a better future state - and then developing the skills to achieve it. Because we all are at work to build a more sustainable future, those skills often hinge on understanding our past, working toward inclusive excellence and representation, amplifying historically-diminished voices, and understanding how to live more lightly on our small planet.I love making connections - among stories, disciplines, colleagues, teams, students, and mentors - and watching those connections spark people's creative energies. It's as immensely satisfying to watch the moment of understanding cross a crowded survey classroom as it is to see it happen in a 1:1 tutorial, and I will never tire of the moment - or the work done getting there. My specialties include quickly learning new skills and always being up for a challenge or problem that needs solving. I gleefully synthesize disparate data into effective narratives, lead interdisciplinary teams for change, and teach students how to do the same. I am most at ease in a classroom or archive, though I'll happily turn any street corner, prairie, forest - or even wetland - into a place that holds our stories and has much to teach us.