Selected work
Accessibility as an everyday practice
Most accessibility work happens in bursts — a scan, a panic, a scramble before the deadline. The interesting part is making it boring: I co-chair the campus Accessibility Committee and connect policy, inventory, remediation, faculty support, and course review so they run every semester. AccessRemediate and Access Hub are the tools I built to keep it that way.
Download the Accessibility as an Everyday Practice PowerPoint
Learning as an adventure
My 2018 master's thesis asked how game-based learning could shape hybrid and online instruction — what a course would look like if it borrowed its structure from a good game. It included MyQuest, a narrative prototype where dialogue choices build a tabletop role-playing character and introduce mechanics through play.
Read the thesis · Download the Game-Based Learning PowerPoint
The Long Tail needs an open road
This 2014 project with Anne McDonough connected Chris Anderson's Long Tail theory with the question of who controls online discovery and access. I keep it up because the argument held up.
Explore the project and text companion · Watch the public presentation on YouTube
Less searching. Better signals.
I wanted a better way to track my own job search, so I built one. JobHunt turns résumé information into a local-first workflow for finding, deduplicating, scoring, and reviewing opportunities.
Explore JobHunt on GitHub
Published thinking
Game-Based Learning Thesis — Continuing Edition (2018 → 2026)
My M.S. thesis on game-based learning, updated after seven years of classroom use: nine design principles, the Brief–Play–Debrief cycle, UDL and ADA 2023 alignment, and a practical AI chapter. 91 pages. I don't publish often, but I stand behind this one.
Read the continuing edition · 2018 original PDF
Long Tail and Net Neutrality (2014)
Collaborative paper and public video on discovery, network access, and niche markets, with Anne McDonough.
Open the artifact
18 presentations, 2012–2026
Public and internal talks on prevention, accessibility, practical AI, and learning design.
Browse the archive
Good Samaritan Policy (2014)
A campus policy I wrote in 2014 that is still in effect — the piece of paper I'm most proud of that isn't a thesis.
See the timeline
Presentation archive
18 presentations from 2012 to 2026. Browse the visual archive.
- 2026 — Working with AI, Not Letting It Work You (Student session, in person and online)
- 2026 — Pedagogy First: A Needs-Driven Framework for Technology Integration (Framework talk for faculty and academic leaders)
- 2025 — AI for Herkimer County: Practical Tools for Your Small Business (Chamber of Commerce lunch-and-learn, November 2025)
- 2026 — Accessibility as an Everyday Practice (Portfolio deck)
- 2026 — Learning as an Adventure (Portfolio deck)
- 2026 — The Long Tail Needs an Open Road (Portfolio deck)
- 2013 — Resident Advisor Staff Training: Substance and Alcohol Program Overview (Herkimer College RA training, August 2013)
- 2013 — Drugs 101: Smoking and Toking (Drugs 101: Prevention Ed. series, April 2013)
- 2013 — Drugs 101: Alcohol, Athletics and Academics (Drugs 101: Prevention Ed. series, March 2013)
- 2013 — Drugs 101: All About Heroin (Drugs 101: Prevention Ed. series)
- 2013 — Substance and Alcohol Overview (Class presentation, Herkimer College)
- 2012 — Synthetic Substances: K2 and Bath Salts (Prevention presentation)
- 2019 — Chemical Dependency: Screening, Diagnosis, Assessment, and Referral (HS201 Chemical Dependency, Fall 2019)
- 2019 — Chemical Dependency: The Substance Abuse Spectrum (HS201 Chemical Dependency, Fall 2019)
- 2016 — First Year Seminar: Course Introduction (FS100 First Year Seminar, Fall 2016)
- 2014 — The Long Tail: New Media, New Literacies (New Media, New Literacies, with Anne McDonough)
- 2014 — Virtual Practicum: Who Are We? (Virtual Practicum, Fall 2014)
- 2014 — Professional Background (Learning in Emerging Technologies: Theories and Practice)
Career timeline
- 2005 — Residential support for people with developmental disabilities: Began in direct support, became a residential floater, and in 2007 served as assistant manager of a supportive apartments program for more than 10 residents.
- 2008 — Domestic Violence Advocate: Individual counseling, Family Court advocacy, education programs, shelter placement, and Social Services liaison for the Herkimer County Domestic Violence Program.
- 2008 — Sister Karen Klimczak Memorial “Spirit of the Academy” Award: Recognized at the New York State Victim Assistance Academy, five days of training alongside law enforcement and state officials.
- 2008 — Mediator and prevention specialist: Coordinated and mediated disputes, including custody matters, while delivering prevention programs in Herkimer County schools.
- 2009 — Problem Gambling Prevention Coordinator: Led county-wide problem gambling prevention under a New York State grant, ran a sign-placement survey, and served on the Glens Falls Problem Gambling Coalition until statewide funding ended in 2011.
- 2009 — A.S., Community & Human Services: SUNY Empire State College.
- 2011 — Substance and alcohol prevention educator: Created the Drugs 101: Prevention Ed. series, ran first-offense education (SAAP), adapted Teen Intervene for second offenses, and advised the SADD student club.
- 2011 — B.S., Community & Human Services: SUNY Empire State College, December 2011.
- 2012 — Adjunct instructor, First Year Seminar: Began teaching FS100, the seminar required of new full-time students, and still teach it today.
- 2013 — CASAC-T: Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor Trainee, New York State.
- 2013 — Appointed co-chair: A board member since 2010, appointed co-chair of Herkimer College’s AOD Advisory Board, a seat not usually held by someone from outside the college.
- 2014 — Good Samaritan Policy and Social Host provision: Wrote the policy brief and built medical amnesty into Herkimer College’s Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy, so students who call for help in an alcohol or drug emergency are not disciplined for it. The policy remains part of the college’s AOD policy today.
- 2014 — Long Tail + Net Neutrality: Collaborative paper and public video about discovery, network access, and niche markets.
- 2015 — Academic Advisor: Joined the college staff in November 2015, advising more than 100 students and later managing the Starfish student-success platform.
- 2016 — Board of Directors, Catholic Charities of Herkimer County: Joined the board of the agency where my work in advocacy and prevention began.
- 2017 — Gamified First Year Seminar: Rebuilt a section of the seminar around game mechanics, an early classroom application of game-based learning.
- 2017 — Taught Wellness at Mohawk Correctional Facility: Adapted the college’s wellness course for incarcerated students in Fall 2017.
- 2017 — Honors project mentor: Began mentoring students through independent HP303 Honors projects.
- 2018 — M.S., Information Design & Technology: Completed at SUNY Polytechnic Institute with a thesis on game-based learning in hybrid and online instruction, including the MyQuest prototype.
- 2019 — Developed and taught Chemical Dependency: Built the course and its lecture materials on screening, assessment, treatment, and prevention for Fall 2019.
- 2020 — Director of Instructional Design: Appointed in May 2020 to lead course design support and quality review for faculty.
- 2021 — Introduction to Technical Writing: Began teaching EN171, redesigned it around current tools, and later reworked its assessments for generative AI.
- 2022 — Wrote the Esports Management program and curriculum: Authored the program and its course curriculum for SUNY approval.
- 2023 — Campus lead on AI integration: Authored the college’s AI ethics and digital assessment policies, lead AI literacy sessions for students, and am designing an asynchronous Introduction to Artificial Intelligence course.
- 2024 — LMS migration + faculty enablement: Supported more than 100 faculty through the move from Blackboard to D2L Brightspace.
- 2024 — Elected to the Fort Plain Board of Education: Serving on the Fort Plain Central School District Board of Education.
- 2025 — AI for Herkimer County: Presented a practical AI lunch-and-learn for local small business owners in November 2025.
- 2026 — Governance, remediation, and review: Co-chairing the Accessibility Committee and connecting institutional planning, practical faculty support, and purpose-built tools.
About
I came to instructional design by way of human services — residential support, domestic violence advocacy, mediation, prevention education. That work taught me to meet people where they are, which turns out to be the whole job whether you're designing a course, an accessibility program, or an app. These days I lead instructional design at Herkimer College, teach first-year seminar, and build small tools when the system I need doesn't exist yet.
- M.S., Information Design & Technology
- SUNY Polytechnic Institute
- B.S., Community & Human Services
- SUNY Empire State College
Service and leadership
- Board of Directors, Catholic Charities of Herkimer County — 2016 to present
- Fort Plain Central School District Board of Education — Elected 2024
- Alcohol and Other Drugs Advisory Board, Herkimer College — Member from 2010, co-chair from 2013; author of the Good Samaritan Policy, still in effect
- Co-chair, Accessibility Committee — Herkimer College
- Middle States working committee — Standard IV: Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience
- Campus committees — Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council; Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness Committee; Judicial Review Board (from 2017)
- Club advisor — Students Against Destructive Decisions, Outdoor Adventure/Green Club, and Anime Club
- Sister Karen Klimczak Memorial “Spirit of the Academy” Award — New York State Victim Assistance Academy, 2008
- CASAC-T — Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor Trainee, 2013
- Crisis and mental health training — Mental Health First Aid (2014), ASIST suicide intervention (2015), basic mediation (2008)
- Coalitions — Glens Falls Problem Gambling Coalition and a statewide problem gambling provider coalition