Our Staff
Our tutors are trained to see themselves as reflective and intelligent readers who -- by asking questions and reporting accurately their reading reactions -- can help you discover what you have said, what you might want to say, and how your readers are likely to understand you.
Though they are trained to be able to help you develop organizational and editing skills, they are not "correctors" or editors. Everything about the interactions between tutor and writer supports the OWRC's central goal of helping you achieve autonomy in your learning and writing. What does that mean? It means that, at the OWRC, our tutors are likely to help you by discussing with you things like the appropriate information for supporting an argument or laying the foundation for a claim. We can also help you with high-level, transferable skills like understanding the nature of information and its relationship to writing, thinking, and learning, or refining your understanding of the roles research and information literacy play in successful scholarship.
JIXIA AO - Undergraduate Tutor, Outreach & Networking Committee Co-Chair
Jixia is a senior double majoring in Comparative History of Ideas and Anthropology. She is most familiar with writing in the humanities and social sciences, but she's comfortable working with writers in any discipline, at any stage of the writing process. She especially enjoys helping writers with brainstorming, and with organization and clarity during revision. Outside of school and work, Jixia loves listening to science fiction and fantasy podcasts, reading, and getting too angry about politics.
KENDRA BARTELL - Graduate Tutor
Kendra is currently a first year MFA candidate in Poetry. She completed her BA at Cornell University, studying English and the Reading and Writing of Poetry. She is an instructor for UW's EWP in English 131, and knows the outcomes inside and out. Besides composition, she has most experience with writing in the humanities, creative writing, and personal statements. She loves to brainstorm creative ways to tackle writing situations, work on organization, as well as fine-tune language for the specific audience or writing context. In her free time, Kendra loves baking, cooking, and spending time reading poems in the parks of Seattle.
WANDA BERTRAM - Undergraduate Tutor
Wanda's bio coming soon!
GARRETT BLACK - Undergraduate Tutor
Garrett is a senior majoring in Biochemistry and Economics; with hobbies spanning music to coding, he is comfortable with technical papers to personal statements. He has extensive teaching experience from working with Kaplan Test Prep as well as from private academic tutoring in a variety of disciplines. He has been writing for years in genres from literary thriller to essays, and he is most interested in the narrative of every piece of writing. There's a story in everything and everyone; the difficulty is only in what that story is and how best to tell it. He loves learning about anything and everything and thus will tackle any topic -- no matter how unfamiliar -- and any project at whatever stage of completion. Garrett enjoys singing and tootling on various instruments, having adventures around campus, socializing and watching far too much TV, and he has an unholy passion for good cheese.
TOM BOLLING - Reference Librarian & Freelance Tutor
With a background in Philosophy, Tom arrived at UW in 1970 as a research librarian, and has been extremely happy here ever since. He loves the Great Game of Reference... empowering for lifelong learning in the vast world of information and stored experiences and adventures of the mind. His other passionate love is the Great Game of Kendo, the Way of the Sword... learning to sense The Force flowing through us and a life played for keeps. His home base is Odegaard, where he's always available at the info desk or research help office. He is continually energized by working daily with students and supporting them in their research and information needs.
RACHEL BROWN - Assistant Director & Undergraduate Tutor
Rachel has been working as a Writing Center tutor for three years and loves every part of the writing process. She likes to get to know the writers she's working with and figure out how to best help them, and she believes that the interaction between writer and tutor is meant to be dynamic and fluid. Structure and organization are her favorite things to work on, as she feels that everything else falls into place after that. She is a Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations major with Persian and French as her language concentrations. As a South African, she is fluent in English and Afrikaans. A certified mediator, she spends just about every free second she has mediating in court and at various Dispute Resolution Centers, concentrating on her love for Victim-Offender mediation. She will be in the U.S. for a little while longer going to grad school and then intends to spend the majority of her time in Africa and the Middle East.
LILLY CAMPBELL - Graduate Tutor, Graduate Student Support Committee Co-Chair
Lilly is a doctoral student in English Language and Rhetoric and an Assistant Director of Computer-Integrated Classrooms for the Expository Writing Program (EWP). Her research focuses on writing across the disciplines, rhetorics of science/medicine, and feminist rhetoric. Lilly has taught English 108, 109, and 131 and is more than happy to help tackle the expository/persuasive essay in all its shapes and forms. She also has a range of experience with literary analysis, personal statements, cover letters, masters theses and grant writing. She admits to being a bit of a neat freak and loves helping writers organize their ideas during any stage of the writing process: from brainstorming to the final touches. Lilly spends whatever free time she can muster exploring the city on bike or foot, trying out new recipes, and fawning over other people's dogs.
RUTGER CEBALLOS - Undergraduate Tutor
Rutger is an undergraduate pursuing a double major in Political Science and International Studies with a minor in Classics and Ancient History. His academic interests primarily include history, political philosophy, and political theory, with a strong interest in human rights movements and revolutions. He enjoys writing in a wide variety of genres, especially in the social sciences and humanities. He believes that the best writing is achieved while working in a cooperative and open environment allowing for ideas to be exposed to discussion and critical examination. To this end, Rutger finds the most joy in helping writers frame their arguments within a theoretical and historical context, believing that truly powerful writing is the result of a persuasive claim backed by thoughtful analysis. When not in class, Rutger enjoys reading Greek and Roman history and philosophy, going to the movies, working at UW Advancement, and traveling.
MAX CHEN - Undergraduate Tutor (studying abroad!)
Max is currently an undergraduate pursuing a degree in English. With an estimated 25+ writing assignments of his own every quarter, Max has seen his fair share of action in writing. He enjoys describing thoughts and emotions with lavish words but dislikes insipid or too-practical essays. Believing that writing can give one space and time to reflect upon life and be empathetic, Max finds great joy in helping others with their various genres of writings as well, with brainstorming and organizing as his favorite steps. In his free time, and when not possessed by cynicism and sarcasm, Max is quite fun to hang out with. He likes to watch movies (so long as they're not chick flicks), listen to rock and classical music, and play tons of StarCraft 2. Max finds great pleasure in hoarding books and not letting anyone touch them. He also plays soccer and avidly follows the British Premiere League.
ERIC CHEUK - Undergraduate Tutor
When he's not saving the world from apocalyptic evil, Eric assumes the role of an over-caffeinated sophomore pursuing a major in English Language & Literature. His academic interests include literary theory, textual analysis, and Not Doing Mathematics. Most of his experience as a writer of academic papers has taken place in the Humanities and Social Sciences, but he is willing to venture out into unfamiliar intellectual territory. As a person who likes to float 'crazy idea' boats into the deceptively halcyon sea that is the college classroom, he enjoys helping writers brainstorm ideas and pull them together into coherent arguments. He finds equally satisfying the process of refining papers. What little time Eric has to spare outside of school is usually spent at used bookstores, hunting for musty and thematically intriguing ways in which to empty out his wallet and unbalance his already-full bookshelves.
JILENE CHUA - Undergraduate Tutor
Jilene is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in African Studies. Her writing experiences range from literary analysis (from a few quarters of English classes) to scientific research abstracts (from interning at a liver research lab). She enjoys all stages of the writing process, but her favorite parts are brainstorming and outlining. In addition to learning interesting information from talking to writers during her sessions, Jilene also likes reading, traveling, and lounging around.
YITING CHU - Graduate Tutor
Yiting is a first year Ph.D. student in Curriculum & Instruction, with an emphasis on Multicultural Education. Though he personally writes in many different genres, he has most experience in research papers and journal articles in the Social Sciences, personal statements, cover letters, and conference articles and presentations. He is also happy to assist international students/English as a Second Language students on their writing projects, as part of his academic commitment. He would love to discuss with writers the various stages of writing, including deciphering the assignment, brainstorming, organizing thoughts, and revising drafts. Yiting spends most of his leisure time watching movies and reading books. He is also teaching himself photography and French.
MATT DAVIDSON - Graduate Tutor
Matt is pursuing a Master's of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. After graduating Matt hopes to work at an international school in Asia or South America. He has an undergraduate degree in English, History, and Philosophy from the University of Texas, where he also worked in the writing center. His expertise is in using research to make arguments, sentence-level clarity, and higher-level organization and structure. He is interested in how writing expresses meaning and communicated knowledge. A recent transplant to the UW by way of New York City, Matt is a lifelong Texan who enjoys barbecues, being outside, biking, running, and reading.
CAMMIE DODSON - Coordinator
Cammie majored in International Studies with a focus in Human Rights and a minor in African Studies before taking her current position as OWRC Coordinator. She enjoys writing across many genres but is especially familiar with writing and research for the International Studies core. Her personal writing style involves talking about her ideas with anyone who will listen, and she encourages the same discussion with other students who come into the writing center. She loves traveling and studying abroad and is now semi-competent at Spanish and Swahili. She is currently trying to decide which law school offer to accept as she moves to pursue a career in human rights advocacy and public interest law. She spends her spare time drinking coffee, singing the blues, playing catch, and contemplating a career in competitive eating.
ALLIE DRAPER - Undergraduate Tutor, English Language Learner Support Committee Chair
Currently working toward a major in English Literature and a Spanish minor, Allie has a great deal of experience wrestling with papers of her own. She believes that the best way to overcome obstacles in writing is through talking and exchanging ideas – anything that makes the writing process a little less lonely. Though her major demands that the majority of her time is spent with literary analyses and term papers, she has enjoyed exploring many different disciplines and is happy to work with writers on all kinds of projects, at any phase of the writing process. She especially likes the early stages: brainstorming, discussing ideas, and outlining. That said, she also loves to look over awesome almost-final products and work through finishing touches and the finer points of language and fluency. In her free time, Allie reads mindless fluff, follows European soccer, expresses herself through bead creations, and slowly forfeits her life to Netflix.
JEEVON DURKEE - Undergraduate Tutor
After coming to the University of Washington without a clear picture of where he wanted to take his education, Jeevon found the Geography Department. Since sophomore year, he has been immersed in the study of geography, while also developing his interests in Global Health and urban studies. He likes to do research and he likes creating works of writing. He feels like his skills as a writer and editor would be best suited for working with authors who are in the refining process, although he also enjoys the process of developing papers. In his downtime, he likes to be outside, making something or playing sports. While not the most organized person in real life, he keeps his computer organized and can easily spend an afternoon just reading and researching any kind of topic online. He especially likes learning about politics and is a sucker for Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert.
KARL ECKHARDT - Assistant Director Emeritus
Graduated from UW with a double degree in International Studies and Business with concentrations in International Political Economy and Finance. Karl currently works for Liberty Mutual doing financial analysis and risk management, and hopes to continue working in the field of Education. Although he has spent most of his time writing social-science research papers, he has been lucky enough to do writing in many other fields (that often tempt him away from his own) and in a variety of formats including presentations, speeches, and publications. As a tutor, he focuses on argument and organization and likes talking about big ideas. Outside the center, he can usually be found climbing in the Cascades or sailing on Lake Washington.
LIN GAO - Graduate Tutor
Lin is a graduate student at Evans School of Public Affairs pursuing a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. Lin completed her undergraduate studies in Chinese Language and Literacy at Beijing Normal University. Enthusiastic about the cultures of different countries, Lin is also currently learning French and Spanish. She has a wide range of writing experiences, including theses, memos, news reports, blog posts, grant proposals, and application essays. Lin enjoys working with writers on all genres and she is particularly good at assisting writers with academic papers. She likes all the stages of the writing process. Lin loves sports, especially biking and badminton. She was once crazy about soccer (only watching though, not playing). Most important: she cooks the best Chinese food!
COLIN GORENSTEIN - Undergraduate Tutor
Colin is a junior double majoring in English and Communications with concentrations in Creative Writing and Journalism, respectively. His writing has appeared in the Seattle Weekly, City Arts Magazine, The Common Language Project (CLP), and The Daily of the University of Washington, where he has served as a reporter, section editor, and copy editor. Aside from journalistic writing, Colin’s specialties lie in screenwriting, prose, personal statements, and argumentative papers. He is interested in helping writers at all stages of the process: bringing their own unique voices and experiences to the table during the initial brainstorming, as well as the near-end polishing. The remainder of Colin’s time, when he's not working, is spent drinking too much coffee, wishing he was back in Israel riding camels, listening to public radio, and attempting to watch every film ever made so he can beat you on Sporcle trivia later.
JENNY HALPIN - Director
Jenny has been the Director of the OWRC since 2009. In addition to being full-time UW staff, she is a PhD Candidate in English Language and Rhetoric (though officially on leave from grad school at the moment, working on her dissertation, which explores developing programs to better support English Language Learners). She has many years of experience as both a tutor and a teacher of writing, having worked for the English Department Writing Center, the CLUE Writing Center, and the OWRC itself and having taught writing courses both in UW's Expository Writing Program and at Seattle University. Jenny is delighted to help the OWRC grow and expand both its traditional one-to-one mentorship of writers and its new programs for multilingual students, graduate students, and faculty.
MANDY HOBMEIER - Graduate Tutor
Mandy received her MA in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse in 2010 from DePaul University and is currently pursuing her PhD in English Language and Rhetoric and serving as an Assistant Director for the Expository Writing Program at UW. She has worked in a variety of contexts as a professional writer and educator, ranging from grant writing to adult literacy tutorship to International Secondary English as a Foreign Language teaching, but her main professional focus is in teaching Composition and Rhetoric and researching issues relevant to English Language Learner populations. She is continuously fascinated by writing pedagogies and processes and is dedicated to helping students grow as writers, readers, and thinkers both in and out of the academic context. She enjoys working with both undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines and is especially qualified to work with students on expository and genre-specific writing of all kinds. In her free time, Mandy tries to travel as much as possible and spends her summers teaching English in Switzerland at an International High School.
BEN HOLE - Graduate Tutor
Ben is a grad student in the Philosophy PhD program. He received his MA here, and his BA from Lewis & Clark College. He teaches and studies in areas of ancient philosophy, ethics, and philosophy of mind (including psych/cog/neuro). The courses he's taught at UW include Intro to Philosophy (100), Ethical Theory (240), Aristotle’s Ethics (340), and Feminism & Pornography (484). This year he’s been leading a seminar and workshop series for faculty and grads on Teaching and Learning in Philosophy with the goal to improve pedagogical choices across the curriculum. He's also the director for the Philosophy Department’s Writing Center and can help facilitate more discipline-specific tutoring for students. He's incredibly interested in writing pedagogy, both professionally and personally in his own development as a writer — he is still trying to prepare himself for that whole ‘publish or perish’ stage of academic life.
JOHN HOLMES - Reference Librarian & Freelance Tutor
John is the Psychology Librarian at the UW. He has been professionally active in the area of information literacy (the ability to interact effectively with information from defining needs and finding relevant sources through evaluation, use, and management of sources.) He gets the ways in which thinking, reading, conversation, research, and writing converge in the process of learning and enjoys helping students develop a command of these abilities as writers. John has a B.A. in English from Michigan State University and an M.L.S. in Information Science from Wayne State University. Away from his job, he is a movie, theater, and music lover, as well as a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan, each season less reluctantly transferring a few more ounces of his loyalty to the Mariners.
ERIK JACCARD - Graduate Tutor
Erik is a PhD student in English Language and Literature. His research focuses on the intersections between speculative prose fiction genres, imperialism, and the figure of catastrophe in contemporary British literature and culture. He has worked as a tutor and editor with student writers at all levels, from freshmen in Early Fall Start courses to doctoral candidates revising dissertations for Ph.D defense. His experiences as a writer have centered on literary and cultural analysis and the composition of argumentative essays and related genres in the humanities. Capable of aiding writers at any stage of the writing process, Erik particularly enjoys helping with brainstorming and developing strong, complex claims, as well as developing those claims through coherent organization and purposeful, focused paragraphing. A native of Western Washington and an Alumni of the University of Washington (2002), Erik has spent more than a decade working and writing among UW students. When not tutoring or researching and writing his dissertation, Erik enjoys music (live concerts, listening and reviewing, DJing for UW's student-run station, Rainy Dawg Radio), fitness and sports, travel, and long, winding conversations.
JORDAN JUNGWIRTH - Undergraduate Tutor
Jordan is currently a junior undergraduate pursuing a degree in Anthropology. He enjoys helping writers explore their ideas through engaged conversation, thereby developing the essentials of a solid paper. Though he has spent most of his time on argumentative papers and personal statements, he certainly takes pleasure in working with creative writers as well. Outside of school and work, Jordan tries to find time to wander into new and curious places, people-watch from park benches, or catch up on his Parliamentary Procedure knowledge reading his beloved copy of Robert's Rules of Order.
HYUNBIN (HECTOR) KANG - Undergraduate Tutor
Hector is a current junior double majoring in Political Science and Law Societies and Justice. Being a firm believer in the philosophy that dialogue and discussion of ideas leads to a better paper, he enjoys helping writers craft their papers by conversing. In his free time, you can find Hector jogging or swimming at the IMA, playing guitar and piano, or holed up in his room on Netflix as he tries to avoid the Seattle weather.
RON KELLER - Undergraduate Tutor, Research & Scholarship Committee Chair
A transfer to UW, Ron is pursuing a double degree in Linguistics and Philosophy. He worked as a GED tutor for a year, a philosophy and psychology tutor for just a quarter, and as a writing tutor at Highline Community College's writing center for two years before transfering to UW. His favorite stages at which to help writers are early brainstorming and the development of supporting evidence. When he's not studying or working in the OWRC or the Philosophy Writing Center, you can find him reading, exercising, having deep conversations, or listening to music.
JAMES KELLEY - Undergraduate Tutor, Professional Development Committee Co-Chair
James is currently working toward a double major in Geography and International Studies. He spent two years working as a writing tutor at Highline Community College’s Writing Center before coming to the OWRC. James’ favorite stage of the writing process is brainstorming ideas and then organizing them. He has experience in a wide variety of writing styles but enjoys working with personal statements. He hopes to take full advantage of his college experience by meeting new people, joining clubs, and studying abroad. In his free time, he likes to read the newspaper, hang out with friends, and enjoy the outdoors.
DELLA KIM - Undergraduate Tutor
Della is majoring in Communication and is especially interested in International Studies and Education. She is particularly interested in working with writers who are in the process of brainstorming and developing their ideas. Additionally, she is originally from Korea so she speaks both Korean and English. She says that if you want to have a conversation about your writing in Korean, you are always welcome. She loves watching movies and working out whenever she has some free time. She also always loves listening to people's stories and sharing hers, as well. She thinks one of the best things in life is to travel and look into how people around the world live in every conceivable different way.
JESSICA (EUN SEON) KIM - Undergraduate Tutor
Jessica is a junior majoring in International Studies and English. Her writing experiences are primarily of social sciences, literary analysis, and creative writing, but also include business writing, personal statements, and career-related writings such as cover letters. Overall, she is great at grasping the general flow of the writing and helping to develop thesis and evidence, organize, and refine writing. She welcomes students at various phases, from ‘How should I say this?’ to ‘Am I done yet?’ Believing that ideas best develop during conversations, she will listen and throw questions that make writers re-think their topics. And because she’s awesome, she will share her “secret” writing tips with you. Jessica loves to play sports, dance, sing, write poetry, travel (going to Europe soon!), practice Spanish and Chinese, watch movies, make crafty things, and do spontaneous fun activities with friends.
CALI KOPCZICK - Undergraduate Tutor, Outreach & Networking Committee Co-Chair
Cali is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in English Literature and weighing possible minors. Most of her experience has stemmed from course papers in the humanities, but she has done some work with creative writing and scientific research, and she welcomes exposure to all fields and disciplines. While she loves brainstorming and outlining projects with writers, she is also happy to tackle any stage of the writing process. In her spare time she enjoys running, learning new languages, and flip-flopping between sci-fi and the classics.
DANNY KOSKI-KARELL - Graduate Tutor
Danny is a PhD Candidate in Sociology and is currently working on his dissertation on integration and ethnic identity among Moroccan immigrants in Spain. He has an MA in Sociology and an AB in Comparative Religious Studies. Danny has taught high school history as well as sociology classes at the University of Washington, giving him experience working on the varied stages of the writing process in both the humanities and social sciences. Find Danny in the Research Commons!
JACOB KOVACS - Undergraduate Tutor, Professional Development Committee Co-Chair
Jacob is a transfer student from the Evergreen State College and a transplant from the East Coast. He’s an Economics major preparing for graduate study in public policy. His academic interests include health, environmental and energy policy; communication, especially mediation and intercultural dialogue; LGBT issues and human rights generally. As a tutor, he enjoys working with people who are full of ideas and passion for their subject but are stuck over getting the material organized on paper. His favorite use of writing is as a tool for self-discovery, empowerment and change: petitions, policy statements, blog posts, cathartic journaling, news submissions, budget justifications, and personal statements are right up his alley. Presenting technical material to a general audience is another favorite writing task. Outside school and work, Jacob enjoys spending time with his computer, his blog, his violin, his books, and (of course) his people friends.
KATIE KRUPIN - Undergraduate Tutor
Katie is currently working towards a double major in Biology and Psychology. Although she has devoted her undergraduate education to the sciences, her interests and passions span the spectrum, from astronomy to poetry to music and education. Through classes and extracurricular activities, she has gained experience writing and analyzing technical, scientific, creative, and expository writing. She loves talking to writers about all the wonderful/crazy/fascinating thoughts floating around their heads, and helping them articulate their ideas in a clear, flowing way. Outside of school, Katie loves traveling, writing song and poetry verse on bus rides, playing her ukulele, reading books by Carl Sagan and Tom Robbins, and following paths to spontaneous adventure.
KERRY LAM - Undergraduate Tutor
Kerry is pursuing a Linguistics major and Chinese minor. She spent two years gaining experience as a writing tutor at Highline Community College's writing center before coming to the OWRC. Kerry's favorite stage of the writing process is brainstorming ideas, especially when working with personal statements. Outside of school, Kerry finds herself wishing she had more time for photography and practicing her limited Mandarin and Cantonese.
DAVE LAWRENCE - Graduate Tutor (on leave)
Currently a PhD student in Ecology at UW's School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, Dave is equally passionate about science and communicating about science via writing. He has expertise with technical writing, journalism, research, and literature reviews, and grant and proposal writing. When he is not snorkeling a river for his research or wracking his brain with statistics, he likes to play music (drums, mostly), hike, cook, and (of course) read.
JEI LEE - Graduate Tutor
Jei is a speculative fiction writer and proofreader who graduated from the University of Iowa with a major in English and a minor in Anthropology. After teaching English in South Korea and attending the Clarion West Writer's Workshop in Seattle, Jei is now in hot pursuit of a master's degree in Library and Information Science. Jei tries to help writers find creative solutions to vexing problems, identify lapses in logic, and cite their gorram sources. When not muttering darkly about the faded glory of the semicolon, Jei enjoys traveling, watching horror movies, and pretending to be craftsy.
NATHANIEL LOHMAN - Graduate Tutor
Nathaniel is currently completing his MPH in the Department of Global Health at UW and plans to continue on to medical school upon completion. As part of his studies, he spent the last two years in the Dominican Republic working as a teacher and health promoter. It was a great experience, but he is very excited to be back at UW. Although his academic background in in the biological sciences, Nathaniel has also dabbled in poetry, creative and expository writing, and in all of these modes, he has particularly enjoyed the challenges of mapping out his thoughts before putting pen to paper. In his free, time Nathaniel likes riding bikes, reading, and planning his next adventures.
ALEJANDRO LUNA-JULIANO - Undergraduate Tutor (on leave)
Alejandro is a double-major, pursuing a degree in both International Studies and Chinese (Mandarin). Besides his studies, he is also a full time breakdancer and travels often to judge and participate in competitions. As a result of both his artistic career as a dancer and the strong demand for writing within his major, Alejandro is very interested in assisting writers with their creative process. Alejandro believes that everyone has the potential to be a great writer, it is just a matter of being able to understand exactly what he or she wants to communicate.
KATY LUNDGREN - Undergraduate Tutor
Katy is a senior working on graduating on a Geography major, with a minor in Comparative Religion. This year she has been hard at work on her senior thesis and has learned much about writing and researching along the way. She especially enjoys brainstorming ideas with people in the preliminary stages of writing, but she is also happy to help with organization and reorganization, asking clarifying questions, fine-tuning nearly-finished pieces of writing, and whatever else writers have on their plates. She is involved with on-campus student organizing and labor activism, and she loves to explore her personal and academic interest in religion outside of class. When the weather is nice, she likes hiking and enjoying the outdoors; when it is bad, she likes reading and spending time with friends and family. When she has time, she bakes bread.
NATHAN MAGNUSSON - Graduate Tutor
Nathan Magnusson is a PhD student in the Department of Germanics. His experiences as a writer have centered on literary analysis and the composition of argumentative essays. While he can certainly help students with all stages of the writing process, Nathan is particularly helpful with generating strong arguments, organization, and paragraphing. When not reading, thinking, and writing, he enjoys exploring Seattle, cooking, and traveling.
MELANYA MATERNE - Graduate Tutor (on leave)
Melanya graduated with her degree in English Literature and is currently working toward her Masters in Teaching here at UW; she hopes eventually to teach high school English. Her eclectic academic interests and her experience in the UW Honors program have introduced her to a wide variety of writing styles, but literary analysis papers remain her specialty. She believes that strong organization and thoroughly analyzed evidence are the cornerstones of all good academic writing. That's right: she believes in outlines. When she's out of the ivory tower, Melanya enjoys movies, concerts, photography, creative writing, light hiking, and humiliating her friends at Scrabble.
SHON MECKFESSEL - Graduate Tutor
Shon is currently a doctoral candidate in Composition and Rhetoric, within the English departement. He received his Masters degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at UW in 2010. His writing assistance often focuses on the rhetorical level, on the textual choices reflecting an awareness of audience, purpose, and situation, though he hopes to be of help at any stage and with any considerations during the writing process. Methodologically, he specializes in ideological analysis, cultural studies, and political rhetoric. His scholarly work focuses on contemporary social movement rhetoric, particularly anarchist rhetorics, in the global waves of protest during 2011.
RAPHAEL MONDESIR - Graduate Tutor (on leave)
A Raphael is a fifth year PhD grad student in Sociology, in which he also has completed a Masters and taught courses over the past four years. He also served as an English instructor for UW's Interdisciplinary Writing Program (IWP). His philosophy is that writers can fulfill the requirements of an assignment or projects without sacrificing their own creativity. Raphael believes that the most interesting arguments are those that are couched in a rich, substantive debate, and he enjoys engaging writers in conversations that help elucidate the object of those debates. He is especially qualified to assist students with journal articles, literature reviews, master's theses, research papers, and literary analyses. He enjoys helping writers at all stages -- refining arguments, brainstorming, or organization. He looks forward to helping writers in any field or genre.
MOHAMMAD NASIR - Undergraduate Tutor
Mohammad is currently working toward a major in Asian Studies and a minor in Comparative Islamic Studies. His interests lie in topics related to South Asia, Islamic Studies and Islamic History, Postcolonial Theory, and Ethnography. As he has taken myriad classes throughout the social science disciplines offered at the UW, Mohammad enjoys writing everything from response papers for introductory International Studies classes to research/term papers for Anthropology and Sociology classes. Although he welcomes writers at all stages of the writing process, he most enjoys working with writers on structure, organization, thesis formation, and literature reviews. He also has much experience relevant to applications and personal statements. When not subsumed by his own research papers and preparing for grad school, Mohammad spends his time watching foreign films and consuming large quantities of coffee.
SAM NOWAK - Undergraduate Tutor
Sam is a senior in Geography with a focus on the intersections of technology, space, and poverty. He enjoys working with students across disciplines but is most familiar with scholarship within the social sciences. Sam especially enjoys working with students at the beginning stages of the writing process, brainstorming, refining and contextualizing their main arguments. Additionally, Sam enjoys helping authors hone their analysis and lines of reasoning to produce a strong and eloquent final product. When Sam isn't on campus, he enjoys mountain climbing and adventuring in the Pacific Northwest.
JESSE O'DUNNE - Graduate Tutor
Jesse is finishing his Masters in Library and Information Science. After earning his degree, he plans to work as an urban young adult librarian. Jesse has an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Haverford College and has worked with a wide variety of academic writing, written research reports and political speeches as a consultant, and even composed an epic poem. He is particularly interested in the challenge of producing clarity in writing, exploring the differences between intended and interpreted meaning. When he is not reading or practicing his shushing, Jesse enjoys rowing, hiking, yelling about politics, going to concerts, watching horse racing, and writing terrible pop culture haikus.
HELEN OLSEN - Undergraduate Tutor
Helen is a senior majoring in Geography and Public Health with a minor in African Studies. From brainstorming initial ideas to refining a nearly completed research paper, Helen enjoys tackling every step of the writing process. She especially enjoys working with authors on the beginning stages of their work: brainstorming, concept mapping and outlining. While she enjoys writing across many disciplines, she is most comfortable and familiar with writing and research for the Social Sciences. In her spare time, Helen loves hiking, cooking and adventuring. She hopes to pursue a career in international public health and advocacy work.
BEN OVERTON - Graduate Tutor
Ben is a second year public affairs student pursuing a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. Ben also completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Washington in Political Science and Asian Studies with a minor in Japanese Language & Literature. He has a wide breadth of writing experiences, including professional experience in journalism, grant writing, and business communications. He enjoys working with writers of all genres and is especially keen to assist writers in creating and analyzing logical, compelling arguments. He is happy to work with writers in all stages of the process, and especially enjoys working with writers near the end of the writing process. Beyond working with writers, Ben is passionate about running, cooking, and traveling. He is especially proud (perhaps too proud) of his knowledge of world capitals.
JOSH PAHANG - Undergraduate Tutor
Josh is currently a sophomore in Bioengineering and is preparing for a minor in Bioethics and Humanities. While his natural habitat lies in the sciences, he is enthralled by all fields of study, and wishes he could major in everything. Josh has experience in a variety of writing styles, and he is eager to be exposed to new genres as much as possible. While not talking with writers about their work, Josh spends his time cleaning graduated cylinders, wrapping athlete's ankles, and standing in awe of the wonders of everyday life.
MILAN PATEL - Undergraduate Tutor
Milan Patel is a senior pursuing undergraduate degrees in English and Business, with focuses in Creative Writing and Marketing. The contrast of these two areas of study has given him a broad understanding of how to adapt to different genres, styles, and audiences. His academic experiences are mostly with literary analysis, business reports, and personal essays for applications. His real-world experience comes from marketing consulting for non-profits. This includes market research, analysis, reporting/summarizing results, and making up business jargon. He is happy to help at any stage of the writing process, but specializes in organization and stylistic choices. A typical day for Milan consists of making sandwiches, watching TV, napping, waking up, and wondering how it’s already 8pm.
KATIE PETERSON - Undergraduate Tutor
Katie is currently a junior double majoring in English and Law, Societies & Justice with a minor in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies. Her most extensive writing experiences revolve around academic writing, from literary analysis to research papers, though her experiences also include cover letters, personal essays, personal writing, blog writing and speech writing. Even when it gets frustrating, Katie loves writing for the process of it. She enjoys helping people to challenge themselves to create a piece of work worth writing. She finds that she is helpful in assisting in understanding the prompt, developing a complex and interesting claim, organizing evidence, and refining the flow of writing. Her other interests include exploring, sports, running, reading, and beach combing.
DEBORAH PIERCE - Reference Librarian and Freelance Tutor
Deborah is a reference and instruction librarian at Odegaard. Her background includes
a MM in Musicology (aka the study of the history and
literature of music) and a MS in Information Science along with 25 years as
a music information specialist and educator. She is an armchair
philosopher who has been described by peers to have the ability to find the
weak link in any argument
. She believes that life is a path of
ongoing inquiry and learning and that writing is an important communication
skill which can help us understand each other and ourselves.
Her own research, teaching, and writings are in the areas of information
literacy, adult education, musician wellness, and human potentials. Her
interest in tutoring is to help you find your own voice to express your
understanding and growth in your learning process. Deborah's true loves
are singing, composing, cooking vegan delights, playing tai chi in nature,
and hanging out with canine friends.
JACQUELINE ROBINSON-HAMM - Undergraduate Tutor
Jacqueline is currently a senior undergraduate pursuing a degree in Bioengineering. She has been named a Mary Gates Research scholar, Amgen scholar, and Washington NASA Space Gran Consortium scholar, and is thus comfortable with technical and research oriented writing. Refinement is a key part of technical writing and Jacqueline feels quite proficient in this area. Outside of school, Jacqueline is an avid Oakland Athletics and San Jose Sharks fan. She also enjoys attending concerts and traveling.
BIANCA SHI - Assistant Director & Undergraduate Tutor
Bianca is majoring in Business, but at the same time, she is open to many things and directions. After practicing a lot in different styles of English writing, she has accumulated writing experience and developed her own strategies in response to various genres, especially in social-science papers and literature analysis. As a bilingual student who has been exposed to both eastern style implicit writing and western style explicit writing, she focuses a lot on the connections between different points in a paper and the logic that fosters the line of inquiry. Also, as she believes that writing is an expression of thought, she takes a great interest in the process of brainstorming and would love to talk with writers about that. In her free time, she is obsessed with reading arts (especially contemporary arts), novels and philosophy, spends a lot of time with music, friends and movies, and regards traveling as an indispensable part of life.
BONNIE TILLAND - Graduate Tutor (on leave)
Bonnie is a PhD candidate in Sociocultural Anthropology, and has just returned to Seattle after almost three years of language study and dissertation fieldwork in South Korea. She is new to the OWRC in 2012-13, but has many years of experience working with writers of all backgrounds, particularly English language learners. She has a MA in Korea Studies (Jackson School of International Studies) from the UW, and a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures (Lawrence University). She has experience writing and helping writers with research papers, thesis and dissertation chapters, and literature reviews in the social sciences and humanities, and has written so many personal statements and grant applications throughout her graduate career that she feels well-equipped to help others with the process. She loves the exciting brainstorming and outlining stages of writing (for herself and others!), and the satisfaction and relief of refining a piece of writing, but is working on getting more comfortable with the messy middle stages as she works on writing her dissertation this year. (Her research is on women's narratives about changes in family values in South Korea, both in their own lives and as reflected in the discursive space of mainstream television). When not working on the dissertation she enjoys baking, yoga and hanging around town with her husband and baby daughter.
GIOIOA VON DISTERLO - Graduate Tutor
Gioioa is a policy analyst, political strategist, campaign organizer and teacher. A native Californian and an adopted New Yorker, she’s currently at UW working on her PhD. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. She’s taught courses ranging from community journalism and poetry to policy analysis and strategic campaign development everywhere from the streets to the ivory towers. Gioioa seeks to meet her students and consultees wherever they’re at and wants to support them in getting wherever they want to go. She thinks music is a food group. Coffee fears her. Randomness calls her “friend.” She hasn’t met a pumpkin she hasn’t liked; butterflies scare the heart right out of her chest. Lepidopterophobia. It’s real. She digs comedy, movies, Peruvian food and chattin’ it up with awesome folks. She hopes to chat it up with you soon…unless you’re a butterfly…then you might have to Skype or something.
KIRIN WACHTER-GRENE - Graduate Tutor
Kirin received her MA in Liberal Studies in 2009 from the Graduate Center, CUNY in New York City where she was also a professional editor. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in English Literature and Culture at UW, as well as serving as one of the Assistant Directors of the Expository Writing Program (EWP)for English 131. She has been a tutor for over a decade, working with a diverse population ranging from high-schoolers, to college students, grad students, and professional adults working in a variety of academic and non-academic genres. She has extensive experience working with writers on a wide variety of academic, professional, and personal writing tasks, but she especially loves working with argumentative, analytical essays, personal statements, and cover letters. Above all, she believes in helping writers strengthen their critical thinking skills as a means to apply those skills to their reading comprehension and writing development. Helping writers realize and articulate their argument, and develop that argument with comprehensive organizational support, evidence, and analysis is a highlight of her tutoring practice. On her days off, you can find her record shopping, going to shows, looking at art, traveling as much as possible, and running around loving life.
JESS WALLACH - Undergraduate Tutor
Jess is a fourth-year Geography student at the UW. She is from many places across the States, but is thrilled to call Seattle her home for the last six years. She has experience in academic writing for both the sciences and social sciences. Jess has also been involved in a number of creative writing projects as a writer and editor, and reads fiction somewhat addictively. Her favorite part of the writing process is brainstorming through conversation and figuring out how to put ideas together in a really dynamite way. Jess loves terrible puns, anything to do with cats, and potlucks that turn into dance parties. One day she hopes to have coffee with Gabriel Garcia Marquez and circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon.
SHUO WANG - IT Specialist
Shuo is majoring in Computer Science. Although he is not a tutor at OWRC, he thinks critically in coding. To him, coding and writing have plenty of aspects in common, since they both value and cherish dazzling ideas, unique insights, precise logics, and a bit of thirst for perfection. He is willing to solve computer and website problems. In his free time, he loves driving or riding to explore new scenic spots. Reading and cooking (non-American style Chinese food) are also his favorites.
TAE WATTANAWANITCHAKORN - Undergraduate Tutor (studying abroad!)
Tae is a sophomore from Thailand double majoring in English and Political Science, hoping to work in International Relations. She generally considers herself more confident working with writers in humanities and social science fields, but she enjoys all kinds of brainstorming activities and helping writers develop organized ways of structuring their writing. She enjoys reading, music, and travel -- especially studying abroad!
ARIEL WETZEL - Graduate Tutor
Ariel Wetzel is currently working on her PhD in English Literature and Language and a graduate certificate in Feminist Studies. She is writing her dissertation on prisons and science fiction. Ariel has taught composition for four years at UW and Western Washington University. As a writing teacher, she believes in teaching students how to make smart choices as writers when they face a new writing situation. She especially enjoys helping students develop complex, persuasive arguments. She also is experienced in working with graduate students, and on cover letters for jobs and graduate school applications. Outside of school, Ariel enjoys playing videogames, jogging and cycling, as well as reading, watching, and writing science fiction.
JANE WONG - Graduate Tutor, Graduate Student Support Committee Co-Chair
Jane is a doctoral student in English Literature at UW and holds a MFA in Poetry from the University of Iowa. At the University of Iowa, she taught Rhetoric and Creative Writing and misses her students dearly. She tutored at Bard College's writing center for three years and has lead poetry workshops for high schools students across the country. She loves talking to writers about their ideas and believes in clear, elegant writing. In her spare time, you'll find her roaming the city for cheap eats, leaving poems by your door, or carefully folding laundry.
JOY ZHANG - Undergraduate Tutor
Joy is a currently a junior double majoring in Economics and Statistics. She enjoys reading different genres of literature. As a student from a cross-cultural background, she is able to identify a lot of similarities and differences between writing styles of various cultures. She believes that writing showcases the flow of ideas and thoughts of a writer. Therefore, she loves to brainstorm ideas with writers, and help them with the organization and the development of their essays. In addition, she’s passionate about traveling. In her free time, she enjoys reading different travel blogs and is always fond of planning for her next trips.
YUNFEI ZHAO - Undergraduate Tutor, Targeted Tutoring Coordinator
Yunfei is pursuing a Communication major. Although he has had frequent instruction and practice in writing academic research papers in this environment, he still prefers working with writers on personal statements and cover letters. Since the summer before he came to UW, he has helped many students with their personal statements for college admissions. He looks forward to the challenge of working with writers working in many different genres. No matter what stage an essay is at -- brainstorming to revising -- Yunfei believes that conversations with tutors help writers come up with many new ideas, so he never tires of discussing an assignment with someone. An international student, Yunfei was born in Tianjin, China; he speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. In his spare time, he love playing table tennis, hanging out with friends, and (best of all) photography.
JENNIFER ZINCHUK - Graduate Tutor
Jennifer is a graduate student in English Language and Rhetoric, further advancing research on multilingual students that she began with her MATESOL degree here at UW. In addition to tutoring, she works as Research Assistant to the Director of Writing for the College of Arts and Sciences.