"I’ve known Sydney for many years in various capacities, as a colleague, coworker, and now as a friend and collaborator. Sydney and I worked closely together during our time at the Origins Project at Arizona State University, an interdisciplinary research unit focused on local to global STEM outreach and education which asked fundamental questions about the origins of life, the universe, complex systems, culture, and the future of technology. Sydney helped develop cutting edge scientific workshops with the NIH, Santa Fe Institute, and others, while always mindful of the need to highlight science communication and interdisciplinary outreach. For instance, during a visit with Peter Singer, she took the lead in researching, thematizing, and organizing a secondary, student-facing panel event featuring Singer and ASU humanities faculty. Her panel event proved much more thought-provoking, controversial, and successful than the larger ticketed Singer event. This is just one instance in which Sydney took the lead at Origins - Sydney was also an invaluable partner in researching and developing digital educational materials based on Origins’ workshops and visiting scientists.

 

Sydney has a passion for learning and bridging the disciplinary gap between cultural, academic, and scientific literacy. She has a keen eye for connecting larger socio-cultural narratives at play and articulating them in accessible, engaging ways. Her work writing for the Origins’ blog and her Medium writing on cultural placemaking attest to her skill and vision. It is for this very reason that Sydney and I are collaborating on a book proposal focused on disrupting white privilege within the art community. Sydney is the first and only person who came to mind as a collaborator for this project, simply because she is one of the smartest, most hardworking, creative minds that I know."

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Michelle Iwen, PhD

Assistant Director of Graduate Programs

College of Continuing Education

University of Minnesota