Podcasts from the SfAA

The 2012 SfAA Podcast Team consists of 6 members so far: Yumiko Akimoto (Chair – 3rd year), Megan Gorby (Associate Chair – 2nd year), Tommy Wingo (paid audio pro, 4th year), and 3 other UNT students (in addition, 2 – 3 local students will be selected in February). Make sure you say ‘hi’ in Baltimore!  Meet the past SfAA Podcast Team members here.

Yumiko Akimoto, Chair

Email: yumiko.unt [at] gmail [dot] com

Yumiko is expected to graduate with master’s degrees in applied anthropology and public health from the University of North Texas (UNT) and UNT Health Science Center in May 2012. She is currently working on her practicum project and thesis on a public health needs assessment in an urban slum community in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. She has been part of the SfAA Podcast Project since the 2010 Annual Meeting. She enjoys co-managing the project with Megan and is excited to work closely with the other team members this year!

Tommy Wingo

email: tommy [at] wing-o [dot] com

Audio Pro, www.wing-o.com

Tommy is a sound mixer living in Orlando, Florida. In late 2011 he started working for Treehouse (teamtreehouse.com). Projects he has worked on include production sound recording, editing and mixing for film, television, and radio. He has worked as an editor on several different podcasts, including Life Zero, EPIC Podcasts, and Ruby 5, in addition to his work with the SfAA Podcast project.

Megan Gorby, Associate Chair

Email:  megangorby [at] my.unt.edu

Megan is a second year master’s student in the applied medical anthropology program at the University of North Texas and the public health program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Her current research interests include looking at the usefulness of community gardens in health education and health promotion. She anticipates graduating in December 2012 and is excited to be on the Project for her second year!

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Jo Aiken, Communications Coordinator

Email: aikenjo [at] yahoo [dot] com

Jo is a first year master’s student in the Applied Anthropology M.A. program at the University of North Texas. She earned a B.S. in Leadership Development from Texas A&M University. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, Jo worked as a contractor for the NASA Johnson Space Center where she contributed to the official Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) Report in 2003.  She is continuing her interest in space exploration and culture by pursuing research interests in organizational and design anthropology as it applies to spacecraft and mission design. Jo spends her spare time traveling, watching old movies, hula dancing, spending time with her dog Bandit.

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Steven K. Wilson, Social Media Coordinator

Email: steven.wilson [at] unt [dot] edu

Steve is a first year master’s student at the University of North Texas. He graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Arlington. Steve’s research focus is business and organizational anthropology. He wants to use anthropological methods to better understand organizational structures to improve corporate ethics, job satisfaction, training and safety. Steve is also interested in storytelling as a tool to better train employees while building communities in the workplace.

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Brittany Donnelly, Session Selection Coordinator

Email: brittanydonnelly [at] my.unt [dot] edu

Brittany is currently a master’s student at the University of North Texas focusing on environmental anthropology. She also holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Oklahoma Baptist University. Brittany’s interests include ethnoecology, tropical forest preservation, sustainability, participatory research methods, environmental justice, indigenous rights, the Kayapó people, and Amazonia. She is currently working on analysis and write-up of the research she conducted this summer in Brazil in which she was able to use her proficiency in Brazilian Portuguese. Her work, entitled, The Kayapó Project: An Assessment of a Kayapó NGO’s Stakeholder Relationships- Identifying Barriers and Future Opportunities, she plans to present for graduation this Spring.

The 2011 SfAA Podcast Team consists of 9 people: Jen Cardew Kersey (Chair- 5th year), Yumiko (Associate Chair – 2nd year), Kelly Alleen-Willems (4th year), Tommy Wingo (paid audio pro, 3rd year), 3 UNT students and 2 local students.  Make sure you say ‘hi’ in Seattle!  Meet the past SfAA Podcast Team members here.

Yumiko Akimoto, Associate Chair

Email: yumiko.unt [at] gmail [dot] com

Yumiko is in her second year of her dual master’s degree program in applied anthropology and public health at the University of North Texas (UNT) and UNT Health Science Center. After working as a volunteer on the SfAA Podcast Project at the 2010 Annual Meeting, she has accepted a position as the Associate Chair of the project. She enjoys co-managing the project with Jen and is excited to be a part of the project! She plans to conduct her practicum project this summer on a public health needs assessment in an urban slum community near Mexico City.

Jen Cardew Kersey, Chair

email: jencardew[at]gmail[dot]com
personal blog: Synthesis of Thought

Jen graduated from the UNT online Master’s program in Fall 2009 and holds a BA in anthropology from the University of South Florida.  She worked at Intrepid Consultants in Seattle, WA for 2 1/2 years but recently made a career move to SapientNitro.   She started the SfAA Podcasts back in 2007 after her now-husband suggested she try to start an anthropology podcast.

Kelly Alleen-Williems

Kelly Alleen-Willems is a graduate student in Northern Arizona University’s master of anthropology program. In addition to her studying she is also a part-time adviser for distance learning students. She recently participated in a Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation (RARE) project investigating the problem of childhood obesity in a low-income, ethnically diverse neighborhood. Upon graduating from NAU, Kelly hopes to find a position applying the knowledge and concepts of socio-cultural anthropology to community development in the United States. She is focused on development and education projects in urban settings and is particularly interested in holistic community health and service-learning.

Tommy Wingo

email: tommy [at] wing-o [dot] com

Audio Pro, www.wing-o.com

Tommy is a freelance sound mixer living in Orlando, Florida. Projects he has worked on include production sound recording, editing and mixing for film, television, and radio. He has worked as an editor on several different podcasts, including Life Zero & Ruby 5, in addition to his work with the SfAA Podcast project.

Shino Endo

Shino is in a second year of applied anthropology master’s program at University of North Texas. She also has two B.A.s in international politics and diplomacy and in Spanish. Her wide range of interests includes migration and border studies, international development, disaster relief, education, nutritional health and dance. Having lived in Mexico and Germany, she is fluent in Japanese, English, Spanish and German. Her passion? –dance and travelling. She is easy to be found at any dance floor dancing Salsa, Bachata, and Cha Cha.

Louis Che-Hung Liao

“Too serious to joke around, and too goofy to take anything seriously.”

I am on my way to become an anthropologist. I think it sounds really cool and makes me look smart because people don’t have a clue about what I do, and all they could tell me is – get a real job Louis.

After moving across the Pacific when I was 12 and then the Atlantic when I was 22, I am currently in my second year pursuing my M.S. in Applied Anthropology at the University of North Texas in Denton. Before coming to UNT, I’ve sold things in stores, helped people understand other languages, jumped out of planes carrying a M16, went from Beijing to Brest by train, and lived in five different countries.

I hope that by the time I get to meet you in person in Seattle, I will have already started my fieldwork on airport security (which is what I am going to present at this upcoming SfAA – no pat downs, I promise). When I leave the great institution of UNT, I plan to convince the business world that anthropologist does do work, and they should pay me for my labour. Thanks for reading my bio and I look forward to meeting you in person!

Megan Gorby

Email:  megangorby [at] my.unt.edu

Megan is a first year master’s student in the applied medical anthropology program at the University of North Texas and the public health program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.  She graduated from the University of Toledo in May 2010 with a B.A. in anthropology and a B.A. in English writing. Her current research interest include healthcare practice and experiences in relation to technical translation, language, and beliefs. She anticipates to graduate December 2013.

Jen Carroll

Jennifer Carroll is currently working towards her PhD in sociocultural anthropology at the University of Washington. She received her BA in anthropology from Reed College, and her MA in sociology and social anthropology from Central European University. Her current research explores subjectivity and the medicalization of addiction among IV drug users in Ukraine. She loves to cook, run, build bicycles, and collect old, Soviet cameras. She lives in Seattle, WA, but spends a good deal of time and money at Powell’s Books in Portland, OR.

Fiona Rowles

Fiona Rowles is an undergraduate at Western Washington University, majoring inBio-Cultural Anthropology and minoring in TESL. She is interested in medical anthropology, culture of the Indian subcontinent, and death studies. She plans on joining the Peace Corps after she graduates. Additionally, Fiona is a beekeeper and college radio DJ.