Presenters

Divina Allan has been a Grants Systems Business Analyst with the RSP ERA team for 2.5 years. In this role, she has supported various research administrative systems including RAMP, SFS, and now Workday. Prior to starting with RSP, Divina worked at Epic Systems for 5 years in a technical coordination position in the hosting division. She has two daughters, two dogs, and not enough time in the day.

Gina Barbosa is the Administrative Manager for the Agriculture Institute at UW-Madison Division of Extension, where she collaborates with institute leadership, faculty, and staff to oversee budgets, support educational programming, and manage outreach initiatives. Prior to joining UW Extension in July 2022, Gina served as the Business Operations Manager at UW-Madison's International Projects Office (IPO), where she spent nearly five years strengthening financial systems, developing budgeting tools, and supporting key programs across the International Division. Gina's known for her creative problem-solving and her ability to make even the most complex financial processes feel manageable—no fire-breathing dragons required.

Jennie Bell is the campus effort compliance manager for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at UW-Madison. She joined RSP in 2019 and is a certified research administrator with 20 years of experience in education administration across higher education, nonprofit, and government sectors.

Benjamin Biltz is a Business Analyst working with WEST Research Administration team.

Stefani Buster is UW-Madison's Director of Research Security and Export Control where she leads efforts to establish and manage a risk-based international trade controls program that ensures compliance with applicable state and federal regulations. Prior to her role at UW-Madison, Stefani held positions at several major research institutions, including Associate Director of Research Security at Purdue University and Audit Manager at Duke University. Stefani's leadership has been instrumental in reinforcing internal controls and expanding international trade compliance programs. Stefani came to central university management with over a decade of experience in the nuclear field where she managed administrative functions for NC State's nuclear engineering program and worked with a United Nations affiliated organization to promote multilateral efforts at nuclear nonproliferation. Stefani earned her JD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed degrees at the University of Montpellier, Monterey Institute of International Studies, Middlebury College in Paris, and Howard University.

Cameron Cook is the Head of Research Data & Digital Scholarship Strategy for the UW-Madison Libraries and manages a unit that includes Research Data Services, Public Access Service, MINDS@UW, and digital scholarship support. Her work provides leadership, strategy, and direction for the research data management, data sharing, and digital scholarship services through the Libraries. She enjoys building connections and relationships with campus communities to improve and support the day-to-day research data challenges as well as address the larger policy and ecosystem opportunities. She strives to take a people-centered and action-oriented approach to her work, aims to empower & be an advocate for her campus communities, a translator between stakeholders, an improver of systems, and a dreamer of opportunities.

Aaron Crandall is the Director of the Social Science Research Services (SSRS) in the College of Letters and Science and has been in research administration for over twenty years here at UW-Madison. In his current role, he manages 2 NIH-funded demography centers, 2 T32 training grant programs, and a portfolio of mostly NIH-funded grants for the social sciences. SSRS provided high quality research and other administrative services to a wide array of customers with the goal to limit the administrative burden on the researchers it supports.

Jenny Dahlberg is the Research Administration Director in the School of Veterinary Medicine with over 20 years of NIH training grant (T32) administration experience. She currently oversees research administration within the School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as serves as the primary administrator for all NIH T32s, Ks and F awards within the school. She has provided training grant guidance to both faculty directors and administrators on campus, as well as presented at regional National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) meetings on training grant administration. Jenny has assisted faculty with over twenty competitive training grant submissions, starting in 2001 while pursuing her B.S. in Natural Sciences from CALS. She later received her M.S. from the Comparative Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. In her role, Jenny and her team work with faculty and staff in the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to secure research support for both human and animal-health based research spanning several federal agencies (USDA, USGS, NIH, NSF, and DOD) and many different non-federal organizations. Jenny is currently the President of the Academic Staff Professionals Representation Organization (ASPRO) and has previously served on the Academic Staff Executive Committee at UW-Madison. She also currently serves as a representative for Research Administrators as a member of the Academic Staff Assembly.

Kris DeArmond is an Advanced Accountant on the Miscellaneous Federal Post Award team in Research & Sponsored Programs. She has been a part of the team since 2009, with a brief period on the DHHS/NIH team as well as time spent assisting the NSF/DOE team. Throw in a few Non-Federal awards and she has worked with a wide variety of sponsored projects. To make things more exciting, in 2012-13, she thought it would be interesting to learn more about cost share, so she joined the RSP Cost Share Working Group. Later, she took on the role of Cost Share Lead and continues that role today in conjunction with Post Award Accountant duties.

Alex Delvoye has been a pre- and post-award Research Administrator in the Mechanical Engineering Department for three years. She works with a wide variety of sponsors including NSF, DOD, DOE, USDA, NIH, national labs, and industry. Before working as a Research Administrator at UW, Alex had experience on the sponsor-side of grant management as the Clean Boats, Clean Waters and Lake Monitoring and Protection Network Grant Manager at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the State and Federal Library Grants Coordinator at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Irina Diaz is an experienced research and graduate funding administrator with a strong background in pre- and post-award research administration. Since joining UW-Madison in 2008, she has held diverse roles across academic units, gaining deep insight into the full lifecycle of grants and institutional funding processes. In her current role as Associate Director of Graduate Funding, Irina oversees graduate student funding programs, including annual allocations for graduate programs, awards competitions, and both internal and external fellowships. Irina holds a BA in Business Management from Edgewood University and an MS in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from UW-Madison. She is committed to advancing graduate education through the strategic management of graduate funding initiatives, cross-campus collaboration, and the continuous improvement of administrative practices.

Christopher E. East is a Senior Organizational Development Specialist at UW-Madison's Office of Human Resources, where he leads institution-wide career development initiatives that support the professional growth of over 26,000 staff. With more than two decades of experience in higher education and workforce development, Christopher has designed and facilitated innovative learning experiences, integrated digital career tools, and built strategic partnerships across K-12, technical colleges, and universities. His expertise spans career strategy planning, learning experience design, stakeholder engagement, and performance management. Prior to his current role, he served in multiple capacities at UW-Madison's SuccessWorks, where he led communications, assessment, and advising efforts to enhance student career readiness. Christopher holds a Master of Science in College Student Personnel from Western Illinois University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of the Pacific. He is an active presenter, trainer, and member of the National Career Development Association, and has contributed to campus governance and professional communities of practice focused on career development and talent acquisition.

Jenny Erickson has over 20 years of experience in community development with an emphasis on organizational and leadership development. In her role in the Office of Strategic Consulting, she is responsible for designing and coordinating a comprehensive program to build capacity across campus in organizational effectiveness and leadership skills.
Previously, Jenny served as a professor and community development educator with UW-Madison Division of Extension where she collaborated with community partners to identify educational needs, develop and implement research-based responses, and evaluate impacts. Specifically, she led a leadership development cohort program designed to empower, engage, and equip participants to make a positive change in their communities.
Jenny earned both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from UW-Madison.

Sandy Fowler started her career with the University in 1997 at University Housing as a Program Assistant training students how to use the point-of-sale system and the basics of cash handling. In 1999 she moved to the Department of Forest Ecology and Management assisting with almost all aspects of an academic and research department. The time spent in the department prepped her for a move to the CALS Research Division in 2006. This role sparked her curiosity about and to learn more about sponsored project management and how grants fit overall into the UW financial scene. In 2010, her position was moved to Business Services to facilitate sponsored project reviews into the spending and purchase processes. In January 2019, Sandy became an Assistant Dean and now leads a great team of accountants who provide sponsored project (post award), travel, payment, and purchasing, and policy guidance to CALS departmental staff and faculty. Her and her team are the liaisons between central campus areas and departments. They play a large part in helping faculty and staff understand and interpret federal, state, and UW policies and procedures that are intertwined into a business process.

Lauren Gee is the Research Administration and Development Manager for the Department of Medicine within the School of Medicine and Public Health. Lauren's team manages proposal development and submission and non-financial post-award management for 11 divisions. Lauren is passionate about crafting the “story” of the PI's project through the entire proposal package, and assisting interdisciplinary teams in developing engaging, winning proposals. She has a special interest in the science of team science and justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion work in teamed research. Lauren is a co-founder of the UW Madison Research Development Community of Practice.

Erin Goeldner has spent the past ten years navigating the world of Research Administration at UW-Madison, starting in a department role and now working in the Dean's office at the College of Engineering. Alongside the fantastic COE Research Services Team, she supports proposal submissions, helps streamline grant processes, and supports newcomers to Research Administration with hands-on training and plenty of encouragement. Before settling in Madison, Erin worked abroad in development and financial/operations management - proving that Excel really does travel well.
Outside of work, Erin spends her time as a dedicated soccer mom, happily cheering on her kids while perfecting the supportive clap.

Bob Gratzl is the Assistant Director of Contracts at RSP. He joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011 as a Grant and Contract Specialist for the RSP Contracts Team. He and his staff on the RSP Contracts Team negotiate and execute agreements and subagreements for sponsored research with a variety of sponsors, including federal, non-profit, for-profit and academic partners. Bob has presented at both regional and national NCURA meetings on a wide range of research topics.

With over a decade of experience as a Division I Athletics Strength Coach and two years at the Office of Strategic Consulting, John Graves brings a unique blend of insight to every initiative. Holding degrees in Psychology and Sociology, John combines a deep understanding of human behavior with a passion for organizational growth. As a certified Prosci Change Practitioner and a trained Technology of Participation Strategic Planning Practitioner, John has contributed to numerous strategic planning projects, helping teams align vision with action and drive meaningful change.

Shanon Hankin provides research development support for the College of Agricultural & Life Sciences. Services include tracking funding opportunities and comprehensive proposal coordination and support. Shanon works collaboratively with other research development offices across campus. Shanon has a background in research (MSc. Forest Ecology) and worked in Wisconsin State government for 6 years, serving farmers/growers in southwest Wisconsin (DATCP). She is a founding member of the UW Madison Research Development Community of Practice.

Melanie Hebl is the Assistant Director of Research Collaboration in the Sustainability Research Hub. She has almost 20 years of experience in research administration at UW-Madison. A natural connector, Melanie works with researchers and departments to identify new opportunities for collaboration and connection in sustainability research. She supports investigators in developing competitive proposals by building cohesive research teams, identifying funding opportunities, coordinating proposal development, and providing targeted resources. She enjoys designing and executing high-impact events, such as networking forums, ideation workshops, and faculty development sessions to catalyze collaboration, share knowledge, and support the UW's vibrant, interdisciplinary research community. As one of the founders of the UW's Research Development Community of Practice (CoP) she collaborates closely with research development professionals across campus to align efforts, share best practices, and strengthen institutional support for sustainability science.

S. Asra Husain is the Clinical Trial Team Lead at RSP. She has worked in research administration as a Contract and Agreements Negotiator since 2018, focusing on Clinical Trial Agreements since 2020. Her previous background includes policy research at the Carbone Cancer Center and work as a legislative aide in the Wisconsin State Legislature and the US Senate and Congress, focusing on health care issues.

Heather N. Inzalaco combines a background in environmental and biomedical sciences with over seven years of research development and administration experience to help UW-Madison teams develop cohesive, competitive proposals. Trained as an interdisciplinary biologist (M.S. Environmental Conservation; Ph.D. Comparative Biomedical Sciences), her role centers around applying her research perspectives to bridge scientific vision with administrative precision, integrating narrative strategy, budgeting, and compliance. She is passionate about building collaborative processes that make proposal preparation more transparent and less stressful for faculty and staff.

Angie Johnson is the Assistant Director of Research and Financial Services in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP). She oversees post-award grant administration and compliance, drawing on over 16 years of experience in research administration. Angie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Business and has presented at both regional and national NCURA meetings on topics related to research administration and leadership. She is also a published co-author in NCURA Magazine. Prior to joining UW-Madison, she spent a decade in Accounts Receivable at a printer company.

Carrie Jorgensen brings over eight years of experience as a departmental research administrator, with the past three years dedicated to supporting faculty in the Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care division within the Department of Medicine. Her expertise lies in full life-cycle award management, working with a range of federal sponsors, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD), as well as non-profit organizations such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the American Heart Association. In addition to her administrative work, Carrie is a mentor in the RED Mentoring Program and a member of the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA).

Tammy Kuhn Martin is the Assistant Dean for Research Administration in the College of Engineering. Tammy got her start in Research Administration in 2001 when she took a student hourly position as an Accountant Intern at Research & Sponsored Programs. She has a wealth of experience and expertise across all aspects of research administration spanning full-life-cycle grants, contract management and research compliance. She serves on a number of campus committees, is a member of the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), and has presented at their regional meetings. Tammy has a B.S. in Human Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sam Leinweber is a compliance manager within the Office of Research Policy and Integrity. He has over 10 years of experience in research compliance, including conflict of interest and research misconduct. As co-manager of the conflicts of interest office, he manages the collection and review of over 14,000 outside activities reports from across campus annually. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Madison ('09) and holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School ('13).

Stephanie LeRoy is a compliance manager within the Office of Research Policy and Integrity. She has over 10 years of experience in research compliance, including conflict of interest and research misconduct. As co-manager of the conflicts of interest office, she manages the collection and review of over 14,000 outside activities reports from across campus annually. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Madison ('11) and holds a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School ('14).

Kurt McMillen is a senior research administrator with over 15 years of experience advancing the research mission in higher education. At UW-Madison, he serves as Interim Associate Vice Chancellor and Director of Research and Sponsored Programs, where he provides strategic leadership across the full lifecycle of sponsored projects. Kurt is passionate about reducing administrative burden and developing innovative, faculty-centered solutions. He has led large-scale initiatives to modernize research administration and improve service delivery, always with a focus on collaboration, problem-solving, and empowering researchers and administrators. His work reflects a deep commitment to supporting discovery and scholarship at one of the nation's leading research institutions.

John Jay Miller started at UW-Madison in 2018 working in the Office of Strategic Consulting before moving to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research in 2022. John is responsible for the organization and management of UW's export control program. John has 14 years of experience in higher education and research compliance and prior to working in higher education practiced law for 20 years.

Wenhua Wu, Tyler Plekan, and Angie Montgomery are Research Administrators at the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), with a combined 39 years of experience. Alongside the usual Research Admin duties of managing proposals, grants, and contracts, each of them has had the unique opportunity to support an Antarctic field deployment. That hands-on experience has given them a better understanding of what it takes to make research happen in extreme environments—and has helped them become even more effective in supporting the SSEC research community.

Bridget Montour joined the ATP Research Admin team in April 2022 to lead the Workday Sponsored Billing and Accounts Receivable design. Prior to joining ATP, she worked in RSP since 2009 as a Post Award Accountant, PeopleSoft Business Analyst, NSF Data Analytics Audit Manager, and Revenue Management Team supervisor. Bridget served as a Grants, Contracts and Billing Product Advisory Group member on the Higher Education User Group (HEUG) for three years. She has had the opportunity to present many Sponsored Billing and Receivables sessions at HUEG Alliance conferences and NCURA National and Regional meetings over the past decade.

Jill Nagler (they/them) is a rad and passionate multi-functional research administrator, who has been working in the department of Computer Sciences/CDIS for 6 years. In addition to being a research admin nerd, they are also a freelance writer (Our Lives Magazine and Tone), a musician, a bibliophile, a cat enthusiast, an activist/organizer, and an avid builder of Legos. They live in Madison with their spouse and 2 cats. “You are not being difficult; you are being dimensional.”

Carrie Nelson is the Head of Scholarly Communication for the UW-Madison Libraries. In this role, she helps researchers and authors understand and navigate copyright issues, open access sharing of their work, and publishing agreements. She works on issues related to the future of scholarly publishing and recently spoke at a forum on “Library Leadership in Navigating Public Access Funder Mandates.”

Kim Nolet designs and implements faculty, staff, and student education across research administration topics and coaches research teams on grants startup and management. She was a research program manager in aging research for 20 years before transitioning to the Nursing Research and Sponsored Programs office.

Nick Novak has primary responsibility for advising and supporting pre and post award activities for faculty and staff in the OVCR research centers including acting as the Vice Chancellor's representative for submission of grant proposals, lifecycle grant administration, conflict-of-interest and acceptance of gifts. He also oversees centralized activities including the internal competition process, equity review and fellowship supplementation. He previously served as manager of the proposal team at Research and Sponsored Programs and as a grants manager for several non-profit organizations.

Sarah Pavao joined the Office of Training Grant Support in fall of 2024 after previously serving 17 years with the Department of Surgery in the School of Medicine and Public Health. During her time with Surgery, Sarah progressed through multiple roles with increasing responsibility including joining the research administration team in 2017 before moving into the Director of Surgery Sponsored Projects role in 2021. Sarah has over 8 years of experience with NIH Training and Fellowship Grants serving as a leader in the management of department-level programs and trainee research opportunities across the high school to postdoctoral research training career stages. Sarah completed her bachelor's degree at Edgewood College in 2016 in Organizational Behavior and Leadership

Wenhua Wu, Tyler Plekan, and Angie Montgomery are Research Administrators at the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), with a combined 39 years of experience. Alongside the usual Research Admin duties of managing proposals, grants, and contracts, each of them has had the unique opportunity to support an Antarctic field deployment. That hands-on experience has given them a better understanding of what it takes to make research happen in extreme environments—and has helped them become even more effective in supporting the SSEC research community.

Chelsie Propst serves as the interim manager for the NSF/DOE Team within the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) at UW-Madison. As a post-award accountant, she has experience in managing complex federal awards and interpreting intricate sponsor guidelines—particularly those from the Department of Energy. Chelsie is a Certified Research Administrator (CRA) and a proud UW-Madison alumna. She has shared her expertise through presentations at NCURA Region IV, previous RED Symposia, and other RED-hosted events.

Priya Rajani is a Business Analyst working with WEST Research Administration team.

Jennifer Ramsey joined the UW team in 2022 from the Florida State University, and she has 16 years of experience managing pre and post-award grants at the college and department level. Currently, they work with the Division of Infectious Disease in the Department of Medicine, Office of Research Services.

Kathryn Rasmussen is an Accountant II in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She focuses on purchasing capital equipment and other high dollar Purchase Orders, managing expense reimbursements, and being a Workday resource for her department. She works closely with faculty, staff, and students to monitor accounts and to provide guidance on the various campus policy and procedures.

Emma Reusch is a Research Administrative Specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Division of Extension, where she supports the Agriculture Institute and provides grant guidance across multiple Extension Institutes. With five years of experience in research administration, Emma specializes in translating complex policies and grant requirements into clear, actionable language, and creating practical tools and resources that make the dynamic world of funding less intimidating for PIs & staff. She recently developed and delivered training on pre-award submissions for state-wide staff & PIs, which inspired this presentation, “How to Train Your Dragons” - because sometimes research admin feels a lot like dragon-wrangling.

Larisa Roberts has worked in Research Administration for 10+ years, and has been at UW Madison for approximately 8 of those years. She recently joined in her current role as Research Administration Training Manager (or, as she likes to call it, "RATMan"), and is thrilled that she has the opportunity to use her creativity and passion for creating engaging learning spaces on the regular. In her spare time, she volunteers at the Wildlife In Need Center (about an hour east of Madison), where she adores taking care of possums, baby turtles, and the odd pelican or two.

Jennifer Rodis is the Director of Strategic Support, Research and Sponsored Programs. She has spent nearly two decades in research administration and developed an affinity for federal regulations and policies. Jennifer enjoys collaborative work, currently serving on the COGR Contracts and Grants Administration Committee and as a co-chair of the FDP Expanded Clearinghouse Subcommittee. When not working, Jennifer hangs out with her husband and their tuxedo cat.

Ryan Schryver is the UW-Madison Libraries' Public Access Service compliance lead and has nine years of experience helping the University's principal investigators and research administrators navigate federal public access to publications policy.

Chrystin Schultz is a Pre-Award Research Administrator for the Dean's office in the College of Engineering. She began her journey into research administration in 2019 as a post award accountant in Biomedical Engineering. Her role grew into full life-cycle research administrative duties in 2021, before joining the Research Services Team at the College of Engineering in 2023.

Christy Schulz oversees research and sponsored projects administration activities on behalf of SMPH. This involves coordination of monthly meetings for SMPH Research Administrators which includes 17 Clinical Departments, 10 Basic Science Departments, and 23 Institutes and Centers. She has been a research administrator for 24 years at UW.

Lisa Scott received her PhD from the Department of History at the University of Chicago in 2018. Her doctoral research focused on the development of political institutions in later medieval Central Europe. Dr. Scott also received an MAT in Secondary Social Studies from the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University in 2010, and has a continuing interest in pedagogy and post-secondary education. She has been a research administrator in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison since 2020. While serving in the Ob-Gyn department, she has enjoyed working with researchers examining aspects of women's health from a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives, as the department is home not only to clinicians, but also to basic scientists and social scientists. Dr. Scott is most proud of her accomplishments in developing new tracking and reporting tools, and in fostering a collaborative and supportive environment within the department.

Catherine Shults has worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 12 years and as a research administrator for the past 9. Most of that time her role has been full life cycle award management in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, but she has also worked in the Office of Sponsored Programs as a post-award accountant. Catherine's award portfolio currently includes NSF, DOE, DOD, NASA, and industry partners. One of her passions in this role has been the collaborative development of Excel-based tools to facilitate workflow and improve accuracy both in pre-award and post-award and sharing her knowledge through mentoring activities and formal presentations. She has been actively engaged in UW-Madison's research administration professional development program and serves as a peer mentor.

Liz Bivins-Smith is the Director of Research Financial Services within the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs. With over 20 years of experience in academia and the NIH, she leads the post-award portfolio teams, revenue management, and audit services. Liz holds a master's degree in microbiology and an MBA. She enjoys building high-performing teams, watching her son's soccer matches, and traveling abroad.

Zach Smith is an experienced Research Administrator Supervisor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He specializes in large-scale multi-faceted proposals and awards, intricate cost-sharing, proactive commitment management, tailored research development, and complex compliance issues. His primary interests involve systems thinking and refinement of processes and procedures via novel tool development. He is active in shared governance and is the previous Chair of the College of Engineering's Committee Advocating for Staff Interests (CASI), the Co-Chair of UW's Standing Budget Committee and an Academic Staff Assembly representative for Research Administrators. He hopes to empower staff and advocate for research administration whenever possible.

Annie Studer is currently a pre-award specialist working in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. Having 7 years' experience on the proposal team at RSP and another 1 year experience as a pre- and post-award department Research Administrator at ISyE in the College of Engineering. Serves as the District 515 representative in the Academic Staff Assembly. Has actively been involved in the creation and dissemination of campus wide trainings for 5 years. SME for both federal and non-federal sponsors and sponsor systems including DOJ, SAMHSA, proposalCENTRAL, and eRA Commons.

Mark Sweet has been working in research administration for over 25 years and has presented at several regional and national NCURA conferences. In addition, he is a co-chair of the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) Research Security Subcommittee. Mark served on the FDP eRA Committee for many years, including serving as its co-chair for several years. Prior to his time with RSP, Mark was a research specialist in the department of medicine.

Katalin Vinkler joined RSP in 2023 as a clinical trial agreement negotiator and collaborates across departments conducting clinical research. Prior to her current position, she provided support to the Division of Transplantation (Department of Surgery) as a regulatory specialist and later took the role of agreement and contract negotiator within the CALS Research Division. In her free time, she learns the ropes of companion gardening and spends time outdoors with her family.

Christine Wenc has worked with MDs and PhDs to develop and improve grant proposals, papers, books, and reports for more than 15 years. She has an MA in the history of science and an MA in creative writing. In 2024 she received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities program “Dangers and Opportunities of Technology.” She has presented at conferences in science and technology studies (STS), is affiliated with the Holtz Center for STS at UW-Madison, and has developed award-winning public projects in the history of science, technology, and medicine. Her book Funny Because It's True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire was published by Running Press in March 2025. She's been with the UW-Madison School of Education since 2022—first with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) and now the Office of Research and Scholarship.

Molly Wesling has over ten years of professional experience helping researchers develop and polish grant proposals for submission to federal and private funders. She has been senior editor at WCER/UW-Madison School of Education Office of Research and Scholarship since 2020 and previously worked with surgeon-scientists in the School of Medicine and Public Health's Department of Surgery. Dr. Wesling holds a PhD in Slavic languages and literatures.

Stephanie Wilbrand provides assistance to faculty, scientists and staff in both pre and post award as a Research Administrator for the Department of Neurological Surgery within the School of Medicine and Public Health. She began her journey at UW by joining the department over 12 years to build the clinical research program. Over the years, her role grew to support the department in all aspects of research (basic, clinical and translational), eventually adding the full research administration duties to her portfolio. She serves on a number of campus committees, as well as professional associations on regional, national and international level. She serves on the Activations Committee of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at NCURA Region IV and is a member-at-large of the NCURA Region IV Board.

Since 2009, Kedren Witkowski has held various roles on campus with the last 10 years focused on research administration. She has extensive experience in all aspects of pre-award research administration: from building budgets to proposal submission.

Wenhua Wu, Tyler Plekan, and Angie Montgomery are Research Administrators at the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), with a combined 39 years of experience. Alongside the usual Research Admin duties of managing proposals, grants, and contracts, each of them has had the unique opportunity to support an Antarctic field deployment. That hands-on experience has given them a better understanding of what it takes to make research happen in extreme environments—and has helped them become even more effective in supporting the SSEC research community.

Jenny Yuan is the Finance and Grant Administration Manager in SMPH's Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR) and manages the award life-cycle for the center. Jenny has been a UW-Madison employee for over 19 years and has held different positions at the Department, Center, Divisional, and Central Office levels in Finance/Accounting or Grant Administration. Jenny holds an MBA and will be completing her MPA in Spring 2026.

Andrea Zorbas has served in the manager role of the RSP Award Setup and Acceptance team for the past 2.5 years. In this role, she supports campus partners in accepting research funding into the university and setting up accounts for PI usage. Prior to this role, Andrea served for more than 17 years in pre-award and post-award management at the department and division levels of private and public higher institutions. She has two kids, two dogs, one cat, one horse, and catches up on sleep on weekends.

Research and Sponsored Programs

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

Announcements

10th Annual Symposium for Research Administrators

Thursday, November 13th, 2025 - Union South