Emily is University Librarian at Rochester Institute of Technology where she leads an innovative and creative team of library professionals committed to expanding access and furthering the teaching and research goals of the institute. Prior to joining RIT, she was Director of Digital Scholarship and Studio X at University of Rochester’s River Campus Libraries. Emily is an alum of both the Council on Libraries and Information Resources (CLIR) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and the EDUCAUSE/CLIR Leading Change Institute.
At heart, Emily is a teacher, learner, and problem solver: she finds joy in watching others learn and grow and helping them create a path to do so. This is true whether she is working with students, faculty, library staff, or colleagues across the university and beyond. Her career in higher-education started over twenty years ago when she taught her first literature courses at Montclair State University and subsequently Hunter College, CUNY and Bucknell University.
Throughout her career, Emily has been deeply invested in exploring innovative approaches to increasing information, digital, and data literacies. As principal investigator for The New York Data Carpentries Library Consortium (NYDCLC) Planning Grant, Emily worked with colleagues from Syracuse, Colgate, Cornell, and our local library councils to extend data literacy in central and western New York. The grant was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. From 2019–2024, she fostered educational and research advancements with augmented and virtual reality at Studio X, a hub for immersive technologies. In spring of 2024, she testified before the Copyright Office for Library of Congress to argue for the renewal and expansion of exemptions to copyright for text and data mining as part of the triennial review of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.
Her book, Reading Mistress Elizabeth Bourne: Marriage, Separation, and Legal Controversies, co-edited with Cristina Alfar, is an edition of selected correspondence related to the marriage of Elizabeth and Anthony Bourne, including Elizabeth Bourne’s petition to the Privy Council for a divorce from her husband (Routledge, March 2021).
Emily holds a doctorate in English from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, a masters in Shakespearean Studies from King’s College London, and a bachelors in Dramatic Literature, Theatre, and Playwriting, from the CUNY Baccalaureate Program. She is also a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Emily enjoys running and cycling, even though she does both slowly. Some highlights include, two New York City marathons (2011, 2015), the Hood to Coast Relay in her home state of Oregon (2013), the Vineman Half Ironman (2016), the Seneca 7 relay around Seneca Lake in the finger lakes region of New York (2022), and the two-day, 180-mile, Ride Across Wisconsin (2023). She loves exploring trails and greenways around Rochester on her bike, particularly if there is ice cream involved. Emily has two rescue pups and an absurd number of house plants.