Oak Ritchie

What was your educational and professional background before coming to SILS?

I had gotten my BA in Media Arts from USC - Columbia. I was a documentary filmmaker and blogger, working on projects for local to international clients.

How has your career progressed since you graduated SILS?

My current position places me at the center of the information and communications systems for the centers I serve. Through the skills learned at SILS, I have been working to integrate the disparate data sets related to the centers into a coherent system for systems analysis and evaluation, project management, and data visualization. The coherence gained through these developments continues to empower collaborators and stakeholders to explore meaningful ways for the research they conduct to be presented to various audiences.

In your current employment, what are your job duties and responsibilities?

I currently manage projects and execute tasks in 6 domains:

1. Web - design, maintenance, & content management

2. Design - publicity materials, presentations, & visualizations

3. Data - digital asset management, analysis/tracking, archiving, retrieval, & entry

4. Publicity - news monitoring, newsletter development & distribution, press releases

5. Social Media - network growth & engagement, strategy, analysis/tracking, posting

What projects have gotten you most excited and/or what accomplishments have made you the proudest?

The products that have made me the proudest thus far have been:

1. Identifying and making operational a project management system that currently all collaborators on projects use

2. Complete redesign of the websites for both the UNC Center for Bioethics and UNC Center for Health Equity Research, as well as the implementation of a search function on each site for users to find specific publications.

There are a few projects in development that I'm excited about, and am willing to chat about more, but succinct descriptions aren't yet available.

What were some of your best experiences at SILS??

Problem solving in Systems Analysis or Organization of Information.

How did your time at SILS prepare you for the future?

I learned how to approach systems breakdowns in different ways, and to think of the users specifically with their own needs and use cases, which applies a great deal to bosses.

What inspires or motivates you?

Contributing to the advancement of civilization through collaboration with others.