Education

I was the Director of Education for the Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual & Gender Health and held the Joycelyn Elders Endowed Chair in Sexual Health Education for 5.5 years and I am passionate about educating our students, clients, and the general public about sexuality and sexual health. I spent a decade and a half before that at University of Kentucky and Indiana University teaching in the areas of sex education, sexual health, healthy relationships, LGBTQIA+ health, women’s health, health behavior theory, research methods, and statistics, so I have a lot of experience teaching at the collegiate level. In my role at University of Minnesota Medical School, I was the Course Director for our sexual and gender health curriculum and the elective clerkship courses in LGBTQ+ Health (FMCH 7527) and Sexual Problems in Clinical Practice (FMCH 7585).

Additionally, I spent a lot of time building our graduate program at University of Minnesota as the Director of Graduate Studies for our Master’s in Sexual Health and three stackable graduate certificates in Sex Education, Sex Therapy, and Transgender and Gender Diverse Health. Our program provides the core knowledge area training necessary to work toward the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) certification as a sex educator, counselor, or therapist. We are an AASECT-approved CE provider and this program is entirely online so it caters to those looking to gain this knowledge in areas where access is limited or while working a full time job.

I believe it is our responsibility to translate the knowledge we have as researchers, educators, and clinicians to the public. Not everyone has access, time, resources, etc. to be able to take graduate courses or enroll in graduate school and engage in research. Therefore, it is critical that we digest the information that we have to the public in as many different ways as possible. One way that we do this is through Sex Science Happy Hour, a bi-monthly event series where I interview experts and we take audience questions in an approachable environment. We rotate through different breweries in the Twin Cities, with Fulton, Urban Growler, and Sociable Cider Werks as our main partners in this venture.