Meet the Staff
Jaclyn Wells, Director
Jaclyn received a Ph.D. in English (Rhetoric and Composition) from Purdue University in 2010. Her book, Partners in Literacy: A Writing Center Model for Civic Engagement (co-authored with Allen Brizee), describes a three-year engagement project involving the Purdue OWL and two adult literacy organizations in Lafayette, Indiana. Jaci has directed the UWC since 2012. She is SafeZone certified. You can read more about her on the Department of English website.
Fun Facts: To date, Jaclyn has never lost a game of Seinfeld trivia. Her corgi mix, Travis, is Instagram famous.
Brianna Carnley, Program Administrator
Bri graduated from UAB in April 2022. Her major was English with a concentration in creative writing and her minor was Philosophy. Before becoming the Program Administrator, she worked as a tutor for the UWC during her senior year. She is also a graduate student at UAB pursuing a Master’s of English.
Fun Facts: Her favorite musicians of all time are Florence and the Machine and Hozier; however, she’s been into rock and metal music more recently, specifically Måneskin, Ghost, Bad Omens, and Sleep Token.
Emmett Christolear, Adjunct Assistant Director
Emmett Christolear is a second-year graduate student. He earned his BA in English from UAB in 2015. He is a faculty member of the Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop and is a teaching fellow with Desert Island Supply Co. He has acted off-and-on as a session leader for the Alabama Scholastic Press Association and Space One Eleven. His writing has been published in Aura Literary Magazine, Screen Door Review, Rogue Agent, and Black Napkin Press. With a focus on poetry, his writing aims to celebrate the Southern Queer Experience. He is SafeZone certified.
Fun Facts: His dream closet would include a Demin jacket in every color and patterns like animal print, flames, and checkers. This closet would also have a custom-sized Converse-specific shoe shelf full of every color to match.
Lauren McInnis, Graduate Assistant Director
Lauren is a second-year graduate student of English. She received her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in psychology from UAB in 2021. After graduating, she took a gap year and worked at the public library in her hometown before returning to UAB for graduate school. Lauren’s concentration both in undergrad and graduate school has been on studying literature and is especially interested in 19th century British literature.
Fun Facts: Lauren loves making things. She crochets, knits, sews, tats (lace making), binds books, etc. If you give her the materials and the time, she can make something out of it.
Amber, Graduate Tutor
Amber is a 1st year master's student studying English/Creative Writing. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of West Alabama. She is a poet and editor and her work can be found in Quibble Lit. She's a teaching fellow with a Desert Island Supply Co. and a poetry reader, for Poetry is Currency. She hopes to have a career in publishing while having her own work published and eventually, she wants to teach on the college level. Amber enjoys writing poetry and fiction and reading mystery, contemporary and romance novels.
Fun Facts: Her favorite show is The Office US; she's seen it 17 times and counting. Her favorite things to read are anything by Ruth Ware or Fredrik Bachman. She loves to crochet and take walks with her dog Nala.
Anoushka, Undergraduate Tutor
Anoushka is a sophomore student majoring in English with a focus in literature. She plans to minor in either Japanese or art. One day, she hopes to find her footing as a sports journalist.
Fun Facts: She loves watching silly little cartoons (specifically, Avatar: the Last Airbender) and attending UAB basketball games.
Caitlyn, Undergraduate Tutor
Caitlyn is a current senior undergraduate majoring in Secondary Education with a concentration in English Language Arts with a minor in Literature. She intends to pursue a master's degree in English or Secondary Education after she graduates in April. She also hopes to teach high schoolers how meaningful and impactful English literature can be. When she is not reading for academics, Caitlyn attempts to read for fun outside of class and properly update her Goodreads.
Fun Facts: Her favorite book is Wuthering Heights. She loves Taylor Swift’s sister albums folklore and evermore. She also loves to bake (especially those chocolate-chip, pumpkin muffins from Trader Joe’s).
Chloe, Undergraduate Tutor
Chloe Tombo is a sophomore undergraduate student with a double major in English and Philosophy. She plans to go to law school with hopes of becoming an Immigration or Family lawyer. But she is still open to changes and has in mind of earning her masters and Ph.D. to become an English professor. She would love to teach a Russian literature class one day.
Fun Facts: In her free time, Chloe is usually making art with ideas that float around her head. She loves hiking and spending hours in bookstores looking at books (sometimes leaving with more than three or nothing) and making random jokes. She is a tea connoisseur, and her favorite tea is Earl Grey with a splash of oat milk.
Crys, Graduate Tutor
Crys McKissick is a first-year graduate student studying English Literature. She completed her undergrad at UAB in English with a concentration in Literature and minors in History and Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies. Prior to returning to school, she worked in a public library and taught reading intervention. She is passionate about literacy and the power of a story. After completing her MA she intends to pursue a MLIS with the goal of becoming an academic librarian. If she's not at school or hauling her children to their various activities, Crys knits compulsively, consumes too much coffee, and is diligently making her way through her towering TBR list.
Fun Facts: Her superpower is the ability to sleep basically anywhere at any time, including crowded public places. This is why she hasn't seen a movie or TV show in more years than she cares to admit. Also, she does costume sewing, primarily for ballet.
Faith, Undergraduate Tutor
Faith is a junior here at UAB; she is double majoring in English with a concentration in Literature and Marketing with a concentration in Retail Marketing. In the future she hopes to work in the publishing realm.
Fun Facts: In her free-time, Faith likes reading, watching Friends (for the millionth time), painting, playing Mario Kart, baking, listening to Taylor Swift, and trying not to kill her plants.
Kay, Adjunct Tutor
Kay Popple received their BA in English with a major in English Literature and minor in Creative Writing from UAB in 2020. They also received a Master's in Publishing and Creative Writing from City, University of London in 2022. They have a love for reading, especially classics, horror, and queer literature. They also have a passion for editing all kinds of writing.
Fun Facts: Kay spends most of their free time playing a certain award winning MMO, knitting, or taking care of their 16-year-old cat (pictures available on request).
Kaylie, Graduate Tutor
Kaylie is a first-year graduate student with a concentration in literature. Kaylie loves reading and writing. In the future, she hopes to earn a PhD to eventually become an English professor.
Fun Facts: Kaylie loves to spend her free time watching movies/tv shows, hanging out with her family, and listening to music or podcasts.
Kylie, Graduate Tutor
Kylie is a first-year graduate student and teaching assistant. She received her B.A. in English with a minor in political science from the University of South Alabama in 2019. After graduating, Kylie moved to Austin, Texas where she taught high school English Language Arts and Reading for two years. Life brought her back home to Alabama and she now lives in Birmingham with her husband, Nathaniel, and cat, Doodle. In her free time, she loves staying home and re-watching the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries or binging Bluey with her 2-year-old niece (and best friend), Ellie. Kylie hopes to teach English in a higher ed setting after receiving her M.A. and may even go for her Ph.D. some day!
Fun Facts: Kylie’s favorite book is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and she has a collection of different versions (including some in other languages). Other favorites include The Hobbit, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and anything by Jane Austen.
Lorice, Graduate Tutor
Lorice is an Adjunct English Instructor with UAB currently teaching Freshman Composition. At the same time, she is pursuing an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction. In the rare spare time that she has, Lorice enjoys creating children’s stories. She has self-published a few easy readers dedicated to young family members to encourage their reading habits and hopefully the habits of other young children.
Fun Facts: Even though Lorice is a firm believer that the book is always better than the movie, she still watches the Lord of the Rings trilogy and almost anything Jane Austen over and over again.
Madeline, Undergraduate Tutor
Madeline is a junior majoring in psychology. She has experience with APA and MLA format as well as creative writing. One of her favorite UAB experiences has been writing and presenting her first-place project about beauty standards in reality TV at the Spring 2022 Research Expo. She also read her short story and creative nonfiction on a Huntsville radio show called Sundial Writers Corner.
Fun Facts: She will always have a soft spot for YA Fantasy (the more high-concept, the better) and she wrote her own retelling of “The Little Mermaid” -- if the fairytale took place in Six of Crows’ Ketterdam. In her free time, you’ll probably find her writing, going to the gym, listening to music, or creating overly-complicated nail art.
Madison, Graduate Tutor
Madison Owens is a first-year graduate student pursing her MA in English. She recently graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a BA in English and a minor in Political Science. She hopes to eventually pursue her PhD, and one day become a professor.
Fun Facts: In her spare time, she enjoys reading, writing, and watching movies.
Maggie, Adjunct Tutor
Maggie has recently completed her master's in English at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (2023), as well as her BA in Literature (2021) with a minor in Linguistics. Her next goal is to obtain a MLIS and continue to work at the Foley Public Library, facilitating her love of reading to patrons and helping to foster the local community as a librarian. Outside of tutoring, Maggie loves writing, doodling, getting into niche fandoms, and writing fanfiction about said niche fandoms.
Fun Facts: Maggie knows all of the lyrics to songs in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, an operatic, techno-pop musical based on seventy pages from Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.
Marianee, Front Desk Attendant & Undergraduate Tutor
Marianee is a junior majoring in Secondary Education with a concentration in English and a minor in psychology. She plans to one day teach middle school English.
Fun Facts: In her free time Marianee likes to read poetry and attempts to write it as well. You can probably find her studying at the library with friends, watching K-dramas, or sleeping (a lot).
Mary Beth, Undergraduate Tutor
Mary Beth is a senior here at UAB double-majoring in English with concentration in literature as well as secondary education with a concentration in English language arts. After graduating, Mary Beth plans to teach high school English and coach varsity volleyball while pursuing a master's degree in English. In her down time, Mary Beth likes to write poems, read, and travel!
Fun Facts: Mary Beth has a basketball award named after her at her high school.
Maya, Graduate Tutor
Maya is a first-year graduate student in the Industrial Hygiene program. She received her BS in public health with a special interest in health communication from UAB in the spring of 2023. Passionate about health literacy and access, Maya plans to use her love of scientific communication to connect the findings from research labs to her community to improve health outcomes. At the writing center, Maya loves to see her students grow their scientific writing and personal statements.
Fun Facts: Maya loves to travel and has studied abroad in England and Wales. In her spare time, she loves to take up new “grandma” hobbies, like cross stitch, macrame, and attempting to bake sourdough bread. One of her ultimate goals is to convince her cats it’s fun to go outside and be adventure kitties.
Meridith, Adjunct Tutor
Meridith graduated from Berry College in 2019 where she received her B.A. in Creative Writing and English Literature. She received her M.A. in 2022 from UAB also in Creative Writing. She teaches First-Year Composition at UAB and is a staff editor for both of UAB's publications Birmingham Poetry Review and Nelle. Meridith loves all kinds of stories and hopes to one day work in publishing. Meridith is a Birmingham native, and you can find her around town with her dogs and complaining about the humidity. She also comes with lots of book recommendations.
Fun Facts: Meridith's favorite holiday is Halloween, she loves all things spooky and Disney, thoroughly enjoys gaming, reading, and playing any kind of sport. She loves her animals most of all which includes two dogs and two cats which she will gush about given any opportunity.
Mike, Graduate Tutor
Mike is a graduate student seeking his Master's in English. After receiving his MAEd from UAB in 2013, he served as the Education Director for Red Mountain Park for three years before teaching high school English and Film at Spring Valley School, where he worked primarily with dyslexic students. His passion for teaching is driven by a love of helping reluctant students find a gateway to understanding and enjoying all things English — from expressing themselves through writing to analyzing literature. He lives in Birmingham with his wife, Jessica, basset hounds Izzy and Zoe, and cats Lyle and Butterball.
Fun Facts: Mike has a completely useless talent of spelling words alphabetically (a-a-a-b-c-e-h-i-l-l-l-p-t-y).
Nora, Adjunct Tutor
Nora graduated from UAB in May 2020 and August 2022 earning both her bachelor’s and master's in English with a focus in professional writing and rhetoric, respectively. Nora has tutored at the UWC since 2018 and since graduating, teaches freshman composition at Jefferson State. She also works closely with The Connell School of Writing, teaching a critical essay at underserved high schools around the county and city. Nora is a Birmingham native and when she isn’t teaching, you can find her at the farmers market, a local coffee shop, or at home with her partner and two cats.
Fun Facts: In her free time, Nora loves to take long walks around Birmingham neighborhoods and look at old houses. She also loves spending the night in with her partner watching trashy reality TV.
Peyton, Undergraduate Tutor
Peyton is a sophomore undergraduate student majoring in Biomedical Sciences and pursuing a minor in history. She is currently on a pre-med track and pursuing a personalized honors path.
Fun Facts: Peyton spends her free time reading, working out, and when she’s home gardening with her mother.
Rebecca F., Adjunct Tutor
Rebecca Foushee graduated from UAB with a B.A. in English Literature and a Creative Writing minor in December 2018 and a M.A. in English in December 2020. Currently, she teaches First Year Composition at UAB. She has contributed poetry, a short story, and an essay to UAB’s Aura Literary Magazine.
Fun Facts: Rebecca is a comedy movie connoisseur and can quote many movies off the top of her head. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and her cat, Simba.
Rebecca H., Undergraduate Tutor
Rebecca is a junior presently pursuing an undergraduate degree at UAB majoring in Medical Sociology with a minor in Biology and Psychology on a Pre-PA track. After graduation, she hopes to attend PA school and become a productive member of society pursuing a career that will help others. Rebecca has ambitions to one day combine her love for healthcare and writing to partake in composing medical journals.
Fun Facts: Rebecca likes to spend her free time spoiling her dog as much as humanly possible. She is an avid Gilmore Girls lover as well as all things coffee and travel. Most days you will spot her on campus either hanging out with her friends or cramming for her next exam.
Sarah, Adjunct Tutor
Sarah received her B.A. in English from Auburn University and her M.A. in English from UAB. She teaches Freshman Composition at UAB, and she enjoys working with students from all writing disciplines.
Fun Facts: In her spare time, she likes reading fantasy novels, playing Super Smash Brothers, and spending time with her dog (Walter) and cat (Nerf).
Shannon, Adjunct Tutor
Shannon graduated from UAB with an M.A. in English in April 2019. Before UAB, she received her B.A. in English with a minor in French from the University of South Alabama. During her second year at UAB, she was the Co-Assistant Director of the Writing Center, and she absolutely loved her time spent working with students and her fellow tutors.
Fun Facts: Shannon has an extensive movie collection, but she is particularly interested in horror movies (especially those produced by A24). In her free time (and in non-pandemic circumstances), she loves live music, museums, and road trips.
Tanzin, Graduate Tutor
Tanzin is a first year graduate student in English at UAB. She received her M.A degree in English Language and Literature from International Islamic University Chittagong in Bangladesh. She has worked as a lecturer in the department of English in BGC Trust University Bangladesh and supervised the students with research interest. You can find her academic papers on Researchgate and Google Scholar. In Bangladesh, she directed her students in making social awareness documentaries on old age home, transgender and drug addiction. In the University Writing Center, she is eagerly waiting to tutor the students for their writing skill and topic development.
Fun Facts: Tanzin loves romantic and action movies and TV series. Game of Thrones, All of Us Are Dead, Persuasion and Purple Hearts are her most favorite. In her spare time she loves to walk alone with earbuds and cold coffee.
Tiaundra, Undergraduate Tutor
Tiaundra is a junior English major with a concentration in linguistics. She is currently learning French and wants to teach English as a second language internationally. She has tutored one person in English speaking so far but plans to do many more along with tutoring writing. She loves anything to do with languages and hopes to be a polyglot. She is very comfortable with English as a second language speakers (English speakers too!).
Fun Facts: She has an archive of random kpop knowledge readily available but only from before 2020. She lived in Alaska for 7 years. She has been to many concerts including Beyonce, Monsta X, NCT, and Sik-K.
Urnisha, Graduate Tutor
Urnisha is a second-year English Graduate student at UAB and also a GTA. She joined UAB last Fall and has been working in the Writing Center since then. Currently, she is also teaching an EH 101 class. Urnisha has worked as a senior academic research analyst in India where she supported international students and assisted them in improving their writing skills. She looks forward to helping more students in the future and enabling them to have outstanding academic accomplishments.
Fun Facts: Urnisha is obsessed with learning new things. Back in India, she taught herself to sing, dance, play harmonium, and draw landscapes. She would often take part in debate competitions, ex-tempos and had even worked in the theater once.