Who we are

With 20 years of experience in academic libraries, Moira has a strong background in research data curation, institutional repository services, digital asset management, and library support for the research lifecycle. As Director of the RFS, Moira consults with researchers while also contributing to the development of the strategic vision for the service and stewarding the campus relationships that are vital to the service's success. Moira has also served as the Research Facilitator with the RFS, helping to connect researchers with appropriate resources. Prior to her time at NC State, Moira worked as a Repository Services Analyst with Duke University Libraries and as a metadata analyst and cataloger at UNC-Chapel Hill. She holds an M.S. in library and information science and a B.A. in History from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Andy has over 20 years of experience working within NC State’s Office of Information Technology. He was an integral part of the team that established the University’s Virtual Computing Laboratory (VCL) platform, an open-source implementation of a secure production-level technology for wide-area access to solutions based on real and virtualized computational, storage, network, and software resources. In 2020, Andy and Susan co-chaired the planning team that proposed the RFS and, in 2021, they co-chaired the task force that designed and implemented the now operational service. Andy is currently the Research Storage Specialist and acts as the OIT RFS Lead. Andy received a BS and a MBA from NC State.

From microbial ecology to mantis shrimp vision to the epigenetics of addiction, Derek’s love of research has taken him through six labs across four institutions before landing him in the world of research facilitation. He brings experience in synergizing public, private, and university computing resources; overcoming the unique hurdles of field-specific software/hardware across a wide range of disciplines; and leveraging HPC and cloud computing for research and education to the RFS team. Before joining NC State as a Research Integration Consultant, Derek worked as a Research Computing Support Specialist at William & Mary and as a Research Specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina. He received a B.S. in Biology from Hope College.

Ford has a passion for helping researchers connect to powerful data and computational tools. During his graduate studies, he piloted workshop sessions for his colleagues in ecology and evolutionary biology before he transitioned to full-time research facilitation. Ford has expertise in synthesizing and communicating complex concepts to researchers in diverse fields through consultation, as well as via live and asynchronous workshops. He has previously worked as a Data Analysis Specialist in the Brandeis University Library. Ford received an M.S. in Biology from Indiana University and a B.S. in Biology from Hope College.

With an interest in data curation and management, and a penchant for research, Katya joins the RFS as the Libraries Fellow. In her role, Katya will be working on the Fellow’s initiative, “Maturing the Libraries’ Data Management Planning Service.” Before starting her position as the Libraries Fellow, Katya received an MS in Library and Information Science (MLIS) from the Syracuse University School of Information Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Civilizations of Greece and Rome from the University of Rochester.

Chris joined NC State in July 2021, bringing a strong background in computational science and High-Performance Computing (HPC) to the team. As the RFS’s first full time employee, Chris began assisting researchers with their computational workflows while also helping leadership design and develop the service from the ground up. Prior to joining NC State, Chris was employed at the Georgia Institute of Technology with the Partnership for an Advanced Computing Environment and at the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. Chris’s contributions have made a lasting impact on the RFS.