Consultants and Staff

CEW Consultants.

Our people are our greatest asset.  

Every consultant has different ways of writing, and every consultant provides different values––it is important to have different opinions. Overall, every consultant provides different values for my writing."

Meet Our Consultants

Check out the bios below to find a consultant who fits your needs - or just for fun!

Click here to learn more about our consulting community.

Photo of CEW consultant Alex S.

Alex S     Comparative Literature     Doctoral Student

Alexander is a doctoral student in the department of comparative literature. His research focuses on literary modernism and continental philosophy, including phenomenology, existentialism, and hermeneutics. His current project examines existential horror and weird fiction. Outside of academics, he spends much of his time trail running, hiking, and traveling.

Schedule an appointment with Alex.

Photograph of CEW consultant Allison Koh.

Allison K         English     Undergraduate Student

Allison is an undergraduate majoring in English. She is interested in translation, especially about English adaptations of Asian literature. Her experience as an international student helps her to engage with diversity in studies and communities. Outside her studies, she enjoys reading, music, writing, and playing her electric guitar. She is always excited to learn from others through consultations, training herself to expand her world.

Schedule an appointment with Allison. 

Botan.

Botan D     Philosophy     Doctoral Student

Botan studies philosophy, and his main research interests are the nature of agency and reasoning. He also studied psychology as an undergraduate. Some of his non-academic goals are to produce electronic music, learn to speak German, and become an amateur astronomer. 

The CEW celebrates translingualism. Botan is fluent in Turkish and happy to work with Turkish-speaking students.

Schedule an appointment with Botan

Brandon B.

Brandon B     History     Doctoral Student

An old boss once told Brandon that being able to write a good email would lead to easier jobs and less time unloading trucks. Brandon never forgot that advice. He no longer has that job and is now a PhD candidate in History studying how the possible decimation of beaver populations during the early fur trade era might have affected the Seneca in the 17th century. He also likes breakfast and woodworking.

Schedule an appointment with Brandon

picutre of writing consultant BreAnna.

BreAnna R     English     Doctoral Student 

BreAnna's research interests include African American literature, Black feminist thought, and contemplative pedagogy. She enjoys pilates, yoga, singing, reading, and biking in her free time. She co-hosts a writing group for graduate students of color every Sunday from 1pm-4pm.

BreAnna’s consulting style uses contemplative pedagogy which involves teaching mindfulness, reflection, creativity, and compassion when writing.     

Schedule an appointment with BreAnna

Picture of writing consultant Carissa.

Carissa D     English     Doctoral Student             

Carissa's research interests include 20th/21st century postconflict literature, trauma studies, postcolonial studies, and science fiction. She holds an MA in psychology from the University of Denver, and an MA in English from the University of Colorado Boulder.     

Schedule an appointment with Carissa

Ciara.

Ciara F     English     Doctoral Student

Ciara is a PhD student in UB's English department. Her interests vary from "pop" Shakespeare adaptations and appropriations to comic books, graphic novels, and cultural studies. In her free time, Ciara enjoys running, fangirling over any and all Marvel and DC content, and taking care of her three cats, Tasha, Bruce, and Peaches (pictured). 

Schedule an appointment with Ciara

Photo of writing consultant Duncan.

Duncan M     Engineering Education     Doctoral Student            

Duncan is a PhD candidate in Engineering Education, studying specifically how future engineering faculty consider learning and teaching. He enjoys reading fantasy novels, staying inside and looking at the snow with his cats, and strategy video games. Duncan also has been described by friends as a social butterfly, and has embraced that reputation.

Schedule an appointment with Duncan. 

emily a.

Emily A     Linguistics     Undergraduate Student

 I am a Linguistics undergraduate student. I have a huge interest in learning more about different cultures. I am also  taking Korean language classes and planning to study abroad in the future; I am fluent in all areas of Spanish as well. In my spare time I enjoy knitting, playing violin and ukulele, as well as baking sweet pastries and painting. I like reading, collecting rare coins from around the world and sleeping :) I have a Mini-Pin named Mia and lastly my favorite flowers are daisies.

The CEW celebrates translingualism. Emily is fluent in Spanish and happy to work with Spanish-speaking students.

Schedule an appointment with Emily

picture of writing center consultant Farrah.

Farrah G     Business Administration     Undergraduate Student            

Farrah is currently an undergraduate student studying business administration. She is currently working towards her goal in pursuing interior design within the hospitality industry. Her research interests include social justice, prison reform, educational policies, and more! When she is not busy, she likes to pursue art and writing in her free time. Her interests include mixed media artwork and design and sculpting, journaling, and finding new ways to create through various mediums.  Farrah is fully capable of understanding and interpreting the Arabic language and is intermediate in reading and writing. She is more than happy to assists those who are Arabic speaking students!

Schedule an appointment with Farrah. 

Photo of CEW contultant Florencia.

Florencia B     English     Doctoral Student

Florencia is a PhD student in UB's English literature program. Her research interests include Victorian literature, gender and ethnic studies, and how madness is depicted through different 19th century characters. In her free time, she likes to read historical fiction and fantasy books and watch old movies. Florencia is a native Spanish speaker and is happy to work with Spanish speaking students.

 

Photo of CEW consultant Grace P.

Grace P     History Education (UB Teach)     Undergraduate Student            

Grace is in the UBTeach program studying History Education. They are passionate about learning from diverse cultures, and hope to apply this to their education and future. Outside of school, they enjoy playing violin, watching history documentaries, and commissioning their art.

Schedule an appointment with Grace. 

Photo of CEW consultant Haley D.

Haley D     Communication     Undergraduate Student     

Haley is an undergraduate student majoring in communication with a minor in English. She is also enrolled in the Journalism Certification Program. She is passionate about helping writers discover their own voices and explore new ideas. In her spare time, Haley enjoys binge-watching shows, trying out new recipes and going on spontaneous adventures.

 

Schedule an appointment with Haley.

Picutre of CEW consultant Hassan.

Hassan D     English     Undergraduate Student

Hassan is an undergraduate student studying English through the UB Teach program. In his free time, Hassan enjoys reading, writing, watching movies, and recently picked up an interest in hiking.

 

Schedule an appointment with Hassan.

CEW consultant Jack.

Jack T     History     Undergraduate Student 

Jack is currently an undergraduate student studying history. He is particularly interested in the Medieval period. His other research interests range from theatre to semiotics. In his free time he enjoys crocheting, reading, and playing TTRPGs.

Schedule an appointment with Jack. 

Jake S.

Jake S     English     Doctoral Student

Jake's research interests include nationalism and national identities in twentieth-century British and Irish fiction, literature and social sciences, transnational literature relating to migration, and film studies. He enjoys photography, visiting museums, biking, and cooking.

Schedule an appointment with Jake

image of consultant.

Jermaline C   Law Student 

Hello fellow writers! My name is Jermaline and it is my pleasure to work with you and help you with your writing. I am a law school student who came to UB to learn the law and how to best practice it. A few months ago I graduated from St. John Fisher University located in Rochester NY, but originally, I am from Brooklyn, NY and I am Haitian American. 

Schedule an appointment with Jermaline.  

Photo of CEW consultant John.

John W     English     Undergraduate Student

John is currently an undergraduate student of English from Ithaca, N.Y. Currently, his academic interests include translation, linguistics, South American literature, and Russian literature. He is in awe of multilingual writers and enjoys working with writers from all backgrounds. In his free time, it is rumored that he keeps himself busy by reading, being a music nerd, and playing music with his friends. Most importantly, however, he takes it a day at a time. 

Schedule an appointment with John. 

Picture of CEW consultant Jewelina M.

Jewelina M     English     Undergraduate Student

Jewelina is an undergraduate student enrolled in the English/School Librarianship, BA/MS program. She is passionate about all things related to education and literature. During her free time, she enjoys reading and baking

Schedule an appointment with Jewelina.

Photo of CEW consultant Jillian.

Jillian A     Business Administration     Undergraduate Student

Jillian is currently an undergraduate student studying Business Administration. She has a special interest in entrepreneurship and runs a self-owned photography business, where she has a focus in equine photography. When she's not studying or snapping photos, Jillian is likely spending time with her pets (a horse, dog, and 3 cats), playing piano, reading, or watching the Buffalo Bills play.

Schedule an appointment with Jillian.

Photo of CEW consultant Kaitlyn L.

Kaitlyn L     English     Doctoral Student

Kaitlyn is a PhD student in English at UB. Her research interests revolve around 20th and 21st century speculative fiction, environmental criticism, and new materialism. She received her BA in English at Binghamton University. Outside of school, she enjoys to read, sing, do puzzles, and foster rescue dogs.

Schedule an appointment with Kaitlyn

picture of writing consultant Lianzi.

Lianzi (Lily) O     Education Leadership & Policy     Doctoral Student

Lily is currently focusing on her dissertation proposal and her research interests in education policy, racial discrimination, comparative studies, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, critical race theory, and queer theory. Writing is one of her passions. As a qualitative researcher, she enjoys observation and interaction with different people of diverse backgrounds. In the Writing Center, she loves to learn from others and seeks to sharpen her skills further. 

The CEW celebrates translingualism. Lily is fluent in Mandarin and is happy to work with Mandarin speaking writers.   

Schedule an appointment with Lily. 

Picture of consultant Maria A.

Maria A     Environmental Studies     Undergraduate Student

Maria is an undergraduate studying Environmental Sustainability as well as Global Gender & Sexuality Studies. Their research interests include environmental justice, feminist histories of science, and sustainable resilience in urban environments. In their spare time, Maria enjoys birdwatching, drinking tea, and learning about lesbian film and fashion history.

Schedule an appointment with Maria

Photo of CEW consultant Molly.

Molly M     English     Undergraduate Student

Molly is an undergraduate studying English at UB. She enjoys reading and writing about classic literature, science fiction, and ancient history/mythology. Outside of the writing center, Molly enjoys learning new recipes, making art, and playing with her three cats!

Schedule an appointment with Molly. 

 

Photo of CEW consultant Michaela Thorley.

Michaela T     Social Work     Master's Student 

Michaela is an MSW student who is passionate about the power and possibilities of language. She has taught writing at the college level and is particularly passionate about amplifying the voices of people impacted by the criminal justice system. In her free time, Michaela likes to travel, make art, eat good food, and paddle board.

Schedule an appointment with Michaela. 

 

Photo of CEW consultant Nehal.

Nehal V     Art History     Master's Student

Nehal is a first-year student in UB's Library and Information Science Master's program, having just recently graduated with his bachelor's in art history. They are especially interested in topics of information policy and of archiving and special collections. His hobbies include crochet, creative writing, playing video games, and reading whatever he can get his hands on. They're a huge fan of anything horror, mystery, or sci-fi, and enjoy taking walks along the harbor. 

Schedule an appointment with Nehal. 

Photo of CEW consultant Olivia Hobai.

Olivia H     Philosophy     Undergraduate Student

Olivia came to the University at Buffalo from Lexington, Massachusetts to study the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). Her other academic interests at the moment are the philosophy of science, the mind-body continuum, and the built environment. She enjoys all manners of writing, most of all when it is memorable.

Schedule an appointment with Olivia. 

Ryan B.

Ryan B     English     Doctoral Student

Ryan is a writer and musician from Florida. His current research explores the role of vocality in 20th-century intermedia, poetry, and experimental music. 

Email writing@buffalo.edu to book an appointment with Ryan.

Photo of CEW consultant Savani.

Savani W     Language Ed.+Multiculturalism (LAI)    Doctoral Student

Savani is a former teacher of English (as a second language) and an ELT lecturer from Sri Lanka. Her research interests revolve around errors of writing in second language learners. Apart from teaching, she is passionate about writing poetry and tries to write a bit herself.

Schedule an appointment with Savani. 

Sherika.

Sherika C     Social Psychology     Doctoral Student

Sherika holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, a master's degree in social work, and is now a doctoral student studying social psychology. Her research interests are loosely based on understanding how people are psychologically and personally impacted by sociohistorical factors. When Sherika is not working as a research lab manager, writing consultant, co-facilitator of a writing group for graduate students of color, and chair of the student committee at The Society for Personality and Social Psychology, she enjoys dancing, music, reading, swimming, yoga, and good laughs with great people. 

Make an appointment with Sherika.  

Spencer.

Spencer W     English     Doctoral Student

Spencer Williams is currently a PhD student in Poetics at UB. Her research interests include contemporary trans poetics, documentary poetics, queer theory, and film theory. She received her MFA in creative writing from Rutgers University-Newark. 

Schedule an appointment with Spencer

yueqiu z.

Yueqiu (QQ) Z     Learning and Instruction (LAI)     Doctoral Student

Yueqiu, who also goes by QQ, was born and raised in China. She is getting her doctoral degree in Education, with a research interest in the second language writer’s engagement with on-script feedback. She’s also working on research projects to enhance inclusion in higher-ed for international students. QQ has organized or been involved in programs and activities to advocate for international students and to enhance the quality of their experience at UB.  She craves road trips, and there are three must-go sites on her travel checklist: a museum, National State Parks, and an outdoor market. 

The CEW celebrates translingualism. QQ is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is happy to work with Mandarin Chinese-speaking students.  

Email writing@buffalo.edu to book an appointment with Yueqiu.

 

Photo of CEW consultant Zach.

Zachary S     Africana and American Studies     Doctoral Student 

Zach is a PhD candidate in the department of Africana and American studies. As an undergraduate, he studied Business Administration, Communication, and African American studies. His research interests are on transportation equity and social justice, looking at issues of race, class, gender and health as they intersect across the sphere of travel. His interests are teaching, writing, football-watching, spending time in nature, and playing with his toddler-baby.

Schedule an appointment with Zach.

CEW consultant Zi.

Zi D     Environmental Studies    Undergraduate Student

Zi is an undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Studio Arts. They hope to go into a career in higher education. In their free time, they like swimming, birdwatching, knitting, and hanging out with their cats. Their current main goal is to finally finish a knitting project.

Schedule an appointment with Zi. 

Meet Our Reception Staff

Photo of CEW consultant Abisha U.

Abisha U     Reception

Abisha is an undergraduate in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Her interest lies in chemistry and math. She enjoys reading books and watching movies. She is happy to be working at the Center of Writing.

Photo of reception staff Jiahui.

Jiahui C           Reception 

Jiahui is an undergraduate student in Business Administration and was born and raised in China. She likes to watch anime and play mobile games, and also enjoys spending time with friends. What brings the greatest satisfaction to her is being able to take her family on a freelance tour.

Photo of Mahzabin, front desk reception.

Mahzabin A          Reception     

Mahzabin is an undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Science department. She was born and raised in Bangladesh. She enjoys traveling and watching Indian movies. Her interest includes anything in medical and health science. She likes experiencing different programs and clubs that relate to medical and health science.  

Picture of Ndeye, reception staff.

Ndeye F          Reception

Ndeye is an undergraduate in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. She loves to use her math and engineering skills to solve life problems. She likes meeting new people and she is happy to work in the Writing Center. Outside school she likes fashion and enjoys cooking.

Photo of CEW staffmember Ray.

Ray M     Reception

Ray is an undergraduate double majoring in philosophy and cognitive science. They currently have academic interests in metaphysics and philosophy of mind. Separate from class, they love cats, antiquing and flying gliders. 

About Our Consulting Community

All of our consultants are students!  We employ undergraduate, MA level, and PhD level consultants. While our consultants come from a variety of disciplines and are at different stages of their academic journeys, they share one thing in common: they are passionate about their own development as writers, and they find working with hardworking, engaged fellow writers to be rewarding work. 

Undergraduate consultants take a semester-long preparation course for working at the Center in which they look at theories of learning and writing development, as well as practical strategies for helping writers.  

Many of our graduate consultants have experience and coursework related to teaching or help us to extend our disciplinary knowledge about writing.  

Our goal is for our CEW community to be as diverse as our student community. That means we love to hire students from different racial, ethnic, linguistic, national, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds.  Consultants who have experience overcoming adversity, coping with learning differences, studying outside of their native languages, add to our overall understanding of how to best support all UB writers. 

CEW consultants regularly share perspectives and learn new concepts and skills through our professional development program. Your feedback is also vitally important for our continuous improvement.