Reid Boehm

University of Houston Libraries welcomes Reid Boehm, PhD as the new research data management librarian.

Please describe your role at UH Libraries and talk about some of your professional goals.

I will be consulting with, and developing workshops for, researchers, faculty, staff and students on issues related to data and research material management throughout the research lifecycle. This might include advising on data management and/or sharing plans, documentation of data, managing data within collaborations, finding outlets for sharing, and preparing data for sharing, archiving, or preservation. I will also be working to facilitate use of the UH Data Repository. I am really excited to be working in such an energetic and diverse environment that is UH and my sincere hope is to be an advocate for researchers from all disciplines and a support for my fellow librarians to fulfill data literacy and data management needs as we focus on goals of 50 in 5 and beyond.

Please share a bit about your background and interests. How do these inspire and shape your approach as a librarian?

I have a PhD in Information Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where I studied information equity and methods for evaluating government agency information on complex problems such as Colony Collapse Disorder and Livestock Identification for all citizens. I found my love for data management and curation as I worked with a NASA data archive for a summer and then later when I did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Notre Dame Library. As a child of a professor, I grew up surrounded by research and scholarship. I started my career in ceramic arts and massage therapy before going back to grad school for my library degrees. I think these different paths bring a level of creativity, sensitivity, and care to my approach. The ability to listen actively to an individual or a group and draw important connections is something I try to foster in my work. I love hearing and learning about the things people study and I think my love of inquiry of all kinds stems from that early exposure to many different disciplines and ways of thinking.

What is your first impression of the University?

The atmosphere on campus is very open and also very energetic. I feel at home and welcome here. I love how much green space and public art there is here too.

What is your favorite hobby?

I love to do yoga. I do it most every day at home mostly because I love how it makes me feel and how it strengthens and stretches my whole body and my mind.