Our People
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Meet the Team
The Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative (SPARC) has established an institutional hub to position the University of Minnesota’s faculty, staff, and students for innovative projects and global opportunities. The SPARC core staff is made up of individuals who are experienced in administratively complex and unique projects and programs. Our Advisory Board also plays a key role in SPARC activities.
Leadership Team
Amy Kircher, Dr.P.H., Co-Director
As a Co-Director of SPARC, Amy Kircher works with researchers and practitioners to establish new large-scale programs that catalyze collaboration, innovate for new discoveries, and deliver practical new solutions. In 2021, she also became the senior director of OVPR's external research strategy and initiatives, including engagement with national labs and security concerns, government and public institutions, corporate entities, and international bodies. Prior to coming to the University, Amy was an epidemiologist with the Department of Defense and has an extensive background in public health, disaster preparedness and response, homeland security, and supply chains. Amy received her PhD in public health at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
Katey Pelican, D.V.M., Ph.D., Co-Director
Katey Pelican, DVM, PhD was one of the founding Co-Directors of SPARC in 2019 and has led large-scale trans-disciplinary, multisectoral programs at UMN since she arrived in 2007. She was initially hired by the University to start an Ecosystem Health program at the College of Veterinary Medicine, a program that has now grown into a 16 member One Health Division focused on addressing local and global health challenges at the intersection of humans, animals and the changing environment. Since then, Dr. Pelican has overseen over $85 million implementing programs in the One Health realm. She was Principal Investigator of the USAID One Health Workforce Project (ceiling $63 million, UMN Prime) which supported university networks in Africa and Asia to build a global workforce to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats (>85 Universities in 16 countries total). Dr. Pelican has also developed, with USDA, FAO, CDC, WHO, and USAID, a suite of tools to help countries and agencies better manage and prevent One Health challenges. The OH-SMART toolkit, for example, has been implemented in 20 countries to support zoonotic disease, One Health, and Antimicrobial Resistance Action Planning as well as climate change disease risk and community impact planning. Dr. Pelican is currently running the University COVID Action Network (U-CAN) for SPARC, a program that mobilizes a coalition of willing volunteers from UMN and beyond to respond to requests for help and find solutions to the many challenges that are facing our university, communities, state, nation for better response, recovery and resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to UMN, Dr. Pelican was a wildlife veterinarian and researcher with the Smithsonian Institution and helped initiate an Environmental Change and Species Survival Initiative and lead the Smithsonian-wide Cryobanking initiative.
SPARC Team
Ian Allen, M.A., Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist
Ian manages monitoring & evaluation efforts for the University of Minnesota's Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative. His work is focused on developing and tracking performance indicators to support organizational learning, informed decision-making, and strategic planning. He also provides project management support for the SPARC CDC Laboratory Capacity Building project in Puerto Rico as well as evaluation support on a number of initiatives across the university. Previously, he worked as an M&E Specialist on the USAID One Health Workforce project, which supported university networks around the globe to build a global workforce aimed at preventing, detecting, and responding to infectious diseases. He is currently working on a PhD in the College of Education and Human Development.
Expertise: Program Evaluation, Indicator Development & Monitoring, Reporting
Ian Allen | allen595@umn.edu | @ian_k_allen
Cami Connell, M.P.P., Project Manager
Cami Connell is a Project Manager for SPARC and is responsible for partnering with sponsors and teams to ensure the successful completion of projects and proposals. She has expertise in project management methodologies and is skilled at customizing the approach and tools used to meet the needs of teams and stakeholders. Prior to coming to SPARC, Cami worked at Hennepin County leading and supporting multidisciplinary teams on business and strategic planning efforts for human services and public health programs. Cami holds a MPP from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and has her PMP certification.
Expertise: Project Management, Business and Strategic Planning
Cami Connell | conne295@umn.edu
Shelly Gustafson, Communications Specialist
Shelly Gustafson manages strategic communications and design efforts for the University of Minnesota’s Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative. Her work focuses on using narratives and information design to translate research into compelling and informative content for global initiatives. Her previous UMN work includes managing communications for the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, where she worked with researchers to craft the Fed Annual Report for USDA-NIFA and helped coordinate the First Kiss® apple launch along with other strategic initiatives for various University of Minnesota departments, centers and partners. She holds an BA in English from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA.
Expertise: Strategic Communication, Graphic Design, Marketing, Writing and Editing, Website Design and Content Management
Shelly Gustafson | mgustafs@umn.edu
Amanda Krueger, Office Coordinator
Amanda is the Office Coordinator and IT Support Specialist for the Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative. Her work is focused on facilitating SPARC connections with University of Minnesota contacts and industry groups. She coordinates and supports all SPARC events. Amanda is the main contact for all SPARC purchases and SPARC technical support. Contact Amanda if you have any questions about connecting with SPARC staff.
Expertise: Coordination, Purchasing, IT Support
Amanda Krueger | amandak@umn.edu
Brittany Mader, Finance Manager
Brittany Mader is the Finance Manager for the University of Minnesota's Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative. She has led the fiscal management of over $100M in sponsored funds and external sales, which includes partnerships with domestic and foreign universities, nonprofit organizations, industry partners, and federal and local government agencies. Her experience is in the pre and post-award management of proposals and funding from a multitude of government agencies, industry stakeholders, and nonprofit organizations utilizing a large range of funding mechanisms, including grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and external sales.
Brittany Mader | mader027@umn.edu
Stephen Streng, Research Development Strategist
Stephen Streng leads SPARC efforts to identify and evaluate research funding and partnership opportunities, and he helps UMN faculty, staff, and partners with long-term strategic planning as well as developing effective projects and proposals to secure opportunities. Prior to SPARC, Stephen performed similar duties for the UMN Food Protection and Defense Institute (FPDI), where he also engaged in research on cybersecurity risks in the food and agriculture industries. He continues to consult to FPDI on cybersecurity issues and is also engaged in UMN-wide efforts on securing research cyberinfrastructure. Stephen co-chairs the UMN Highly Restricted Data Standing Committee and is a 2022 National Science Foundation Trusted CI Open Science Cybersecurity Fellow.
Expertise: Competitive Intelligence and Analysis, Strategic Planning, Group Facilitation, Proposal Development, Science Writing and Editing
Stephen Streng | stephen@umn.edu
Darlene Toedter, Project Manager
Darlene Toedter is the Project Manager for the Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative. She leads IT projects on CoreSHIELD IT platform, including FoodSHIELD. She helps sponsors on IT platforms for cross collaboration between agencies, organizations, and laboratories toward a safe and secure food supply. Members can create workgroups to engage existing groups with document centers, on-line meetings, surveys, news feeds, calendars, and discussion forums. She helps with IT related functions on those platforms and ensures sponsors projects stay on proper time frame. She has an interest in cybersecurity and holds a MS in Security Technologies from the University of Minnesota.
Expertise: IT, Project Management
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