Jacque Barmore
EVALUATION PROJECT ASSOCIATE AND OFFICE MANAGER
I graduated from UNL with a BA in Forensic Anthropology in the spring of 2021 and support the Evaluation Project Managers in data analysis and report compilation. As of the summer of 2022, I also help manage both the undergraduate student workers' tasks and general office necessities.
Expertise
Get to know Jacque!
What brought you to MERC?
I was job hunting and applying anywhere I thought I either had the skills for or could learn the necessary skills. MERC was one of those places where I thought I could do the job after a steep learning curve, but I was reasonably confident that I could tackle that learning curve because I'd recently passed calculus with something like a B+ when I'd had no math classes in the six years preceding that course. Luckily for me, Alian agreed that she could teach me the statistics side of things since I came pre-programmed with some solid problem-solving skills (as well as training in both English Literature and Anthropology).
What accomplishments are you most proud of so far?
We had a research-oriented client whose data was something of a nightmare and they were having trouble understanding the raw data and charts that they had previously asked for. I ended up creating two Excel spreadsheets (one for more charts and the other for their data) that did things I'd never done before for a deliverable. This primarily consisted of presenting the data in tabs rather than a report (because the client wanted to do their own analysis), but it also included a brief explanation for how they could analyze write-in responses in Excel (because I lacked the expertise in industrial-grade chemicals to do it for them). I was told later that the client had appreciated the spreadsheets and, as far as I know, the project was successfully closed out despite the many hurdles.
What topic could you talk enthusiastically about for hours?
Work-related: Data Visualization and Report Formatting (the two are, perhaps surprisingly, closely related). Especially the use of colors. I think it is a holdover from all the art and design courses I took in both high school and college.
Not work related: Storytelling in its various forms, particularly books, D&D, and writing.
- Books: I mostly read fantasy, such as the books in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere and Marie Brennan’s The Memoirs of Lady Trent, but I also enjoy sci-fi, thrillers, and mysteries.
- D&D: I view TTRPGs as a collaborative storytelling effort when you get the right people together.
- Writing: While genre fiction is more my jam, I have received more compliments from teachers and professors for my poetry endeavors rather than my prose.