The SOCKS team added five new members in September 2025, expanding its capabilities on the Capacity, Social, and Education & Workforce teams. The new members include:

Danny Benett (top left): Danny is a PhD student in the Computational Story Lab. His interests include analyzing folklore as data, understanding place in narrative, and considering data as culturally constructed artifacts. He joins SOCKS as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) with the Capacity Team.

Brennan Dell, PhD (top right): Brennan is an assistant professor of Linguistics at the University of Vermont. He has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where his dissertation focused on fine-grained error analysis methods for machine translation. He has a BS from Rochester Institute of Technology with a major in Computer Science and a minor in German. His research with SOCKS overlaps with both the Capacity and Social Teams.

Jeremy Elliott (bottom left): Jeremy is a PhD student in Complex Systems & Data Science, working under the advisement of Professor Trisha Shrum in the department of Community Development & Applied Economics. His current research interests include modeling social systems and understanding public policy development using big data, especially sustainability policy. Jeremy joins SOCKS as a GRA for the Social Team.

Maggie Jones (bottom center): Maggie joins SOCKS as the Education Outreach Coordinator the Center for Workforce and Professional Development. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Plant Biology and Conservation Biology from Michigan State University.

Nikole Thayer (bottom right): Nikole is the new Executive Director of the Center for Workforce & Professional Education. With more than 14 years of experience in organizational development, human resources, and workforce strategy, she specializes in creating innovative programs that prepare individuals for high-demand careers while supporting employers in building strong, future-ready workforces. She holds a Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and is passionate about advancing equity, access, and opportunity in workforce development.

Please welcome the newest members of the SOCKS Team!