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STAFF

MEET THE STAFF OF

 SURVIVE & THRIVE

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DR. NANCY SNOW
PODCAST CREATOR
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DR. NANCY SNOW
PODCAST CREATOR

DR. NANCY SNOW is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing at the University of Oklahoma. She was co-Director of The Self, Motivation & Virtue Project, a $2.6 million research initiative on the moral self, and is currently the Principal Investigator of The Self, Virtue, and Public Life Project, a $3.9 million research initiative.  She is the author of Virtue as Social Intelligence: An Empirically Grounded Theory (Routledge, 2010) and over forty-five papers on virtue and ethics more broadly. Another book, Understanding Virtue: Theory and Measurement, co-authored with Jennifer Cole Wright and Michael T. Warren, will be published by Oxford University Press this November. She has also edited or co-edited six volumes. She is currently revising a monograph on hope and writing one on virtue ethics and virtue epistemology.  

KIMBERLY BURK
PODCAST MANAGER
KIMBERLY BURK
PODCAST MANAGER
KIMBERLY BURK studied journalism at Missouri Western State University and West Texas A&M University. She worked in communications in Missouri and Texas before joining The Oklahoman as an editor in 2002. Since 2018 she has been a freelance writer and the publicist for the Arcadia Round Barn, a historical museum on historical Route 66. In August of 2019, she became an editor for Gaylord News, a student-produced news service in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. She volunteers with the Coltrane Group, a nonprofit with a mission of preserving and revitalizing the 13 remaining historically black towns in Oklahoma.
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BROOKLYN WAYLAND
PODCAST HOST
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BROOKLYN WAYLAND
PODCAST HOST
BROOKLYN WAYLAND is a reporter currently attending the University of Oklahoma where she studies journalism and political science. Most recently, she was a politics fellow at HuffPost. Previously, she worked as an intern for a regional newspaper, The Shawnee News Star. In the spring of 2020, she was awarded a fellowship in Washington D.C. with Gaylord News where she covered the hill, political campaigns, tribal affairs and regional reporting for Oklahoma. While in D.C., Brooklyn also co-hosted a podcast series about reporting behind the scenes of the Nation's Capital. Also with Gaylord News, she had the opportunity to work on a project telling the personal stories of Native Americans and their exile to Indian Country.
KARALEE LANGFORD
ADMINISTRATOR AND HOST
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KARALEE LANGFORD
ADMINISTRATOR AND HOST

KARALEE LANGFORD is a Gaylord journalism student at the University of Oklahoma. She completed her associate’s degree in journalism at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC). There, she began her journalism career as a writer for the OCCC student newspaper, the Pioneer. Eventually, she worked her way up to become editor of the Pioneer her senior year. While editor, her team won first place for the best newspaper at the Society of Professional Journalism awards for a 20-page issue called “The Female Experience.” After graduating from OCCC, KaraLee transferred to OU and spent three months in Washington D.C. writing and reporting for Oklahoma media outlets. While in D.C. she hosted a podcast about what happens behind the scenes of the Nations Capitol and how journalists develop stories. KaraLee enjoys the fast-paced life of a journalist and prefers writing and reporting in-depth and investigative stories.  

MIRANDA VONDALE FOSTER
DESIGN AND AUDIO ENGINEER
MIRANDA VONDALE FOSTER
DESIGN AND AUDIO ENGINEER
MIRANDA VONDALE FOSTER is a senior Gaylord journalism student at the University of Oklahoma. Miranda began her major in journalism at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC), where she was hired as a staff writer and a podcast creator and editor for the award-winning student newspaper, The Pioneer. There, Miranda and a colleague took over the Pioneer Podcast, where they created content twice a week from January 2019 through August of 2019. After The Pioneer Podcast, Miranda co-created another podcast/video series called The Let Me Know Show with two of her friends to continue doing what she fell in love with at The Pioneer. After spending a year at OCCC, Miranda transferred to The University of Oklahoma to work towards her bachelor’s in journalism. Miranda fell in love with in-depth reporting, investigative stories, and creating podcasts during her time at OCCC and OU. 
ZHIXUAN FAN
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
ZHIXUAN FAN
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
ZHIXUAN FAN is an Online Journalism major senior from China. She transferred to the University of Oklahoma in 2019 and started her journalism study there. Working as a camp assistant for OU Confucius Institute, Fan aims to use her multimedia and editing skills to tell more stories about multicultural experience and diversity in this varying world. 
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JESSIE CHRISTOPHER SMITH
RESEARCHER AND WRITER
ZHIXUAN FAN is an Online Journalism major senior from China. She transferred to the University of Oklahoma in 2019 and started her journalism study there. Working as a camp assistant for OU Confucius Institute, Fan aims to use her multimedia and editing skills to tell more stories about multicultural experience and diversity in this varying world. 
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JESSIE CHRISTOPHER SMITH
RESEARCHER AND WRITER
JESSIE CHRISTOPHER SMITH is a journalism major at the University of Oklahoma, with minors in Religious Studies and English, Writing. He was co-founder and editor of Rap Chronicle, an online music magazine that published between October 2014 and February 2017. His other bylines can be found in NonDoc, The Norman Transcript, and OU Daily. Jessie has worked his way through college as a crew member/server at Norman restaurants. He is reporting in Washington D.C. during the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Gaylord News. 
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