{"id":3147,"date":"2026-06-18T17:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/?page_id=3147"},"modified":"2026-08-25T10:45:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T14:45:01","slug":"the-riches-team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/?page_id=3147","title":{"rendered":"The RICHES Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meet the RICHES Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Connie L. Lester, Ph.D., RICHES Program Director, Associate Professor, Editor Florida Historical Quarterly<\/em><\/strong>
Connie L. Lester became Director of Regional Initiative for Collecting the History, Experiences & Stories (RICHES) of Florida in 2010, the year the program launched. RICHES is a public facing, interdisciplinary project of the Department of History that engages with scholars, students, and communities to present the history of Florida in digital archiving and exhibit formats and develop digital tools for historians. The program established three sites: RICHES https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu<\/a>, the project information and site, RICHES Mosaic Interface https:\/\/richesmi.cah.ucf.edu<\/a>, the interactive Omeka-based archival site, and https:\/\/bendingtowardjustice.cah.ucf.edu<\/a>, the interactive digital exhibit site.\u00a0 Lester\u2019s work as RICHES program director intersects with her position as editor of the Florida Historical Quarterly<\/em> (2005-present) and her teaching and research on the American South and economic and agricultural history.\u00a0 She is the author of Up from the Mudsills of Hell: The Farmers\u2019 Alliance, Populism, and Progressive Agriculture in Tennessee, 1870-1915<\/em> and associate editor of the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture<\/em>.\u00a0 She is a Fellow of the Agricultural History Society and the recipient of the Society\u2019s 2026 James C. Giesen Award for Excellence in Teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read a letter from the Director by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Geoffrey V. Cravero, Digital Archivist<\/strong>
An alumna of UCF, Geoffrey has earned a B.A. in History and an M.A. in History with a background in Public History. He also has experience creating and editing metadata for RICHES as a Graduate Research Assistant; Orange County Regional History Center as a Graduate Collections Management Intern; Winter Park Health Foundation\u2019s Service Learning Project as a Graduate Research Assistant; and as a producer and contributor on a series of podcasts for the UCF History Department. He joined RICHES in its infancy in January of 2011 through a graduate public history course. After graduating, he was hired as the project’s metadata editor and eventually advanced to the role of digital archivist. His responsibilities include conducting history harvests, community outreach, conducting and transcribing oral histories, training and mentoring students and volunteers, creating metadata, managing the archive, conducting workshops, training sessions, and presentations, assisting with grant writing, conference presentations, and collaborating with partner institutions and projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Kirk M. Lundblade, Ph.D., Applications Programmer<\/strong>
Dr. Lundblade earned his PhD from UCF’s Texts & Technology PhD program; he also has a masters in Technical Communication from Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Baylor University. His research focuses on the study of digital cultures, particularly those centered around digital historical games. As part of the RICHES team, he focuses on maintaining and developing the RICHES team’s suite of digital projects, exhibits, and tools while also taking an active hand in RICHES’ many research endeavors. You can view Dr. Lundblade’s CV work and materials on his personal site here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

R. Paul Wiegand Ph.D, Assistant Research Professor, IST<\/strong>
R. Paul Wiegand holds a research faculty position at the Institute for Simulation & Training at UCF. Dr. Wiegand’s research interests involve the application of coadaptive methods to general machine learning applications, as well as multiagent learning. For RICHES MI, he is interested in leveraging ideas from machine learning to make interest discovery mechanisms, such as the “Connections” feature, more intelligent and adaptive for users of the repository.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

RICHES Team Members, Volunteers and Students<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Austin, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sofie Barrett, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marissa Bellenger, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Levi Berry, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Griffin Bixler, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benjamin Bowles, Community Volunteer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Boye, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alyssa Broome-Webster, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel Burket, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Cabail, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frederic Caeyers, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Callahan, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kayla Campana, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lauren Campbell, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyler Campbell, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alyssa Caples, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron Carbone, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laura Cepero, Metadata Editor\/Digital Archivist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priscilla Cesar, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nitant Choksi, Computer Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Cole, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lehman Connolly, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geoffrey Cravero, Metadata Editor\/Digital Archivist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danielle Crosby, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karen Daniels, Community Volunteer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiram Davila, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry Davis, Ph.D., Vice-President of Adaptive Assessment Services<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diana Dizon, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Porsha Dossie, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethany Dickens, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elliana Dix, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kylee Encarnacion, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drew Fedorka, Program Specialist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julio Firpo, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron Fried, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janine Galindo, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian Garcia, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ella Gibson, Intern Statistics Modules<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathryn Girvan, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ava Goyeneche, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fon Gordon, Ph.D., Associate Professor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Green, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quintella Greene, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean Grubbs, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connie Harper, Senior Programmer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendra Hazen, Intern Education Modules<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikki Hearn, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Johnson, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chidanand Kanhai, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke Kaye, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karen Kelly, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anna Kephart, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua King, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany Kilpatrick, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Klements, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wesna Lalanne, Undergraduate Programmer for the Entity Extraction Seed Grant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Lancaster, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connie L. Lester, Ph.D., Program Director, Associate Professor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samantha Levy, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avery Lohman, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zachery Luke, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirk Lundblade, Senior Programmer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniela Lynum, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katherine Marra, Metadata Editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryan McDonough, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamie Desena McFarland, Program Specialist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethan Mitchum, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katarina Monroe, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samantha Moore, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jared Muha, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harper Norris, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Nystrom, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Oldham, Program Coordinator<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhiannon O\u2019Neil, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caryss O\u2019Neill, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Orleman, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuel Ortiz, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abigail Padfield, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eli Patterson, Senior Programmer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nathan Pelz, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim Marie Fischer Peters, Community Volunteer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Peterson, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clay Philips, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Plempel, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eamon Quinn, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sara Raffel, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramonita Ramirez, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autumn Reisz, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelsey Resh, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pauline Rivera, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany Rivera, Program Coordinator<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Rock, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexis Rodriguez, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharon Rodriguez, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laurel Ross, Community Volunteer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wyatt Russell, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sabrina Sawney, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Schneider, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noah Schramm, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca Schwandt, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dhanashree Dilip Shinde, Computer Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Sierra, Student Programmer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elio Singer, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin Smith, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Smith, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Snow, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mel Stanfill, Ph.D., Assistant Professor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Stoddard, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cole Taylor, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alejandra Montes De Oca Teijelo, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Thompson, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gonzalo Vaca, Ph.D. Candidate, Programmer for the Connections Seed Grant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R. Paul Wiegand, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, IST<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Williams, Student Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashley Wilt, RICHES Office Assistant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne Wojtyto, Community Volunteer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMH 3370, Fall 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            <\/strong>Mueez Amoo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Justin Devoe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Suzanne Diana<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Julie Fowlie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Paul Heinemann<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            David Levine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jarrod Loch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Angela McHugh<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Eric Plempel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ryan Woemer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kamron Woodbury<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMH 3370, Fall 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Neidy Blasini Reyes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Sebastian Borge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Christopher Boyer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ryan Bluie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Alexander Castro<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Thomas Clements<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Corbin Cooper<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Connor Farley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kyle Harrison<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Niamh Harrop<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Case Holsen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ryan Humm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kelly Kay<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Elyssa Koblasz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kristian Malooley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Madison Mitchell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Riley Murphy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Brandon Rogers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            William Rose<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Connor Smallwood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Justin Southwick<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Drew Thornton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMH 3370, Fall 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Robert Cribb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Daniel Gabriel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Paola Geary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Joshua Henderson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Brandon Kirk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jonathan Koeck<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kendra Medina<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Paul Bradley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Dalton Rosenfield<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Adrian Ruano<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ethan Scimeca<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Colton Wedge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMH 3370, Fall 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            <\/strong>Penelope Chow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ethan Delgado<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jose Flores Robles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ryan Hamil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Matthew Hammond<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Philip Iserino<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Sara Kanopka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Zackery Kubik<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Christopher Langer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Gally Louis Jeune<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Muskan Malkari<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ricardo Marquez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Logan Muehleman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Brandon Nemeth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Zoe Palmer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Simon Pfeifer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            William Phipps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Dillon Simmons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Hydeia Williams<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMH 3370, Fall 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            <\/strong>Cooper Banks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Logan Curtis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Edward Guadalupe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Joe Kabourek<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Cameron McGarth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Sarim Memon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jorn Oosting<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Mark Reigle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Daniel Rodriguez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Nicholas Rossetti<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Joshua Smiley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Christopher Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Catherine Springer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ethan Temple<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Vihan Yalamanchili<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMH 3370, Fall 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Gage Beehler<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Liesl Brunner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Dominick Burrell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Emerson Canete<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Charlotte Chufo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Michael Cole<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Zachery Duffield<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Avery Lohman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kevin Moreno Mendez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jansen Newbold<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Nathan Pelz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Brandon Roemer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Elizabeth Schropp<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Colin Vaccaro<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            James Warren<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMH 3370, Fall 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Stephanie Alvarez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Divya Anne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kenden Blye<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Theodore Crouch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Carlos Dieguez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Caleb Feuerbach<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Nathan Gregg<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jose Gutierrez-Galatas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Josh Heithaus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jan Hiemstra<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Skylar Johnston<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Paul Julian<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Tyler Kline<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Thomas Manoly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Tyler Rimes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Regis Simasek<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Summer Snow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Rachel Stillword<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Cary Tendrich<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Devon Willett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jay Wilson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMH 3370, Fall 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Liam Ambrose<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Giovanna Bertolucci<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Gabriel Burchett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Grant Casillas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            John Donaldson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kylee Dunn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Matthew Fedewa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ariel Galvan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ava Goyeneche<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Kushal Gulati<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Chidanand Kanhai<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Sarah Konat<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Matthew Kuhfuss<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jensen Lait<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Sean Larsen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            James Lopez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jack Love<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Edniel Marrero<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Luis Medina<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Angelo Mejas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jaim Molina-Osorio<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Evan Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Rilee Oakman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Joseph Rehmet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Juan Ruscica<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Wyatt Russell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Sebastian Suarez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jackson Waters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Alexander Wells<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meet the RICHES Team Connie L. Lester, Ph.D., RICHES Program Director, Associate Professor, Editor Florida Historical QuarterlyConnie L. Lester became Director of Regional Initiative for Collecting the History, Experiences & Stories (RICHES) of Florida in 2010, the year the program launched. RICHES is a public facing, interdisciplinary project of the Department of History that engages…","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3259,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3147","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3147"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3614,"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3147\/revisions\/3614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riches.cah.ucf.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}