Claire Brakel Packer

Career Coach

• Email: clairebrakelpacker@augustana.edu

Claire Brakel Packer is an experienced professional in adult education, student development, and community engagement. Claire values higher education as it changed her life by opening doors she didn't even know existed. She enjoys being a part of the career journeys of Augustana students as they learn more about who they are and how they want to live that out in the world. Claire also oversees PLEN.

Specializations: CORE

Specializations: Campus Ministries

Erin Elgin

Visiting Assistant Professor of Business Administration

• Phone: 309-794-7407
• Email: erinelgin@augustana.edu
• Office: Evald 307

Erin Elgin is a former small business owner and a long-time educator. She has co-produced feature-length films, edited novels and co-founded a premier fitness facility. She has taught a variety of core business, communication, and computing courses at The University of Iowa, Iowa Wesleyan University, Upper Iowa University, Kirkwood Community College and Southeastern Community College. Prior to receiving her MBA in Marketing and IT Management from The University of Connecticut, she used her BA in English from The University of Iowa to help write grants, quarterly reports and marketing communications for a $3.5 million federal grant at The University of Iowa.

She lives in Washington, Iowa with her husband, son, dog, and a dozen barn cats.

Jennifer L. Burnham

Professor of Geography, Edward Hamming Chair in Geography

• Phone: 309-794-7845
• Email: JenniferBurnham@augustana.edu
• Office: Swenson 201

Jennifer (Horwath) '97 Burnham began teaching at Augustana in 2006 after completing her M.S. at the University of Illinois and her Ph.D. at the University of Washington.

Her interests include soils, climate change, biogeography, physical geography and cartography. Her research in northwest Greenland focuses on soil organic carbon cycling and its affect on climate change, the effects of climate change on seabirds on remote Arctic islands, mercury contamination in arctic breeding birds, and geolocator technology to track bird migration.

My research

Specializations: Greenland, Climate change, Cartography, Soils, Arctic, Biogeography, Mercury pollution

Rebecca Arnold she/hers

Part-Time Assistant Professor of Public Health

• Email: rebeccaarnold@augustana.edu
• Office: Lindberg 217

Rebecca Arnold is a public health practitioner, primarily in a global context, with experience ranging from grassroots to national levels.

She works full time at the Martin Luther King Community Center in Rock Island. In addition to her role as Resource Development Manager, she is also one of the leads on a Collective Impact effort to improve economic opportunity, social equity and meaningful participation among citizens living in the West End of Rock Island.

Notable professional experience includes community health education as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar; senior program management with a multi-media entertainment-education initiative in Tanzania; and leading a USAID-funded capacity strengthening project with the government of Bangladesh while working for Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs.

Rebecca serves on the Board of a nonprofit that feeds children in Bangladesh and the Philippines (thrive-global.org), and is a Rock Island Rotarian. She lives in Rock Island with her 20-year-old son.

Specializations: Global public health, Social and behavior change, Strategic communication, Participatory research methods, Capacity strengthening

Evan Juarez

International Admissions Counselor

• Phone: 309-732-6127
• Email: evanjuarez@augustana.edu
• Office: Seminary 109

Specializations: Admissions

Jacob Grothjan

Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology

• Email: jacobgrothjan@augustana.edu

Dr. Jacob Grothjan’s academic interests are in the field of microbial ecology and based in the microscopic food-web community found within carnivorous pitcher plants. Specifically, he uses bioinformatics to help answer key questions about plant-bound organisms, including taxonomic identification, function and changes in microbial behavior over time.

When teaching, he emphasizes how interconnected different aspects of biology are, no doubt influenced by his research.

When he is not researching or teaching, you can usually find him online, but he also may be painting with acrylics, freshwater fishing or playing video games.

Katie Madel

Assistant Professor of Political Science

• Email: katiemadel@augustana.edu
• Office: Old Main 312

Katie Madel researches American politics and public policy in political science. From Southern Illinois originally, she received her B.A.s in English and Political Science from another small liberal arts school in Illinois. While her research interests dabble in areas such as gender, rhetoric, and education, her dissertation and passion project lies in studying the purpose of public policy. Outside of academia, Katie raises two dogs and three cats with her life partner, Vincent. In between devouring stories in any format (be it TV or books), she also fosters kittens through the local shelter and loves spending time outdoors.

Specializations: Public policy, Political communication

Matthew Kowalczyk

Part-Time Instructor of Music

• Email: matthewkowalczyk@augustana.edu

Matthew Kowalczyk is Second Bassoon, Orchestra Librarian, and a PLP Instructor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed regularly with other ensembles throughout the Midwest, such as the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Iowa, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, among others.

In addition to performing, teaching lessons, and coaching sectionals with the QCSO youth orchestras and school music classrooms in the Quad Cities, Matthew also started the Summer Bassoon Reed Seminar, aimed at teaching area school-aged students the beginner processes of bassoon reedmaking, a critical part of the craft of bassoon playing often overlooked in young bassoonists' education. Matthew's bassoon studio of school-aged students have enjoyed successes beyond their school ensembles, with admission into Iowa All-State ensembles and Solo Festival showcase, ILMEA, QCSYE membership, SEIBA, and acceptance into collegiate bassoon studios.

During his studies on his master's degree in bassoon performance, Matthew held the bassoon fellowship of the Fred Fox Graduate Wind Quintet at the University of Arizona, which included performing and competing throughout the country as a representative of UA, as well as a three-week international tour throughout 12 cities in China. Building upon his bachelor's degree with certification in music education from Illinois State University, Matthew additionally worked as the Graduate Coordinator of the UA Outreach Honor Band, a weekend wind ensemble for students in grades 5 through 9.

Matthew's bassoon teachers have included Michael Dicker, Dr. William Dietz, Diane Ryan, and Benjamin Coelho.