Lisa holds a Ph.D. in English Education, Curriculum and Instruction and is currently an Associate Professor and Chair of the Education Department at Roanoke College. She is the co-creator, on the folklore side, of the Dragon Research Collaborative, a transdisciplinary group focused on finding the connection between plant fossils and the origins of dragon folklore.
This rich collaborative work has led to many publications, professional and community presentations, dragon festivals, and a hybrid art-natural history exhibit. She has taken students abroad throughout the United Kingdom in pursuit of this research and has connected to colleagues there who are helping structure Lisa’s sabbatical plans to reside in Edinburgh for a semester, making it possible to travel throughout the UK documenting further fossil and folklore sites and delving more deeply into folklore archives in a land rich in dragons.
She also teaches Literacy in the Disciplines, the freshman writing series, and supervises student teachers in the field.