Who we are

Research Facilitation Service Staff

Susan Ivey

Director, Research Facilitation Service — University Libraries

Susan’s experience in academic libraries has centered on managing and preserving digital assets, particularly research data. As RFS Director, Susan leads in launching, managing, and developing the service. She engages with stakeholders and consults with researchers to better manage, describe, preserve, and make available university research data. Before this role, Susan acted as Research Data & Infrastructure Librarian. Prior to joining NC State, she was a Data Repository Content Analyst at Duke University Libraries and Digital Initiatives Librarian at the University of Mississippi. She received a MS in library and information science from UNC-Chapel Hill and a MA and a BA from NC State.

Andy Kurth

Research Storage Specialist and RFS Coordinator for the Office of Information Technology (OIT) — Shared Services, OIT

Andy has over 20 years of experience working within NC State’s Office of Information Technology. He was an integral part of the team that established the University’s Virtual Computing Laboratory (VCL) platform, an open-source implementation of a secure production-level technology for wide-area access to solutions based on real and virtualized computational, storage, network, and software resources. In 2020, Andy and Susan co-chaired the planning team that proposed the RFS and, in 2021, they co-chaired the task force that designed and implemented the now operational service. Andy is currently the Research Storage Specialist and acts as the OIT RFS Lead. Andy received a BS and a MBA from NC State.

Chris Blanton

Research Solutions Consultant— Shared Services, OIT

With a strong background in computational science and High-Performance Computing (HPC), Chris brings his skills in scientific software engineering, performance optimization, research facilitation, cloud computing, and other technical know-how to assist researchers in finding solutions to their computational research problems as a member of the RFS team. Before joining NC State, he served as a Research Faculty member at the Georgia Institute of Technology with the Partnership for an Advanced Computing Environment and was a member of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. Chris received a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Computational and Theoretical Chemistry from Syracuse University and a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from Francis Marion University (Florence, SC)

Moira Downey

Research Facilitator — University Libraries

With nearly 20 years of experience in academic libraries, Moira has a strong background in research data curation, institutional repository services, digital asset management, and library support for the research lifecycle. In her role as Research Facilitator, Moira helps researchers assess the computing and data requirements presented by their research and connects researchers with appropriate IT support. Before beginning as Research Facilitator at NC State, Moira worked as a Repository Services Analyst with Duke University Libraries and as a metadata analyst and cataloger at UNC-Chapel Hill. She holds an M.S. in library and information science and a B.A. in History from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Derek DeVries

Research Integration Consultant — University Libraries

From microbial ecology to mantis shrimp vision to the epigenetics of addiction, Derek’s love of research has taken him through six labs across four institutions before landing him in the world of research facilitation. He brings experience in synergizing public, private, and university computing resources; overcoming the unique hurdles of field-specific software/hardware across a wide range of disciplines; and leveraging HPC and cloud computing for research and education to the RFS team. Before joining NC State as a Research Integration Consultant, Derek worked as a Research Computing Support Specialist at William & Mary and as a Research Specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina. He received a B.S. in Biology from Hope College.

 

Research Facilitation Service Sponsorship and Oversight

  • RFS Executive Leadership
    • Greg Raschke, Senior Vice Provost and Director of Libraries
    • Dr. Marc Hoit, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
    • Dr. Mladen Vouk, Vice Chancellor for Research and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science
    • Jill Sexton, Associate Director for Digital & Organizational Strategy, NC State University Libraries
    • Dr. Eric Sills, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Shared Services, Office of Information Technology
  • RFS Advisory Group

    The RFS Advisory Group provides guidance and feedback to the RFS leadership on activities, research directions, and requirements that could impact both the current shape and scope of the service and expectations for future campus research computing and data support. Membership draws from across campus.

    Members on the RFS Advisory Group...

    • Represent a key stakeholder unit involved in research, computing, or data management for the University
    • Advocate to their respective home units on behalf of the RFS to facilitate cooperative alignment for strategic planning goals.
    • Convey and/or make the RFS aware of key changes and or initiatives of their unit, and how that might ultimately impact RFS planning and operations
    • Engage with other RFS Advisory Group members to help the RFS identify key needs and priorities.

    The RFS Advisory Group is comprised of:

    • Assistant Vice Chancellor for Shared Services, Office of Information Technology — permanent, ex officio
    • Associate Director for Digital & Organizational Strategy, University Libraries — permanent, ex officio
    • Director for Research Facilitation Service — permanent, ex officio
    • OIT’s RFS lead — permanent, ex officio
    • ORI Representative — permanent
    • College IT Liaisons — Rotation 
    • Chair of Research, Scholarship, and Creativity IT Committee
    • Key College Representatives (ADR or ADR’s discretion) — Rotation
  • Acknowledgements

    2020 Research Computing & Data Services Coordination Planning Team

    • Susan Ivey, co-chair (University Libraries, Digital Library Initiatives)
    • Andy Kurth, co-chair (Office of Information Technology, Research Computing)
    • Debbie Carraway (College of Sciences Information Technology)
    • Josh Gira (College of Natural Resources Information Technology)
    • Emily Griffith (Data Science Academy, College of Sciences)
    • Lamiyne Vaughn (Office of Information Technology, Security and Compliance)
    • Alyson Wilson (National Security and Special Research Initiatives)

    2021 RFS Design Task Force

    • Susan Ivey, co-chair (University Libraries, Digital Library Initiatives)
    • Andy Kurth, co-chair (Office of Information Technology, Research Computing)
    • Andy Baltzegar (Genomics Research Laboratory)
    • Chris Blanton (Office of Information Technology, Research Computing)
    • Emily Callihan (Office of Research and Innovation, Research Development)
    • Debbie Carraway (College of Sciences Information Technology)
    • Jamie Dennis (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Information Technology)
    • Moira Downey (University Libraries, Digital Library Initiatives)
    • Adria Snead (Office of Information Technology, Security and Compliance)
    • Lori Wachter (Laboratory for Analytic Sciences)

    Oversight Advisors

    • Jill Sexton, Associate Director for Digital & Organizational Strategy (University Libraries)
    • Eric Sills, Assistant Vice Chancellor (Office of Information Technology)

    Executive Sponsors

    • Marc Hoit, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
    • Greg Raschke, Senior Vice Provost and Director of Libraries
    • Mladen Vouk, Vice Chancellor for Research

    College of Sciences

    The RFS team thanks the College of Sciences’ leadership and administration for their support, collaboration and feedback throughout the service pilot in 2022.

  • Partnerships