Christy Tweedy knows as well as anyone all the intricacies that go into making sure undergraduate students have access to the opportunities offered at the University of Georgia. As Odum School of Ecology’s academic program assistant, Tweedy is key to the many logistics that keep undergraduate programs running smoothly.
Tweedy’s role involves various behind-the-scenes duties with Odum’s undergraduate programs. She collaborates with the Office of Global Engagement and the Office of Instruction’s Domestic Field Study programs to provide experiential learning opportunities for ecology students seeking to expand their education outside of the classroom. These include the Tropical Ecology Program in Costa Rica and the Field Program in Ecological Problem Solving, which travels across the state studying the ACF River Basin including the Apalachicola River, Chattahoochee River and Flint River. Tweedy supports Odum’s study away programs through her work on program proposals, budgeting, enrollment tracking, prepping contracts, coordinating logistics and more.
She also oversees the full lifecycle of Odum’s undergraduate scholarships, which have recently seen an increase in both funding and the number of student applications.
“I really like being organized, and I enjoy supporting faculty and staff ideas. I understand that to implement great initiatives and programs, you need structure, data collection and organization,” Tweedy said. “That way everyone on board knows what’s going on and has access to information to best collaborate. I really like providing that structure, and I feel like I have a lot of encouragement in Odum to help build that.”
Tweedy has no problem hopping into Excel and working with numbers — and she jams out to loud music while doing it.
On a given day, she may be working with that data, meeting with campus partners and checking out venues for events or attending seminars. She also stays tapped into various feedback loops, be it from students, faculty or the business office.
“I’m constantly seeking out information from others, and I feel I adapt pretty well to different communication styles,” Tweedy said. “It’s challenging, for sure, but I have the skillset for it and enjoy helping make things less overwhelming as possible for everyone involved.”
During the summer, Tweedy also provides outreach and recruitment for the Odum School at orientation, meeting with incoming students. On the opposite end of a student’s time at UGA, Tweedy also coordinates Odum’s convocation for the graduating class.
“I feel like this position is a good mixture of front-facing outreach and behind-the-scenes support,” Tweedy said.
One place students can be sure to catch Tweedy is at Odum’s Waffle Wednesdays.
“It’s one of the many community-building opportunities for students, faculty and staff to come together and connect,” Tweedy said.
Tweedy came to Athens in 2015 and began working with the AmeriCorps VISTA program under UGA’s Office of Service-Learning. Her role at the time was with the Athens Community Council on Aging’s Senior Hunger Coalition. In this position, she led volunteer shifts that supported food access to seniors facing food insecurity. It was where Tweedy was first able to work directly with UGA students who earned service hours toward UGA’s newly implemented experiential learning requirement.
“It just felt so invigorating to be a part of that mission,” she said. “I knew that I wanted to continue to find opportunities to help support students gain experiential learning outside and in the community.”
Prior to her current role, Tweedy worked as the sustainability coordinator for University Housing for about six years. She enjoyed the systems thinking that job required and working with students to bring ideas to fruition. Through those students, Tweedy learned about how Odum provided a sustainable education through an academic lens, compared with her Student Affairs work. Being in the campus “sphere of sustainability” eventually led to her current position in Odum.
Outside of work, Tweedy can almost always be found in her garden where she grows more 45 different medicinal herbs. She first fell in love with gardening through volunteering with UGArden.
“I’m just forever grateful for the people and volunteers and faculty that helped provide such a wonderful outdoor classroom,” Tweedy said.
As someone who is dedicated to being a lifelong learner, Tweedy loves seeing students be actively interested in environmental sustainability and pursuing those burning questions they have.
“As staff and faculty, we’re all here to support students as they grow their individual interests and skills and seek new opportunities,” Tweedy said. “At the Odum School of Ecology, we are motivated to build the next generation of ecological leaders to help address the most urgent environmental challenges of our time.”