WELCOME GEARUP
PARTICIPANTS

Karen Pugh
Research Specialist

kpugh@nshe.nevada.edu

Hometown: Redding, CA

Bio: Karen has a passion for learning that began at an early age; she was 4 when her mother taught her to read. Her first degree, a Bachelor of Fine Arts, was from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in Film and Television which was quickly followed by a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno. Both of those degrees served her well as the director of contracts for an international film production and distribution company in Southern California. After the devasting events of 9/11, she knew that she had to focus her attention on something that provided greater meaning and substance for her, so she turned her passion for learning into a career as an educator. After obtaining her Master’s in Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, she moved to rural Arizona where she taught high school English in a very small district just 12 miles from the Mexican border. During that time, she completed her fourth degree, an Educational Specialist in Educational Leadership from George Washington University. Moving back to Nevada, in July 2011, Karen taught in both Churchill and Lyon Counties before returning to the University of Nevada, Reno to work on her Ph.D. in Information Technology in Education.

As a student, and an educator, Karen is aware of the opportunities and challenges students in our K-12 system experience. She knows that engaging students in the process of learning is itself the key to achieving success in academics and in life.

Before coming to GEAR UP in 2018, Karen worked as a graduate assistant in the Honors Program at UNR and then moved over to UNR Med to work as a learning specialist for the first- and second-year medical students. While there she was able to channel her love for rural Nevada into a year-long collaboration with the UNR Med faculty and students which resulted in the creation of the Rural Outreach Clinic, which held its first clinic on October 13, 2018.

Outside of her role as Research Specialist for GEAR UP, Karen is pursuing her Ph.D. at UNR, engaged in helping UNR Med bring quality healthcare to Nevada’s rural counties, and spending what free time she has with her family at her home in Silver Springs.

Favorite Quote: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” ― William Butler Yeats