Kathleen Mullaney (Geography BA with a GIS Emphasis, 2010) has worked all over campus, doing everything from scrubbing pots in the University Center’s central kitchen to selling bin candy at the Corner Store and interning at Physical Facilities. Currently, she’s working as a lab assistant for Professors Chris Still and David Lopez-Carr and occasionally finds time to help staff when they’re short-handed; so make her feel welcome – we need all the help we can get!
With a surname like Mullaney, Kathleen’s obviously of Irish descent, her great grandparents on her father’s side being from Counties Sligo and Limerick. Her mother is from Nicaragua, giving Kathleen what her brother calls an “ethnically ambiguous look.” Perhaps that “ambiguity” also has something to do with her choice of major: “I originally came to UCSB with the intent of majoring in International Relations. However, after taking Geography 5 with Meri Marsh, I changed my mind and enthusiastically switched to geography.” Kathleen also happens to be fluent in Spanish and passable in French – skills which certainly won’t hurt when it comes to fulfilling her future plans of getting a GIS-related job in the Bay area (where she grew up) and eventually applying to graduate school.
Kathleen enjoys books, film, art, and maintaining a very active life, including hiking, running, kayaking, and yoga, to name but a few of her favorite activities. When asked what she likes about Geography, she replied: “Everything! I love the broad scope of the discipline and the feeling that I can do anything with the knowledge and skills I’ve obtained in my time here.” Having said that, she also admitted wryly that one of her worst memories was spending the night in the Star Lab finishing 176/115 projects.
Kathleen’s favorite quote is: “Live forever or die in the attempt!” (Joseph Heller, Catch 22 – her favorite book). She’s also a fan of Boggle, a word game, which might help explain the title to this article – yep, “The Ankle” is an anagram of “Kathleen.” But never mind the word games – just make a point of saying hello to Kathleen and making her feel at home!
