Welcome Sheetal!

We were excited to welcome a new investigator to our team earlier this year; Sheetal Digari! She has been a great addition to the team, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know her. To learn more, we asked her a few questions recently. Here’s what Sheetal had to say:

Tell us a little about your background, such as education and job experience.

I grew up in a remote little town in India's North-East region. We share international borders with China, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. This made my town and the whole region culturally and linguistically diverse. That experiences contributed to my being multi-lingual, presently in my household we speak three different languages, other than English. My name Sheetal means a gentle coolness or a pleasant breeze, but I was given this name based on a detective in a Hindi novel. My educational background is an amalgamation of several disciplines: political science, social work, and education for gender and racial equity. I did my master’s from Texas A&M, College Station and currently finalizing my PhD from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I have had the privilege of working in diverse fields such as international development, community development, and higher education.

What inspired you to apply for OGEC?

I have always had an interest in the philosophical idea of ethics, to understand a collective morality and how everyone derives responsibility from it. During my PhD work, I got the opportunity to engage with this idea a little more, specifically looking at the ethical responsibilities of being a researcher working on the issues of sexual harassment and sexual violence. So, when I stumbled upon the investigator position with OGEC, I was really interested to learn more about how an institution understands and enforces ethics or ethical practices. So far, it has been an amazing experience!

What is your favorite part of your job here?

There are two things that really stood out. First, I am very motivated by the commitment of my colleagues. There is an environment that we are working together for a collective good. Second, I really appreciate the practice of peer review, everyone is contributing to the knowledge pool.

Dogs or cats?

Can I say plants? But I love both dogs and cats.

Favorite color?

It depends on the season; I like breezy light colors in the Spring/Summer and bolder colors in the Fall/ Winter.

Favorite movie?

I am a movie buff, and I love to watch movies from every part of the world, so it is hard to pick just one. But every Christmas I re-watch all the parts of Harry Potter.

Any hobbies or passions that you would care to share or talk about?

Reading books, caring for my house plants, picking up new languages, most of all I LOVE hiking in the Pacific Northwest.

Thank you to Sheetal for sharing with us! We hope you enjoyed learning more about our newest investigator.