Cait Dyche

I grew up in Colorado, on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, where towering peaks, wide-open skies, and quiet valleys shaped my curiosity, sense of wonder, and early appreciation for how the places we inhabit carry meaning. My family traveled a lot for sports and to visit distant grandparents, and our road trips often included stops at national parks—even when they added a few hours to the route (thanks, Mom & Dad, and sorry about all the backseat bickering… though I maintain it was character-building).

I've played many sports over the years, including ice hockey, basketball, lacrosse, and softball, but volleyball is the one that stuck. From tagging along to my mom’s high school coaching sessions, to walking on to a Division I team, to continuing to play in recreational leagues today, I can confidently say that my love affair with volleyball is for life (and yes, I still get competitive, but it's almost always a reasonable amount).

Between the landscapes I devoured through car windows, the countless gyms I spent most of my weekends in, and the—frankly alarming—amount of dirt and sappy bark I collected climbing anything I could find a foothold on, it's easy to see why my childhood memories mostly consist of:

• the crunch of a hiking trail under my boots,

• the aroma of fresh pine surrounding an alpine lake,

• the tingle of Biofreeze kicking in during warm-ups,

• the salty-sweet victory of a 5-set stunner,

• and the sublime awe of standing under a redwood and realizing just how minuscule you are in comparison.

The competitiveness of high-level sports and the relentlessness of mountain landscapes taught me discipline, resilience, and the satisfaction of tangible outcomes: when practice, strategy, and teamwork coalesce into a win on the court, or when determination, pacing, and encouragement result in an incomparable view (and the tastiest PB&J you ever ate). They also reinforced the value of collaboration — the idea that shared effort and mutual support can amplify individual contributions in ways that solitary work rarely does (talking to yourself on long hikes is a perfectly valid form of collaboration, fyi).

Colorado’s landscapes, countless road trips, and a restless curiosity instilled in me a wandering spirit. I carried that curiosity beyond state lines in undergrad, leaving Colorado to explore new environments, forge unexpected friendships, and wrestle with big questions about life, work, and love. A semester abroad expanded my horizons further, showing me how different cultures approach the same human experiences (and proving that I can, in fact, survive on very little sleep; or at least that I could in my early-20s). Graduate school took me to yet another state for my master’s and another for my Ph.D., each move deepening my understanding of people, place, and perspective. Along the way, I came to appreciate that these journeys—both literal and intellectual—offered not only wonderful opportunities but constant reminders of how much there is still to learn, see, and experience.

In my early professional pursuits, I explored opportunities in film and television, drawn to storytelling and production, but quickly realized that Los Angeles and New York—where most opportunities lived—weren’t the right fit for me (as much as I love the movies, I don’t love the traffic... or the rent). That love of media and narratives led me into communications and media studies, where I could study how stories shape culture and influence perception. A master’s course in tourism reignited another long-standing passion: natural landscapes. I became fascinated with how sites of travel and national parks—and specifically the ways those sites are disseminated and consumed through media—participate in larger narratives of national identity and politics, questions that ultimately shaped my dissertation scholarship.

During my Ph.D. journey, I discovered that research, while intellectually rewarding, was often isolating and lacked the tangible impact that the trail and the volleyball court had taught me to love. I found myself drawn instead to collaborative, interpersonal work—teaching, mentoring, public communications, and project leadership—where shared effort produces visible results, ideas evolve in real time, and people grow together. This insight guided a strategic pivot in my career, allowing me to combine curiosity, analysis, and creativity with connection, collaboration, and real-world impact.

I value curiosity, empathy, integrity, and humor, and I try to bring those principles into everything I do. I aim to create spaces where people feel supported, challenged, and empowered to explore new ideas and perspectives; judgment-free but laughter-filled.

Outside of work, I’m still exploring the world, seeking new perspectives, playing volleyball whenever I can, and discovering more about myself along the way.

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