Allyson (Ally) Wood joined UB Libraries last June as the newest member of the Science & Engineering Services team. Ally, along with her fellow engineering librarians, will support student and faculty research in UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). Among her responsibilities in this role, Ally will visit classes to demonstrate how to use engineering databases, provide research consultations, and manage the libraries’ collections to reflect SEAS research interests.
Ally comes to UB Libraries from Bucknell University, where she served as the Sciences & Engineering Librarian since 2022. She was drawn to UB because of the university’s commitment to climate action and the cutting-edge research taking place in SEAS and across the university. Ally enjoys working with a team of librarians specifically interested in supporting STEM research while also having the opportunity and support to pursue her own research interests. “As an early-career librarian, being part of a supportive team with a culture of mentorship and collaboration is important to me. I feel I’ve found that in the University Libraries,” she says.
Ally is currently preparing a citation management workshop that will be offered during the fall semester, as well as creating a library guide for SEAS students, pulling together the best library resources for finding a career after graduation.
Ally Wood during her time surveying sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean.
Beyond her professional life, Ally enjoys exploring parks and recreational areas, playing video games, and discovering new vegetarian recipes to try out. As a native of Western New York, she is also pleased to be closer to friends and family in the area where she grew up. A fun fact about Ally: She once spent a summer researching sharks and even got to assist with some fieldwork, which included surveying Atlantic reef sharks and sea turtles!
Ally received her Master of Library Science from SUNY Albany, with a concentration in information management and technology, and also holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Allegheny College. While attending Allegheny College, she worked as a research assistant and spent a time exploring the local streams and dissecting fish in the freshwater ecology lab. She also worked in the college library at the research help desk, foreshadowing her future career as a librarian.