In 2016, Alaina re-joined the MSRI staff working from home for a brief six-month contract, which led to another full-time position in 2017 as the Institute’s Grants & Data Specialist. The remote work enabled Alaina and her family to relocate to Idaho in 2018. As the Grants & Data Specialist, Alaina revitalized the Institute’s ability to report on measurable program outcomes. She streamlined MSRI’s data collection and analysis processes, determining new ways to leverage data in proposals and reports to illustrate the full impact of the Institute’s programming and to increase funding success. In 2019, Alaina earned promotion to the position of Grants & Data Supervisor. In this role, she coordinated the massive undertaking required to prepare MSRI’s (successful) five-year $25-million core grant proposal to the National Science Foundation. Later, following the disruptions caused by COVID-19, Alaina successfully managed the complex web of reporting consequences resulting from various event cancellations, as well as the transition from in-person to online events. Alaina’s high responsiveness under these rapidly changing circumstances has been her greatest asset. Alaina continues to serve in this capacity for the Institute, which, as of the 2022-23 academic year, is now officially known as SLMath.
