IAN welcomes Aera Hoffman

Aera is from Juneau, Alaska and spent her life growing up near the ocean, glaciers and mountains. Hiking, camping, fishing, and crabbing are activities all Juneau residents love, even when it rains. Which it does, a lot! Within the last couple of years, she decided to make the switch from accounting to user experience design. It was the need to work in a creative field that explored the human connection to digital products that pushed her to make the switch. She is a self-professed lifelong learner and loves to research anything from books to blenders and is excited to parlay the research love into great work for the UMCES team. When she's not reading or dreaming up new travel destinations she loves to spend time with her family and her nieces and nephews. She welcomes any and all sports talk, especially during March Madness and the NFL or college playoffs. Aera and her husband are excited to build a life in Annapolis and explore the community and its surrounding areas.

---