I’m a PhD candidate at the University of California, Irvine in the Department of Informatics.  I am an ARCS Scholar and a Twitch Research Fellow. I’ve also been recognized as a Techmaker in Gaming by Google/Stadia as well as a Women in Gaming Game Changer by Microsoft/Xbox.

My previous degrees are a bachelor’s and a master’s in cultural anthropology (University of West Florida) and a master’s in public service (University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service).

My research interests and areas include: anthropology, video games, game culture, live streaming, esports, social media, fandom/fan studies, gender and sexuality studies.

My free time is spent immersing myself in pop culture: comic books, television, movies, and video games.

You can contact me at cullena@uci.edu and find me on Twitter @AmandazonUCI