UWT Office of Research Staff

Lisa Isozaki, Director of the Office of Research, retired on January 2, 2024.  Please direct any current questions to uwtor@uw.edu and a UW Tacoma Office of Research staff member will respond.  

Marlyn Del Cid has been at the University of Washington for over 10 years. Prior to joining the Office of Research in October 2021, Marlyn provided pre and post-award grant and contract management support to faculty, staff, and graduate students at the School of Environmental and Forest Science at UW Seattle. Before then she worked at UW's central office of Grant and Contact Accounting. 

In her role as Program Operation Specialist, Marlyn supports all sponsored research activities housed at the Center for Urban Waters. She is thrilled to be a part of the CUW team and UW Tacoma. Marlyn graduated from UW with a Bachelors in Anthropology. In her free time, she enjoys exploring her new neighborhood in Tacoma!

Karen Urlie joined the UW Tacoma Office of Research in January 2023. As a Program Operations Specialist, Karen will support faculty through the research lifecycle from proposal development and submission processes to award acceptance and then post award grants management issues. She is very excited to be supporting the important and impactful work of our faculty.

Prior to coming to UW Tacoma, Karen spent more than 12 years at a national, private foundation in Seattle. In her work there, she was program support manager for the grantmaking and evaluation team and then grants manager for the foundation. The foundation’s mission centered on racial justice and funding the critical work of community organizations in order to shift the balance of power in communities that have been historically excluded from shaping and benefitting from a just economy and true democracy.

Karen trained as a classical soprano and performed for 14 years on the mainstage with the Seattle Opera chorus. She now spends her time outside of work with her son, family and friends - and a pup named Walter.

Kelly Dyer joined the Office of Research in April 2022.  Prior to joining UW Tacoma she previously worked for the City of Bellevue and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.  Kelly works directly with Cheryl Greengrove, AVCR, providing support to the Research Advisory Committee and helping with Faculty Development planning and workshop logistics. She also provides support to campus PIs with transactional needs that are tied to sponsored grants or contracts and with internal UW Tacoma funding such as the Catalyst Research and Scholarship initiative.

Kelly grew up in northwest Montana and received her Bachelor’s degree in Geology and Geography from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.  In her free time she enjoys reading, crafting and adventuring in her RV with her husband and three children.

Daniela Esan joined the UW Tacoma Office of Research in March 2024. As a Program Coordinator, Daniela will support faculty and staff on campus and at the Center for Urban Waters, supporting both pre and post award grant management activities and regulations associated with research administration. She is excited to be supporting the important and impactful work of our faculty.

Prior to coming to UW Tacoma, Daniela spent more than five years within the Higher Education system. She was a Program Specialist for the Career, Student Employment and Transfer Center at Highline College. In her work there, she was the main point of contact for the Student Employment operations that collaborated with multiple campus departments, such as Human Resources and Financial Aid. Advised students with career development resources such as, resume and cover letter writing, workshops, events and grants for the Student Employee of the Year program.  Worked with faculty to ensure students are being provided with interview training and practices. Daniela has excelled in assisting and collaborating with students, staff, faculty and other stakeholders and is a certified Global Excellence Customer Service representative. 

Daniela has an eye for art and design. She has helped a non-profit organization, Birthday Dreams with creating a seventy-page program regarding their annual event. Daniela also completes web and graphic design on the side. When not working, she loves creating something beautiful whether it may be art, photography and even memories while traveling. 

Kara Luckey, Proposal Development Consultant, provides on-demand support to UW Tacoma faculty across all disciplines with developmental and copy editing of proposal narratives, as well as assistance with articulating project aims, research design, and anticipated impacts. Kara works to develop competitive proposals to a variety of private and public sponsors with investigators coming from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives including the humanities and social sciences, STEM, and practice-based fields. Kara holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado, where she also supported grant-writing efforts, conducted independent and collaborative research, and taught graduate-level courses in research design and analytical methods.

Contact uwtor@uw.edu to learn more about how Kara might support your proposal efforts!