Testimonials

Excerpt from letter addressed to Holly Strand, December 3, 2024:

You have many responsibilities as a Flood Risk Specialist, one of which is providing valuable insight and education to citizens who are at risk of flooding, dangers of debris flow, and who may not know the possible consequences of living close to an alluvial fan. The recent video you made regarding alluvial fans is fantastic. The amazing work you do does not go unnoticed. 

I applaud the work, knowledge, and talents you bring to our department and your demonstration of what a DPS employee stands for. Your commitment to the department is greatly appreciated. Thank you for representing the Department of Public Safety with excellence and dedication.

Jess L. Anderson, Commissioner

Utah Department of Public Safety

Holly’s efforts made HMGP grant information more accessible to the public, reducing the number of calls and questions about Mitigation and Recovery Programs… Holly really took initiative improving her website coding skills and creating professional looking websites that saved the Division of Emergency Management time and money that would have been spent hiring contractors… In my working experience with Holly I have found her to be of the highest integrity, honest in all her work, and a team player always willing to help and share her valuable skills, even for projects outside her job description. 

Ember Herrick, Emergency Manager

Davis County, UT, Ember was with Utah Division of Emergency Management when she wrote the above to nominate me for the Derek Jensen Peer Award for Outstanding Accomplishments at the Division of Emergency Management

[Holly’s] writing skills were so valued that she became the principal editor for all proposals and major documents coming from WWF’s Science group.

Michele Thieme, Deputy Director and Lead Scientist

Freshwater Program, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC, USA

Holly not only led and collaborated with my faculty in storyboard
design and content for the piece, but she also produced the video
product from the ground up. We are very happy with the result,
and I was personally very impressed by both Holly’s production skills and her ability to work with a diversity of people in my department for ideas and content. Although conducted on a shoestring budget, we are thrilled by this product and we have incorporated it into some of our courses and feature it in our Geology Museum on campus.

Joel Pederson, Department Head and Professor

Department. of Geology, Utah State University

Holly was been extremely helpful with the proposal writing process.  She is very knowledgeable about compliance, formatting, and merit review criteria of NSF documents. In particular she was very helpful with content of the discussion of broader impacts and supplementary documentation.  For example, having never written a data management plan before, Holly sent me examples on specific layout for the document, criteria needing to be addressed, and links to different online resources.  She spends an immense about of time researching your particular RFP and providing meticulous comments to make sure you comply with the requirements.  

Susannah French, Professor 

Department of Biology, Utah State University

Holly Strand’s proposal development services have been extremely helpful. She provides detailed, timely edits in addition to constructive broader-picture advice based on her detailed reading of the specific RFA and knowledge of the funding agency. When I have had specific questions about proposal requirements or university policies, she has tracked down the pertinent information. Overall, Holly is extremely responsive, knowledgeable about ecology, and easy to work with.  

Kari Veblen, Professor 

Department. of Wildland Resources, Utah State University

Holly has been instrumental in our crafting better, more competitive proposals. Her candid critiques of initial drafts were critical in helping us produce compelling arguments in support of our proposed research. Highlights of her efforts included knowing how reviewers read and interpret proposals, making sure our ideas and objectives were clearly stated up front, insisting that the proposal flow logically from one section to the next, and providing great recommendations regarding how to couch broader impacts statements. Her ability to recognize what is generally interesting science also helped ensure we didn’t get trapped into focusing on minutiae.

Chuck Hawkins, Professor 

Department. of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University 

Holly was particularly useful in terms of making sure that we had covered all the bases outlined in the RFP and done so in a way that was completely clear to potential reviewers. Since Holly was a sympathetic, but critical and uninvolved reader, she not only pointed out gaps but suggested ways to cover the gaps while maintaining the sense and flow of the proposal. Holly was invaluable in pointing out ways to improve STEM relevance as well as potential broader impacts that I had never considered. Overall working with her was so useful that I plan to do it as a matter of course, even in future, more research-based, proposals.

Jim Powell, Professor

Department. of Biology, Utah State University