URS Professional Staff
Svetlana Karpe, Director
Svetlana grew up in former Yugoslavia and has been on the UW-Madison campus since 1992. She holds a B.A. in French and Spanish from Colorado College and a Ph.D. in Spanish from UW Madison. She is particularly keen on discussing women's writing in Latin America, but is often just as passionate about Haruki Murakami, Orhan Pamuk, or Annie Proulx. In her spare time she translates literature from her native Serbo-Croatian or Spanish. When she is not traveling or at the movies, she loves to play tennis.
Amy Sloane, URS Program Coordinator
Amy Sloane grew up in Paramus, New Jersey, sometimes referred to as the "walled city of consumption" since it is the epicenter of American mall culture. A Madison resident since 1994, she continues to zealously claim her east coast origins. In 1998, she completed a Master's degree at UW-Madison in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development. She is currently pursuing a joint PhD in Forest Ecology and Management, and Curriculum and Instruction. Her academic interests include political sociology of environmental education, educational reform and change, and social inclusion and exclusion in higher education. She has worked on campus with the Academic Advancement Program, the Institute for Environmental Studies, and co-teaches a course in philosophy of education. Over the last 10 years, she has learned to admire the more "subtle" landscapes of Wisconsin - compared to her beloved Adirondack and Green mountains and Atlantic ocean - by doing lots of bike riding, camping, canoeing, prairie restoration, and other outdoor activities. She lives with her partner on the near East Side.
Jan Lucchesi, University Services Associate 2
Jan began working for the L & S Pathways to Excellence program in 2001, and joined the URS program in the summer of 2004.
She is looking forward to the new challenge and working with the students and mentors. Jan grew up on the west side of Madison and lived in Green Bay, (Big Packer Fan), Sheboygan (Brat fan) and Milwaukee (Not a baseball fan). Jan enjoys cooking, music, trivia, old movies and reading, especially discussing Harry Potter.