This post is part of our Curators’ Corner series. Every so often we’ll feature a different DCN Curator. The series grew out of a community-building activity wherein curators at our partner organizations interview each other “chain-letter style” in order to get to know each other and their work outside of the DCN better. We hope you enjoy these posts!
Lencia Mckee is a Research Data Librarian and Data Curator at Cornell University. Lencia was interviewed by Molly Hirst in September 2025.
How did you come to your current position?
I started out in archives and special collections, where I focused on processing and managing physical collections. What I enjoyed most was the data management side—it felt like a way to contribute beyond the campus community and support broader access. Over time, I wanted to shift my focus toward helping researchers and students improve their data for reuse and open their research in more impactful ways. That led me to Carnegie Mellon University, where I worked as an Open Science Program Coordinator. In that role, I developed and implemented open science programming and supported services for their Data and Code Support group. Now, here at Cornell, I get to be even more involved in collaborating with faculty to improve their documentation, data, and code for reuse, while also supporting the campus community through data- and code-related instruction.
What do you do?
In my role, I support the Library’s research data services by helping with data and code curation, management, and stewardship across the research lifecycle. I also contribute to education and outreach around best practices for data and code, and I’m part of the Cornell Data Services consulting team, where I work directly with researchers to support their projects.
How much of your job involves data curation?
Oh, I’d say data curation is one of my primary responsibilities—probably around 70–80% of what I do, give or take!
Why is data curation important to you?
This is such a good question, because research isn’t very useful if it can’t be understood by others—or even by the researchers themselves! Data curation helps ensure that data and code follow good management practices: it’s well-organized, documented, and stored in open-access repositories for long-term access. All of this together helps to make research understandable and reusable, allowing others to build on existing work, supporting transparency, and ultimately making the research more impactful.
Why is the Data Curation Network important?
One of the main reasons I was so excited about my current position is that it’s part of the Data Curation Network. Whether you work with data and code in academia or industry, having a trusted community to troubleshoot challenges, share perspectives, and raise awareness about data and code management is invaluable—and that’s exactly what the DCN provides. It also creates space for meaningful conversations about data topics that directly affect the researchers and communities we serve. And because each institution is unique, members bring a wide range of skills, ideas, and perspectives, which makes every conversation that much richer!
If you weren’t doing data curation, what would you be doing?
Hmm, I think I’d still end up in a data-focused role, ideally in academia. I really enjoy the atmosphere of constant learning, and it feels like such a privilege to be surrounded by knowledge every day. Alternatively, I could see myself doing something in linguistics, which, in many ways, is still data-related. My background is in linguistics, and I’ve always been fascinated by it, especially phonetics as well as the social and psycholinguistic sides of the field.
What’s your favorite cuisine?
Oh, that’s a tough one—I love so many different foods. I tend to get really into one cuisine at a time and eat it nonstop until I burn out on it. Right now, I’m obsessed with chili oil noodles—they’re quick to make, super filling, and absolutely delicious.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Outside of work, I enjoy a mix of quiet and adventurous things—reading, cloud watching, and taking long walks or hikes (whether in the city or out in nature). I also love exploring new places, like museums, coffee shops, or restaurants I haven’t tried before.
What’s your favorite city?
Can I pick two? Paris and Pittsburgh. Paris is my favorite because my sister lives there, and Pittsburgh because that’s where my wife lives!
Where would you most like to travel to next (state/country/continent/city)?
I’d love to travel to Japan someday—I’ve always been fascinated by Japanese culture. But if I’m being realistic, my next trip would probably be to Kansas to visit my mom.