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Lisa Sayles

Lisa is Director of Education at the Institute for Methods Innovation, where she supports curriculum development for Fast Track Impact. Her work focuses on interactive online course design, clear learning outcomes and practical application. She also serves as Professor of Communication Studies at College of the Redwoods, where she teaches applied communication and supports faculty development in online teaching and digital accessibility.

  • Curriculum design and online learning
  • Applied communication and research impact
  • Professional facilitation and capacity building

Lisa is an educator and communication specialist with more than two decades of experience designing student-centred, immersive learning experiences across higher education and professional development. She has substantial experience in online education, including work supporting university certification for distance learning programmes across California.

As a training facilitator, Lisa draws on established learning design practice to create structured, student-centred learning experiences for professional audiences. Her facilitation focuses on cross-cultural communication, public speaking and the development of practical communication skills for research, education and nonprofit settings. Her workshops support participants to build confidence, assess learning outcomes and present evidence with clarity in professional contexts.

Funded projects

Lisa contributed to the educational and engagement components of Project Ô (2018–2022), a €10.6 million European Commission Horizon 2020 Innovation Action focused on circular, integrated water management. As part of IMI’s project team, she supported the development of evidence-informed training and engagement materials designed to make project findings more accessible to stakeholders and public audiences. This work helped translate research outputs into practical learning resources and contributed to the project’s wider social impact activities.

Lisa was a Visual Communication Specialist at the University of Warwick in 2015, where she contributed to a funded research initiative through visual communication and outreach support. In this role, she helped develop educational and communication materials, applying principles of visual rhetoric, audience engagement and accessible design to support the project’s aims. This work reflected her broader interest in connecting academic research with clear, creative and audience-sensitive communication.

Publications

Lisa authored the chapter “Subversively Funny: Critical Humour in Art,” published in Culture and Social Change: Transforming Society through the Power of Ideas, edited by B. Wagoner, E. Jensen, and J. Oldmeadow.

Academic and professional background

  • Professor of Communication Studies, College of the Redwoods, teaching since 2013 across core communication subjects and applied professional skills.
  • Distance Education Faculty Coordinator, College of the Redwoods, leading staff training in online pedagogy, accessibility, and learning design.
  • Master of Science in Communication Studies, Portland State University.
  • Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art, Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.

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