FPG profile: Kylie Garber
Kylie Garber, PhD, is a research scientist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG). She works with FPG’s Research-Policy and Practice Collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Her current work focuses on evidence-based practices that support the early care and education workforce.
As part of our FPG profile series, we recently spoke with Garber to learn more about her work at FPG. Here’s what she had to say.
Tell us a bit about your professional journey―and what brought you to FPG?
I came to FPG as a first-year doctoral student in 2016. The first project I worked on was a partnership with the Orange County Health Department to evaluate their program, The Family Success Alliance. And I worked on the Early Learning Network and the Abecedarian 45-year follow-up studies until I graduated in May 2022. I also loved being a part of FPG’s Data Management and Analysis Core during that time. After a short stint working on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. as a Society for Research in Child Development postdoctoral fellow, I returned to FPG in January 2024 as a research scientist with the pre-K evaluation team under the mentorship of Sandra Soliday Hong, PhD. I just couldn't stay away from North Carolina and the incredible people at FPG for long.
What do you do at FPG—describe your job, walk us through a typical day, and tell us about the projects you're currently working on.
Every day is different, which is what I love about this job. My primary project is to conduct a landscape analysis and provide recommendations for the North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education regarding services for child care providers that support children's social and emotional development. This has involved a lot of meetings with the early care and education community in North Carolina to learn about what is available across the state. Along with that project, I have conducted two webinars to communicate these resources with child care providers across the state.
I also provide support for the other projects our team is working on, especially when it comes to report writing for our typical audiences of state government agencies and policymakers. When I have the time, I also work on my own academic publications. Hands-down, the best part of the week are Wednesdays when we have our team meetings and most of the team is working in-person.
What do you like most about your job?
I love the collaborative nature of working with the pre-K evaluation team. We work incredibly well together, whether we are finishing a report, applying for a grant, organizing webinars or in-person meetings―I have been really impressed with how naturally we all fall into our roles to get the job done.
What do you find most challenging?
I am a very social person, so sometimes I find it challenging to do the more individual tasks, like writing, which is about 80 percent of my job. However, a lot of my writing tasks are collaborative, which provides some motivation and accountability for me.
How does your work further the mission of FPG?
A lot of my work over the years at FPG has furthered FPG's mission of "transforming children's lives through innovation in research, practice, and policy." Currently, I am doing this through ongoing research collaborations with state agencies. We are able to shift our research to meet the evolving needs of state agencies and see the impact of our work on children, families, and the workforce. I also love having the opportunity to translate research into effective policies and practices. This is what grounds my work as a research scientist and this balance of research and policy work is something that I hoped for in my career.
What do you hope to have accomplished five years from now?
In five years from now, I hope to have a more developed independent line of research and be the PI or Co-PI of a funded project.
Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about your work/working at FPG?
When I first started, it struck me that many of the people at FPG had been here for 20-plus years. At the time, I thought, "That will never be me"―but here I am now in a permanent role. I think that is a testament to the mission-driven work and great people who are here at FPG.