Celebrating our veterans: Keri and Kelsi Matwick

In 2005, twin sisters Keri and Kelsi Matwick began a decade of service in the U.S. Air Force, including three years of active duty at Alaska’s Elmendorf Air Force Base, now Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. As Personnel Support Officers, they assisted Airmen and their families with assignments, pay, and support services while overseeing promotions, educational programs, and professional development. Their duties included assignments with an F-15 squadron and the base manpower office. 

Outside of their official roles, Keri and Kelsi embraced the Alaskan experience. “Some of my favorite memories were the annual chili competitions (featuring moose and bear!), salmon fishing, and snowshoeing,” recalled Kelsi. 

While serving in the Air Force Reserve, the sisters began pursuing graduate studies at the University of Florida, where they both earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics (2013, 2016). “We specialize in language and food,” explained Keri, “with Kelsi’s dissertation on cookbooks and mine on cooking shows.” They also completed graduate certificates in Web Design and Online Communication—marking their first connection with the College of Journalism and Communications. 

Keri and Kelsi continue to work together at UF, joining the College of Journalism and Communications in 2016. Both teach as adjunct lecturers in the Department of Journalism and UF Online. In their first year, they developed and co-taught a new course: Food, Media, and Culture, which examines how food is represented, produced, and consumed in media—and how these portrayals shape identities and social relationships.  The course earned an Exemplary Course designation, receiving a perfect score for its innovative lessons and interdisciplinary writing assessments. In 2023, they developed Future Food, a Quest 2 course exploring food technologies and how their development aims to improve human and planetary health. Most recently, in 2024, they began co-teaching the Writing Fundamentals for Communicators course, a foundational course that draws on their linguistics background and writing instruction experience in the University Writing Program to help new journalism students master the essentials of the craft. 

Category: College News, Profiles
Tagged: kelsi matwick keri matwick
Subscribe to our News Digest