Ellen Klemme graduated from Carleton College with BAs in History and Pre-Medical Studies and had lived across the Midwest and Middle East before arriving at Columbia's OHMA program. She studies Palestinian history; her Masters thesis investigated the practice of listening to archival oral histories, specifically paramedics' memories of responding to the collapsing World Trade Towers on September 11th, 2001. After graduating from OHMA, Ellen was the primary editor of Cesare Civetta's book "Perspectives on Toscanini" and lectured about her research at Columbia University's 2011 Oral History Summer Institute, "Rethinking 9/11: Life Stories, Cultural Memory and the Politics of Representation." She is currently living in Minnesota, developing and coordinating a tutoring program for impoverished teenagers through AmeriCorps VISTA.