Faculty 2024-2025

Name: Dr. Anisha Shakya   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Chemistry and Chemical Biology   Describe your research in about 200 words. My research program seeks to understand how the multitude of biochemical processes occurring inside a cell are organized in absence of lipid membranes, and how the mis-regulation of such membraneless organization lead to […] Read More

Name: Dr. Garrett Delavan   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies   Describe your research in about 200 words. Prior to earning his doctorate, Delavan spent 17 years in public schooling, the first eight of which were spent at Horizonte Instruction and Training Center, a diverse, urban, alternative high school in […] Read More

Name: Dr. Anne-Sabine Nicolas   Title: Visiting Lecturer III of French    Department: Languages, Cultures and Literatures   Describe your research in about 200 words. My academic research is grounded in my passion for post-colonial studies and multiculturalism. My study focuses on traditional and non-traditional forms of texts and theater in 20th/21st post-colonial French/ Francophone […] Read More

Name: Dr. James Burns Title: Associate Professor Department: Teacher Education, Educational Leadership and Policy   Describe your research in about 200 words. My work is situated in the field of curriculum studies and theorizing. Having a background in political science, history, and philosophical inquiry, my research focus lies in masculinities studies, militarism, power, institutional violence, […] Read More

Name: Dr. Sepideh Yasrebi   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Teacher Education, Educational Leadership and Policy   Describe your research in about 200 words. Across my scholarship and teaching, I study historically marginalized students’ (e.g., emergent bilinguals) lived experiences through the lens of narrative inquiry and culturally sustaining pedagogy to provide a more humanizing space […] Read More

Name: Johannes Barfield   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Honors College   Describe your research in about 200 words. I am a sample-based visual and sound artist working in collage, installation, video, photography, XR (extended reality), collage, and music. My artistic practice and research delve into childhood memories, joy, appropriation as a means of survival, […] Read More

Name:Patrick Denne Title:Visiting Lecturer Department:Mathematics and Statistics Describe your research in about 200 words.I am not currently involved in research, but I am very interested in how people learn math, and how best to encourage students to succeed in it. What’s the most interesting thing you have learned from a student?A student informed me during a statistics lecture that […] Read More

 Name:Dr. Eva Hayward Title:Lecturer III Department:Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Describe your research in about 200 words.Trained in the History and Philosophy of Science, my research focuses on Environmental Studies, Art and Aesthetics, and Trans Studies. What’s the most interesting thing you have learned from a student?Every year, I learn interesting things from my students. The most important lesson […] Read More

Name:Dr. Cecilia A. Hinojosa Title:Assistant Professor Department:Psychology Describe your research in about 200 words.My research utilizes a multi-methods approach, including experimental behavioral paradigms, psychophysiology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), ecological momentary assessment (EMA), and neuromodulation. The Hinojosa laboratory’s goal is to discover biomarkers for co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) to help guide clinician […] Read More

Name: Dr. Mustofa Mahmud Al Mamun   Title: Lecturer III   Department: Economics     Describe your research in about 200 words. I am a Macroeconomist specializing in Macroeconomic Policy. I use a combination of econometric and general equilibrium models to answer policy-related queries. My recent research has focused on the short-run effects of additional […] Read More

Name: Dr. Yann Lussiez   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Teacher Education, Educational Leadership and Policy   Describe your research in about 200 words. Leadership development, Indigenous leadership, empathy, intellectual humility   What’s the most interesting thing you have learned from a student? The importance of “kilo” : the Hawaiian approach to observation, examination, watching […] Read More

Name: Dr. H.L. Chen   Title: Clinical Business Faculty   Department: Finance and Innovation   Describe your research in about 200 words. Dr. Chen’s primary research interests encompass project management within the realms of supply chain, finance, performance, and sustainability. His research focuses on improving project management and performance in multi-project environments, as well as […] Read More

  Name: Dr. Laura C. Ornelas   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Psychology   Describe your research in about 200 words. The Ornelas lab investigates the neurobiology of traumatic stress and alcohol use disorders. Dr. Ornelas has a K99/R00 Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Award through the NIAAA that focuses on […] Read More

Name: Dr. Sarah Percival   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Math and Statistics   Describe your research in about 200 words. My research is in the area of applied topology, also known as topological data analysis (TDA), studying both theoretical and applied problems in the field. As collections of data grow in size, it is […] Read More

Name: Dr. Whitley Atkins   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences   Describe your research in about 200 words. My research interests are primarily focused on hydration and thermoregulation and therefore, the prevention of heat related illnesses in sport, physical activity, and occupational work.   What’s the most interesting thing you […] Read More

Name:Dr. Amy Brass Title:Assistant Professor Department:Teacher Education, Educational Leadership and Policy Describe your research in about 200 words.I am a mathematics teacher educator who looks at interdisciplinary connections with mathematics and citizenship. My research explores how can mathematics and mathematics education can be used to help learners of all ages to become informed, engaged, and empowered community members. […] Read More

Name: Dr. Xiaorong Liu   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Chemistry and Chemical Biology   Describe your research in about 200 words. My research focuses on the development and application of accurate and high-throughput computational methods to effectively guide the design of drug molecules, biologics, and functional proteins. Computational tools such as docking and machine […] Read More

Name: Dr. Jen Stacy Title: Assistant Professor Department: Individual, Family, & Community Education   Describe your research in about 200 words. My research examines relationships between multilingual families and schools through a critical ethnographic lens. By looking at the cultural practices of family outreach, my work captures schools’ perceptions of families and how those perceptions […] Read More

Name: Dr. Ursula Moffitt   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Dr. Ursula Moffitt, Educational Psychology; Individual, Family, and Community Education   Describe your research in about 200 words: Trained in cultural, developmental, and educational psychology, I take our inequitable society as a starting point for all my work, focusing in particular on white supremacy, patriarchy, […] Read More

Name:Dr. Jordan DeBrine Title:Assistant Professor Department:Special Education Describe your research in about 200 words.My research interests focus on increasing the generality of behavioral intervention amongst clients who engage in severe problem behavior, empirical integration of client choice and autonomy within behavioral assessment and treatment, and the application of behavior analytic practices to increase client safety and inclusivity across […] Read More

Name:Dr. Xiaoxuan Qu Title:Assistant Professor Department:Individual, Family, & Community Education Describe your research in about 200 words.I am a counselor educator and completed my Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at Syracuse University. My research revolves around counselor education, training, and andragogy. In particular, I study the phenomena of constructing and developing professional identity and theoretical orientation to […] Read More

Name: Dr. Tomek Falkowski   Title: Assistant Professor   Department: Honors College   Describe your research in about 200 words. I am an applied ecologist who takes an interdisciplinary lens to study socioecological systems, thereby understanding how we can restore reciprocal relationships between ecological and human communities, for the benefit of both. My research spans […] Read More