People

Our core interdisciplinary team of researchers who focus on inclusion in undergraduate STEM span biology education, geosciences education, engineering education, math education, sociology, and higher education. Our affiliate members are strongly interested in translating our research findings into policy and practice. If you are at Arizona State University and are interested in becoming either a core member or an affiliate member, please contact us for more information.

Leadership

Sara Brownell

Director
 sara.brownell@asu.edu
Website

Trained as a PhD neuroscientist, Sara transitioned to become a discipline-based education researcher and conducts research on how we can make undergraduate biology learning environments more inclusive, specifically focusing on women, LGBTQ+ students, students with disabilities, transfer students, and religious students.

Kristen Parrish

Associate Director
 kristen.parrish@asu.edu
Website

Kristen Parrish is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and Chair of the Graduate Programs for the Del E. Webb School of Construction at Arizona State University (ASU).

Core faculty and staff

Naneh Apkarian

Assistant Professor
 napkaria@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Apkarian has a research-focused PhD in Mathematics Education from San Diego State University, with a concentration in Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. She is experienced with a variety of research proje…

Brooke Coley

Assistant Professor
 Brooke.Coley@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Brooke Coley is an assistant professor in engineering at the Polytechnic School of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Prior to joining the Polytechnic School, Dr. Coley completed…

Katelyn (Katey) Cooper

Assistant Professor
, Director of the Mental Health Division
 katelyn.cooper@asu.edu
Website

Katey is the PI of the Cooper Biology Education Research Lab at ASU. Her research group examines how to make biology learning environments more inclusive for students with anxiety and depression. In addition, Katey leads RISE research projects…

Anna Cunningham

 Anna.M.Cunningham@asu.edu

Dr. Cunningham (called Dr. C by her beloved students) is a microbiologist and has been teaching biology since 2014. She has a passion for community-based inclusive and anti-racist teaching methodologies, as well as spreading her love for infect…

Antonio Duran

Assistant Professor
 aaduran1@asu.edu
Website

Antonio Duran, PhD (he/him/él) is an assistant professor in higher and postsecondary education at Arizona State University. His research examines how historical and contemporary legacies of oppression (e.g., racism, heterosexism, trans oppressi…

Firoz Firozzaman

 mfirozz@asu.edu

I have been teaching at ASU since January 2002. My interest is in teaching and researching mathematics, especially for K-12. I have developed a foundation course (AP Precalculus) for STEM students. In this course, students have the opportunity…

Meseret F. Hailu

Assistant Professor
 meseret.hailu@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Meseret F. Hailu is an Assistant Professor of Higher and Postsecondary Education at Arizona State University (ASU). Her research focuses on the retention of minoritized women in STEM higher education pathways. Rec…

Ally Hamie

Chemistry Instructor
 ahamie1@asu.edu

My doctoral studies, with an emphasis on leadership for higher education (EdD), have equipped me with the necessary professional skills and qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis perspectives. Additionally, my focus on research, with…

Mary Kahraman

Research Assistant
 mkahrama@asu.edu

Bio: Mary is a first-generation Assyrian college student from Guatemala.

Chris Mead

Assistant Research Scientist
 cjmead1@asu.edu

Bio: I am an Assistant Research Scientist in the School of Earth & Space Exploration and the Center for Education Through Exploration at Arizona State Univeristy. I received my PhD in Isotope Geochemistry and Disciplin…

Barret Michalec

Associate Professor
, Director - Center for Advancing Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research (CAIPER)
 Barret.Michalec@asu.edu

Bio: A sociologist by training, Michalec’s research examines socialization and professionalization processes and mechanisms nested within health professions education and practice – most notably those impacting socio-emoti…

Fabio Milner

School of Mathematics Center Director & Professor
 milner@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Fabio Milner studies structured population models, including demography, epidemics, ecology, and tumor growth. Populations are usually structured by age (demographic and/or age-of-disease), and may also be structu…

Tasneem Mohammed

Masters Student
 tmohamm2@asu.edu

Bio: Tasneem is a first-generation and transfer student born in Phoenix, Arizona, originally from Palestine. At Arizona State University, Tasneem is pursuing a B.S. degree and Master's degree in Biological Sciences with a conce…

Jynx Pigart

PhD Candidate
 cpigartc@asu.edu

Growing up in NY and NC, Jynx later earned her BS in Biology & Psychology at East Carolina University.

Saumya Ramanathan

Assistant Professor of Genetics
 Saumya.Ramanathan@asu.edu

I am a cancer-biologist by training and my lab studies the expression patterns and biochemical function of group of genes that are aberrantly expressed in many cancers. Our future goals, in addition to cancer research, is to identify equitable…

Darryl Reano

Assistant Professor
 Darryl.Reano@asu.edu

Bio: Darryl Reano is an assistant professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. Reano's research is focused on creating culturally relevant educational environments using Indigenous research frameworks. Before jo…

Rod D. Roscoe

Associate Professor
 rod.roscoe@asu.edu

Bio: I am a queer, able-bodied (ish) person of the global majority. I enjoy reading, video games, and television, typically with a science fiction or fantasy theme. I also enjoy amateur nature photography and collage art p…

Teona Savic

Undergraduate researcher
 tsavic@asu.edu

Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Teona moved to Arizona to pursue a B.S.

Dina Verdín

Assistant Professor
 dina.verdin@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Dina Verdín is trained in the fields of Engineering Education and Industrial Engineering. She is a Mexican-American, Southern California native who was the first in her family to attend college (i.e., first-genera…

Nicholas Wiesenthal

Lead of Strategic Marketing and Communications
 nwiesent@asu.edu

Bio: Nick is a Research Specialist from Orlando, Florida who moved to pursue his graduate degree at Arizona State University in Fall 2022 and graduated in Fall 2023 with an M.S. in Biology. Nick transferred from George Mason Un…

Core research team

Carly Busch

PhD Student
 cabusch@asu.edu

Bio: Carly grew up in Houston, TX and earned her BA in Biology at Whitman College. After teaching introductory biology labs at the University of Washington in Seattle, Carly realized her interest in undergraduate biology education. She is currently a PhD student at ASU and is broadly interested in research to make undergraduate learning environments more equitable and…

Baylee Edwards

PhD Student
, RISE Center Liaison to the Teaching Innovation Center
 baedwa10@asu.edu

Bio: Baylee was born and raised in Chandler, Arizona. She graduated with a B.S. in Biology and Society from Arizona State University in 2021 and is now continuing her education at ASU as she works towards an M.S. in Biology and Society. Baylee fell in love with biology during high school, and her goal is to one day become a teacher and give other students that same passion…

Emma Goodwin

Postdoctoral Scholar
 ecgoodw1@asu.edu

Bio: Originally from Vacaville, California, Emma completed a B.S. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at UCLA, where she became involved as a student in both independent faculty-mentored undergraduate research and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). After finishing her undergraduate degree, Emma taught upper-division CUREs as a non-…

Mary Kahraman

Research Assistant
 mkahrama@asu.edu

Bio: Mary is a first-generation Assyrian college student from Guatemala.

Sam Maas

Undergraduate Researcher
 smaas1@asu.edu

Bio: Sam is a senior majoring in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Biology and Society and minoring in Public Service and Policy. In their free time, Sam enjoys spending time with their cats and playing on ASU’s quidditch team. 

Research: Sam is interested in making biology more equitable for all students and has focused their…

Taya Misheva

PhD Student
 amisheva@asu.edu

Bio: Taya was born in Ukraine and grew up in Chicago, IL, where she received a B.A. in Anthropology from Northwestern University. Taya then came to Arizona State University, where she received an M.A. in Evolutionary Anthropology and is currently working on a certificate in Scientific Teaching in Higher Education. Taya spends my free time cross-stitching, inventing sci-fi…

Tasneem Mohammed

Masters Student
 tmohamm2@asu.edu

Bio: Tasneem is a first-generation and transfer student born in Phoenix, Arizona, originally from Palestine. At Arizona State University, Tasneem is pursuing a B.S. degree and Master's degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Biology and Society, and on a Pre-health track. Due to her passion for education and medicine, Tasneem plans on continuing her studies to…

Joseph Gazing Wolf

Doctoral Research Fellow (NSF GRFP Ph.D. Student)
 jgwolf1@asu.edu

Bio: Joseph Gazing Wolf is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe with mixed race Black Seminole and Amazigh heritage. His life’s work is located at the interface of Indigenous lifeways and colonial cultures. His early journey from landless abject poverty and starvation revealed the vast indignities that Indigenous peoples have endured under colonial rule.

Affiliates

Ariel Anbar

President's Professor
 anbar@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Ariel Anbar is a President’s Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the School of Molecular Sciences. He is a geochemist exploring Earth's past and future as an inhabited world, and the prospects fo…

Mitra Asgari (she/her)

Biology Lecturer and Researcher
 masgari1@asu.edu
Website

Bio: I identify myself as an Iranian female biology college teacher and researcher. I am a passionate and critically reflective teacher, a strong advocate of student-centered and inclusive teaching with the hope to improve…

Ara Austin

Director of Online Engagement & Strategic Initiatives - The College
, Clinical Assistant Professor
 Ara.Austin@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Ara Austin received her B.S. in Biochemistry and Minors in Psychology and Communication Studies in 2011 and Ph.D. in Chemistry Education in 2018, all from Arizona State University. As the Director of Online Engage…

Karin Ellison

Clinical Professor
 karin.ellison@asu.edu

Karin Ellison's research, teaching and program development activities span the areas of research ethics, ethics education development and the history of American science and technology. As director of the Life Science Ethics Program within the…

Leah Gerber

Founding Director
 leah.gerber@asu.edu
Website

Leah Gerber is a professor of conservation science in the School of Life Sciences and founding director of the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes at Arizona State University. Gerber’s research, teaching, and leadership advance the integration of…

Sharon Hall

President's Professor
 sharonjhall@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Sharon J. Hall is an ecosystem scientist who explores the ecology of native and managed ecosystems that sustain people and other organisms within the community of life. 

Tiffany Lewis

PhD Candidate
 ecotlewis@asu.edu

Bio: Tiffany currently is a professor and instructional designer for the Online Master’s Program in the School of Life Sciences (SOLS). She also works with the Teaching and Learning Center in SOLS, focusing on supporting i…

Keon M. McGuire

Associate Professor & Program Co-Coordinator
 keon.mcguire@asu.edu

Bio: Dr. Keon M. McGuire (he/him/his) is an Associate Professor of Higher and Postsecondary Education in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and a Faculty Affiliate with the School of Social Transformation. He holds a joi…

Amy Pate

Director of Learning Design
 Amy.Pate@asu.edu

Bio: Amy is the Director of Learning Design for the College of Global Futures. Her passion is developing high quality inclusive courses that effectively implement emerging technologies for all students. She promotes collab…

Jessica Verpeut

Assistant Professor
 jverpeut@asu.edu
Website

As an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, my research focuses on the development of cerebellar neural circuits and structure. The lab uses cutting edge techniques to manipulate neurons in specific parts of the brain to examine resul…