The faculty and personnel at Florida State University are integral to its vision and the foundation of its numerous successes.
Throughout the calendar year, honors and accolades are presented to individual faculty and staff throughout the campus. Faculty and Staff Briefs are created monthly to acknowledge achievements and offer a platform where recognitions, awards, publications, presentations, grants, services, and other significant items can be highlighted.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Kari Lien, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) gained acceptance into the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Lessons for Success Program, a rigorous training course for emerging researchers.
Wen Zhu, Ph.D. (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry) secured the Best Oral Presentation award in the Big Data for Biomedical Research Breakout Session for her invited discussion “Conformational Assembly of a Tunnel Gating Residue in Human Asparagine Synthetase,” presented at the 6th National Big Data Health Science Conference at the University of South Carolina.
Eugenia Flores Millender, Ph.D., RN, MS, PMHNP-BC, FAAN (College of Nursing) has been named a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) Class of 2025.
Charles Upchurch, Ph.D. (Department of English) has received a monthlong residency fellowship at the Lewis Walpole Library. His current project commemorates the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and investigates the role of queer and trans inclusion in shaping the ideologies that influenced the revolution.
Katie Redd (Student Union) was recognized by the Young Actors Theatre Board of Directors at the Tallahassee Leading Ladies Breakfast in March for her contributions to the performance arts.
Rachel Blakesley, Ed.D. (University Housing) was honored with an Outstanding Contributions to Research Award by the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers for her impact on the advancement of knowledge in the housing field.
Laurie Abbott, Ph.D., RN, CNE, DipACLM, PHNA-BC, FAAN (College of Nursing) was awarded the DAISY Award for Advancing Health Equity. This accolade recognizes nurses whose efforts promote health equity by addressing and alleviating health inequities caused by social determinants of health.
Lucinda J. Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) received the DAISY Award for Nursing Ethics. Created with the ANA’s Center for Ethics and Human Rights, the honor celebrates nurses whose leadership and compassion underscore the significance of ethics and human values in healthcare.
LeeAnn H. Barfield, Ph.D., DNP, APRN-BC, CNE, FACHE (College of Nursing) earned the DAISY Award for Nurse Leader. This recognition honors leaders who, while not directly involved in patient care, cultivate environments where compassionate, skilled care can flourish.
Jolynn Greenhalgh, DNP, APRN (College of Nursing) was given the DAISY Award for Lifetime Achievement. This distinction celebrates nurses dedicated to compassionate care through mentorship, advocacy, and the enhancement of nursing’s public image.
Amy Magnuson, Ph.D., RD, LD/N (University Health Services) was the recipient of the Charles F. Bohmann Award from the Southern College Health Association in March, acknowledging her commitment to college health and service to SCHA.
Cameron Beatty, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) was honored with the award for Distinguished Support for Graduate Students by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) faculty council at the NASPA Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Sherry Southerland, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) received the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching.
Rima Nathan, JD (College of Law) has been chosen as a recipient of the 2024-25 University Teaching Award for Community-Engaged Instruction.
Kat Klepfer, JD (College of Law) earned the Service to SEAALL Award, which honors members of the Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries (SEAALL) for their exceptional and sustained contributions to the chapter.
Terry Londy, MA (Department of Interior Architecture & Design) was awarded an Emerging Scholar Award by the Design Principles & Practices Research Network.
GRANTS
Candace Ward, Ph.D. (Department of English) secured a Curran Fellowship grant of $5,000 from the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals to support her project “Printing the Cosmopolis: The Colonial Caribbean Press and the Circulation of Pan-Caribbean Identities.” The grant will facilitate a research trip to the National Library of Jamaica this autumn.
Daejin Kim, Ph.D. (Department of Interior Architecture & Design) and their research team have received a grant from The American Occupational Therapy Foundation for their project “Utilizing Virtual Reality Technology to Enhance Acceptance of Home Modifications for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study.” This funded initiative aims to investigate the efficacy of virtual reality in fostering the adoption of home adaptations for those living with multiple sclerosis.
BYLINES
Jacob Eisler, Ph.D., JD (College of Law) authored “Discrimination, Private Liberty and Public Accommodation,” which appeared in the Texas A&M Law Review.
Don Compton, Ph.D. (Department of Psychology) published his research “Achievement Goal Profiles and Reading-Related Outcomes in Elementary Students with and without Reading Difficulties” in the Learning and Individual Differences Journal.
Sonia Cabell, Ph.D. and Arzu Güngör Leushuis, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) co-authored “The Frequency of Informational Text Read-Alouds in Kindergarten and its Association with Students’ Vocabulary and Knowledge Development,” published in the Early Childhood Education Journal.
Remy E. Jennings, Ph.D. (College of Business) released “When You Can’t Turn Off Work: The Counteracting Effects of Workplace Power on Ruminating at Home” in Personnel Psychology.
Amy L. Ai, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) and Wenyi Li (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) collaborated on an article titled “When State Rescue Systems were Immobilized: Post-Hurricane Depression, Hope, and Spirituality among Black and White Student Volunteers,” which was published in the Journal of American College Health.
Christopher Lonigan, Ph.D. (Department of Psychology) along with doctoral candidates Christopher DeCamp and Sarah Alfonso co-published “Performance- and Report-Based Measures of Executive Function as Indicators of Children’s Academic Skills” in the journal Neuropsychology.
Brian Inouye, Ph.D. (Department of Biological Science) penned “Butterfly Populations Flutter Away,” which appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
ElizabethRay, Ph.D., Patrick Merle, Ph.D. (School of Communication) along with doctoral candidate Kaylin Lane have disseminated their research paper “Generating Credibility in Crisis: Will an AI-Scripted Response Be Accepted?” in the International Journal of Strategic Communication.
Zilong Xie, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) has published
“Effects of Age, Stimulus Degradation, and Sentence Context on Auditory Temporal Processing” in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
Stephanie Zuilkowski, Ed.D. (Learning Systems Institute) contributed to the publication “The Bloomsbury Handbook of Method in Comparative and International Education,” which was launched at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Nathan Line, Ph.D., Lydia Hanks, Ph.D., and Milly Njeri, Ph.D. (Dedman College of Hospitality) collaboratively authored the research article “Expanding the Domain of Hospitality Research: the Hospitality Virtue Scale“ featured in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Danielle Park, Ph.D., and Sean McGinley, Ph.D. (Dedman College of Hospitality) are coauthors of the publication “Navigating the Digital Hospitality Frontier: Unraveling the Intricacies Between Technology Adoption Level and Tech-Induced Role Ambiguity,” released in the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.
Abhinav Sharma, Ph.D. (Dedman College of Hospitality), is a coauthor on the article “Transformative Outcomes of Workcation: Satisfaction, Place Attachment, and Behavioral Intentions” in the Journal of Travel Research.
Tarik Dogru, Ph.D. (Dedman College of Hospitality) collaborated on the article “Guiding the Path to Sustainable Tourism Development: Investigating the Role of Tour Guides within a Social Exchange Theory Paradigm“ found in the scholarly journal Tourism Management.
Woody Kim, Ph.D. (Dedman College of Hospitality) contributed as a coauthor to the research article “Towards a greener bite: unraveling consumer intentions to embrace sustainable online food delivery services” in the Journal of Foodservice Business Research.
Brittany Devies, Ph.D. (Fraternity and Sorority Life) authored the pieces “Sound Leadership: Harnessing the Power of Podcasts in Leadership Development” and “Celebrity as Catalyst: Connecting Leadership Development to Pop Culture” in New Directions for Student Leadership.
Timothy Baghurst, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) is a coauthor of “Lived Experiences of Stress and the Coping Mechanisms of Assistant Coaches in the National Basketball Association (NBA),” published in Quest.
Ravinder Nagpal, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) alongside graduate students Gwoncheol Park, Katelyn Johnson, Katelyn Miller, Saurabh Kadyan, and Cole Patoine coauthored “Almond Snacking Modulates Gut Microbiome and Metabolome in Association with Improved Cardiometabolic and Inflammatory Markers” featured in Nature’s The Science of Food.
Jenny Root, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) authored the open-access article “Mixed Methods: Opportunities and Challenges for Special Education Research” for Focus on Research, published by the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Research. She also coauthored “Prioritizing Preregistration in Special Education,” which appears in the journal Research in Special Education.
Sabrina L. Dickey, Ph.D., MSN, RN (College of Nursing) Amy L. Ai, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) and doctoral candidate Ponsiano Ngondwe jointly authored “Post-Traumatic Growth Following a Category-5 Hurricane: An Exploratory Study of Black Communities in Florida, United States” published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life.
Gashaye Tefera, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) coauthored “Barriers and Facilitators of Access to Healthcare Among Immigrants with Disabilities: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis,” published in the journal Healthcare.
Bruce Thyer, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) penned the piece “Introduction: Special Issue on Experimental Social Work Outcomes Studies from China,” which appeared in the journal Research on Social Work Practice. He also wrote “Mandated Ideologies are Harmful to Social Work Practice and Research,” published in the Journal of Teaching in Social Work.
Monika Gossman, MA (School of Theatre) wrote “The Emotional Toll of Performance: Supporting Mental Health in Theater and Film” for World Media Festivals.
Shawn Bayern, JD (College of Law) released his book “Principles and Possibilities in Common Law: Torts, Contracts, and Property.”
Meghan Mick, MLA (Department of Interior Architecture & Design) authored “Designing Ecotones: Engaging Liminal Space in the Built Environment,” published in Ekistics and the New Habitat.
Qiuchang (Katy) Cao, Ph.D. (College of Social Work), Dawn Carr, Ph.D. (Claude Pepper Center) and Miles Taylor, Ph.D. (Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy) are coauthors of “Education, Occupational Environment, and Cognitive Function in Later Life” published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.
Lauren Stanley, Ph.D., Melissa Radey, Ph.D., Lisa Magruder, Ph.D. and Dina Wilke, Ph.D. (Florida Institute for Child Welfare) coauthored the article “Predictor Importance of Organizational Factors of Burnout in Child Welfare Workers” released in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect.
PRESENTATIONS AND CONFERENCES
Holly Hunt, Ph.D., Yanyu Pan, Ph.D. and Jack Krebs, MS (Academic Center for Excellence) exhibited “Streamlining Dual Enrollment Processes Using Various Technology Platforms” at the Florida Alliance of Dual Enrollment Partnerships conference in Leesburg, Florida.
Subhasree Sengupta, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Educating an Algorithmic World: Innovation, Ideologies and Curriculum Development” at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education Conference in Orlando.
Justin Kennemur, Ph.D. (Department of History) delivered an invited lecture, “The Juice is Worth the Squeeze: Transforming Stubborn Monomers to Sustainable Materials, Advanced Architectures, Fuel Cell Membranes, and Beyond,” at the University of New Haven’s Department of Chemistry in West Haven, Connecticut.
Fanny Caroline Liu, Ph.D. (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry) gave her invited talk “Probing the Conformational Landscape of Monoclonal Antibodies by Tandem-Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry” during the Field and Franklin Award session honoring University of California professor of biological chemistry Joseph A. Loo at the American Chemical Society Spring 2025 Meeting in San Diego, California, and virtually.
Celia Reddick, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Toward Inclusive Refugee Education? Host Country Teachers, Refugee Students, and the Limits of Global Policy” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Subhasree Sengupta, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) and Yin Yang, Ph.D. (College of Communicationand Information) collaboratively presented “Stories for Recovery: A Study of Interactions Within a Virtual Community on Dealing with Bullying Trauma” at iConference 2025.
Matthew Goff, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) delivered the presidential address “End Times Now and Then: Biblical Studies, QAnon, and Conspiracy Beliefs” at the American Academy of Religion (AAR) annual gathering at Florida Memorial University, serving as the previous president of the AAR southeastern regional chapter.
Rick Burnette, Ph.D. (Office of the Provost) showcased “Development of Institutional Research” during the plenary panel discussion at the annual gathering of the Florida Association for Institutional Research 2025.
Kate Schell, Ph.D., Brenda Aromu Wawire, Ph.D., and Jai Bum Koo (Learning Systems Institute) showcased “Pre-Service Teacher Training Through the Prism: Emphasizing Grassroots Insights from Malawi and Rwanda” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Shuyuan Ho Metcalfe, Ph.D. (School of Information), along with doctoral student Ghazal Hussain, co-presented “Handling Anxiety and Uncertainty: The Information-Seeking Behaviors of IT Managers During Turbulent Times” at the Southern Association for Information Systems conference in Tampa, Fla.
Marion Fesmire, Ed.D. and Ana H. Marty, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) co-presented “Could Adding a Fourth Year to Pre-Service Teacher Education Address the Teacher Training Gap in Rwanda?” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Alda Balthrop-Lewis, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) presented her essay “Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity: Henry David Thoreau and the Politics of Solitude” during a special lecture at Georgia State University.
Nicole Patton Terry, Ph.D. (Florida Center for Reading Research) presented “The Importance of Leadership in Implementing Evidence-Based Reading and Literacy Practices in Educational Institutions” at the AIM Institute for Learning and Research’s 13th Annual Symposium.
Nilay Özok-Gündoğan, Ph.D. (Department of History) delivered “Constructing Empire: Resource Extraction, State Formation, and Ottoman Colonialism in Kurdistan” at the Ohio State University’s Department of History Lecture Series focused on Ottoman and Turkish History. She also conducted a virtual book discussion titled “Kurdish Nobility in the Ottoman Empire: Loyalty, Autonomy, and Privilege” at Koc University’s History Department Talks in Istanbul, Turkey.
Adrienne Barnes-Story, Ph.D., Jennie Robinette, M.Ed. (Learning Systems Institute) showcased “How Do We Support All Students? Insights into Pedagogies for Overcrowded Classrooms in Malawi” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Heather Bishop, Ph.D., Brandon Saridjo, MSW, and Christina Hanna, MS (Transfer Student Services) co-presented “SPEAR: Supporting, Preparing, and Empowering Academic Resilience for Florida State Transfer Students” at the 2025 National Student Success Conference in Orlando, Fla.
Flavia Ramos-Mattoussi, Ed.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Investigating Inclusion, School Environment, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Decolonial Insights” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Emaly Hall, MSW and Olivia Saunders, MS (Advising First) conducted a poster session titled “Decision Fatigue: The Experience of a College Student,” at the National Academic Advising Association: The Global Community for Academic Advising Region 4 Conference in Jacksonville, Fla.
Lee Howell, MBA, Heather Epstein-Diaz, and Andrew Brady (Office of Institutional Research) presented “Closing Gaps: Data Catalogs as Engines for Data Literacy” at the 2025 FAIR Annual Conference.
Zilong Xie, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) presented the oral presentation “Subcortical Responses to Continuous Speech under Divided Attention Across Modalities” at the 48th Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology in Orlando, Fla. Additionally, Xie and colleagues from his lab shared two posters: “Neural Tracking of Hierarchical Linguistic Structures in Second Language Acquisition,” in collaboration with Zhiying Qian (Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics) and “Impact of Binaural Unmasking on Subcortical and Cortical Responses to Continuous Speech.”
Grace Fennema, M.Ed. and Brittany Stover (Department of Student Engagement) presented “Depicting the Past, Crafting the Future: Art as a Medium for Student Empowerment” at the 2025 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Annual Conference.
Rolando Torres, M.S., Corbin Nall, M.A. and Anthony Kurza (Advising First) presented “Transformative Opportunities of Tabletop Role-Playing Games in Higher Education” at the National Academic Advising Association: The Global Community for Academic Advising Region 4 Conference in Jacksonville, Fla.
Kian Mapp, MSCID and Alexa Sikora, M.S. (Advising First) presented “Navigating the Office Waves with Your First Mate, Power Automate” at the National Academic Advising Association: The Global Community for Academic Advising Region 4 Conference in Jacksonville, Fla.
Erin Sylvester Philpot, Ed.D. (Center for Leadership and Service) served as the opening speaker for the statewide senior leaders and managers meeting of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and presented “The Leadership Toolkit.”
Marrese Whitsett (University Housing) delivered “Merging the Future: Effective Strategies for Thriving in a Multigenerational Housing Department” at the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers regional conference.
Alice Maxwell (Division of Student Affairs Marketing and Communications) co-presented “Growing Pains: Is Your Division’s Marketing Strategy and Structure Outdated?” at the 2025 NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Motoko Akiba, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) offered “Publishing Your Research in AERJ: An Orientation for International Scholars,” a webinar in her capacity as editor-in-chief of the American Educational Research Journal.
Veronica Fleury, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) led the focal session for the Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities at the 2025 Council for Exceptional Children Annual Convention in Baltimore. Her presentation was entitled “Pre-bunking and Countering Autism Misinformation.”
Dana Auvil, Ed.S., MS (Advising First) presented “Micromessages Matter: Grasping the Subtle Signals that Speak Volumes” at the National Academic Advising Association: The Global Community for Academic Advising Region 4 Conference in Jacksonville, Fla.
Bret Keating, M.S., Adam Gabrini, M.A. and Shawn Winship, M.S., Ed.S. (Advising First) presented a poster session titled “From Island to Mainland: Redefining the Role of Universities in the 21st Century” at the National Academic Advising Association: The Global Community for Academic Advising Region 4 Conference in Jacksonville, Fla.
Amy Hecht, Ed.D. (Vice President for Student Affairs) and Brittany Devies, Ph.D. (Fraternity…
and Sorority Life) jointly presented “Telling Time: Time Management of Women in Senior Student Affairs Positions” during a pre-conference session at the 2025 NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Delaney Sills, MS (Housing) showcased “From Mundane to Board Games: Enhancing Student Staff Activities through Gamification” at the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers regional conference.
Sarah Butler, MEd and Delaney Sills, MS (Housing) delivered “Commitment to Curriculum: Generating Buy In” at the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers regional conference.
Alycia Malicz, Alice Maxwell (Division of Student Affairs Marketing and Communications), Allison B. Peters, Ph.D. (Division of Undergraduate Studies) and David Peters (Campus Recreation) collaboratively presented “Cutting Through the Noise: Collaborative Strategies for Student Communication, Engagement, and Retention” at the 2025 NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Sarah Butler, MEd (Housing) served as a panel member for “Empowered Leadership” at the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers regional conference.
Lauren Gillis, MFA (School of Theatre) delivered “An Overview of Swing Pedagogy” at the Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance Conference in NYC.
Kristin Dowell, Ph.D. (Department of Art History) presented “Fite Fuaite (Interwoven): Interrelations, Land, and Language in Irish Art” at the American Conference for Irish Studies in Savannah, GA.
Michael Buchler, Ph.D. (College of Music) delivered the keynote address “(Non) Semper Idem: Challenges to ‘All er Nuthin’’ Methodologies, Hierarchy, Register, and Cadence” at the 2025 Music Theory Southeast Conference in Greenville, SC.
Freddy Juarez, Jarred Pernier, Brittany Devies, Ph.D. (Fraternity and Sorority Life) and Zduy Chu, Ed.D. (Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs) co-delivered “Foundational Leadership and Organizational Wellness (FLOW) Model: Developing Leadership Learning for Individuals and Organizations” during the NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Meghan Mick, MLA (Department of Interior Architecture & Design) co-presented a study titled “Rewilding Interiors” at the Biophilia Symposium hosted at Penn State University.
Stephanie Tillman and Danielle Porter (University Housing) collaborated on “Innovating First-Year Experience Courses via Connection and Collaborative Partnership” at the First-Year Experience Conference in New Orleans.
Jessica Bahorski, Ph.D., APRN, PPCNP-BC, WHNP (College of Nursing) presented “A Mixed-Methods Examination of Variations in Responsive Infant Feeding” at the Southeast Regional Clinical & Translational Science Conference.
Lucinda J. Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) showcased “Supporting Health in Rural Veterans with Heart Failure: CARE-HF Protocol” at the 39th Annual Southern Nursing Research Society Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. The research team features co-Investigators Laurie Abbott, Ph.D., RN, DipACLM, CNE, PHNA-BC, FAAN, Tom Ledermann, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences), and doctoral candidate Josef Hodgkins.
PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITIONS
Katie Kehoe, MFA (Department of Art) had her creation “Time is of the Essence” highlighted in “Eyes on the South,” Oxford American’s online series emphasizing photography and visual art.
Panayotis (Paddy) League, Ph.D. (College of Music) journeyed to Athens, Greece to deliver a lecture and performance titled “Crete: Music of Resistance” at the Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.
Wellington (Wells) Gordon, MM (College of Music) recorded 26 musical cues with an orchestra for the film “Granite Rapids Moon,” produced by John Charles Meyer. The film is set for a nationwide release this year, with a screening in Tallahassee later on.
SERVICE
Celia Reddick, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presided over a business meeting for Language Issues SIG at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Kate Schell, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) chaired the discussion “Can Adding a Fourth Year to Preservice Teacher Education Bridge the Teacher Training Gap in Rwanda?” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Ana H. Marty, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) led the sessions “Pre-Service Teacher Education through the Prism: Spotlight on Grassroots Perspectives from Malawi and Rwanda” and “Integrated Approaches in ECD” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Shuyuan Ho Metcalfe, Ph.D. (School of Information) participated on the panel “Defending Reality: Human-AI Collaboration to Unravel Deepfake Information Alteration” during the Southern Association for Information Systems conference in Tampa, Florida.
Stephanie Zuilkowski, Ed.D. (Learning Systems Institute) contributed as a panelist to “The Impact of the Trump Administration’s Foreign Policy on International Education” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Flavia Ramos-Mattoussi, Ed.D. (Learning Systems Institute) chaired the workshop “Arts-Based Research for Global Community Engagement: Showcasing the Creation and Application of the FotoDialogo Method” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Marcia A. Mardis, Ph.D. (School of Information) conducted “PLAN Jam,” a workshop aimed at empowering public library professionals to improve their disaster response and community involvement strategies during natural disasters at Wakulla County Public Library.
Lee Howell, MBA, Heather Epstein-Diaz and Eclipse Ramsey, MS (Office of Institutional Research) guided the session “HR Compensation Dashboard: A Resource for Pay Equity and Retention” at the 2025 FAIR Annual Conference.
Brenda Aromu Wawire, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) was a panelist discussing the presentation “How Do We Manage All the Children? Understanding Pedagogies for Overcrowded Classrooms in Malawi” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Grace Ali, MFA (Department of Art) was chosen as the Keynote Speaker for RAW 2025, a graduate student conference orchestrated by the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Jai Bum Koo (Learning Systems Institute) chaired “How Do We Manage All the Children? Understanding Pedagogies for Overcrowded Classrooms in Malawi” at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference in Chicago.
Ebrahim Randeree, Ph.D. (College of Communication and Information) led a team of student volunteers from the STARS Alliance at the SciGirls at Montford Middle School annual STEM evening to provide STEM outreach for K-12 students. The student team comprised Bella Bozied, Andrea Colon-De-Feria, Ava Downes, Sophia Ferraro, Maggie Martin-McKinnie, Leah Pagan, Orion Qualls, Tanya Raphael, Vedant Satwik, Jennifer Sterling, Khylle Valle, Owen.
Van Lenten and Elyse Walcott.
Jenny Root, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) has been appointed as associate editor for Teacher Education and Special Education, the publication of the teacher education division within the Council for Exceptional Children.
Tracey Dowling, Ed.D. (Career Center) has been elected to hold the position of Executive Vice President/President Elect of the Cooperative Education & Internship Association (CEIA) Board for 2025-26. Dowling has been a member of the CEIA Board since 2015, recently acting as Vice President for Professional Development.
Daniel Smith, MME (School of Dance) took on the role of an adjudicator for The Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States 2025 National Conference hosted at Purdue University.
Phil Hiver, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) has been appointed associate editor for “System.” Doctoral candidate Joseph Yamazaki is also a participant on the student editorial board for “System.”
Veronica Fleury, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) has been designated as associate editor for the Journal of Early Intervention.
NOTABLE
Brian Graves, Ph.D. (School of Communication) participated in the Broadcast Education Association Convention 2025 held in Las Vegas.
Carrie Meyers, Jim Reynolds, Ashley French, and Heather French (Learning Systems Institute) facilitated a workshop alongside Florida’s educators to develop test items for the Florida Department of Education’s FAST Assessment, which corresponds with the Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking Standard.
Kristina Hakansson, Ph.D. (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry) together with Ryan Rogers (National High Magnetic Field Laboratory) co-hosted the 14th North American FT-MS Conference in Tahoe City, California.
Michael Shatruk, Ph.D. (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry) in collaboration with Stephen Hill, Ph.D. (Department of Physics) jointly organized MAGNA-2025, the 4th Conference on Molecular Magnetism in North America at Florida State University.
Yan Zeng, Ph.D. (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry) orchestrated the symposium “S14 AI in Materials Research: from Data Analysis; Autonomous Experimentation to Human AI Cooperation” for the 2025 Electronic Materials and Applications conference in Denver, Colorado.
Donna M. Johnson-Byrd, DNP, RN, NCSN, CNE (College of Nursing) has been chosen by the National League for Nursing as a writer of exam items for the Certified Nurse Educator test. The CNE examination serves as a standard of excellence, evaluating the expertise and competencies vital for nurse educators.
Nina Davis, MS (College of Nursing) received an invitation to become a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society.
Jennifer Gillette, MFA (School of Theatre) has been appointed Associate Costume Designer for Semele at the Atlanta Opera 2025.
Suzan Kurdak (Division of Student Affairs Marketing and Communications) was a panelist who presented on “Memoir Writing: Processes and Pitfalls” during the Tallahassee Writers Association general assembly in March.
Carol Burns (University Health Services) successfully completed the National Certification Exam and is now recognized as a Certified Medical Administrative Assistant.
Please forward items for Faculty and Staff Briefs to [email protected]. We publish on a monthly basis.
The announcement Faculty and Staff Briefs March 2025 initially appeared on Florida State University News.