Dr. Lizandra Godwin
Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico
Dr. Godwin is looking to understand the factors that impact the matriculation of Latinas into Engineering graduate programs. The MM4DBERs program will help her with current data analysis and set the foundation for incorporating mixture modeling into her future research.
Dr. Brandon Yik
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
University of Georgia
Dr. Yik's research seeks to understand how student perceptions are influenced by different grading systems (traditional vs specifications grading). His research focuses on understanding the distinct group of students based on response patterns to their experience in specifications-graded courses and their characteristics/attributes.
Dr. Leilani Arthurs
Associate Professor of Geological Sciences
University of Colorado, Boulder
Dr. Arthurs' research interests range from specific geoscience education topics (e.g., novice conceptions of Earth processes and phenomena) to general STEM education topics (e.g., STEM instructor teaching-focused professional development).
Dr. Sue Ellen DeChenne-Peters
Associate Professor in the Biology Department
Georgia Southern University
Dr. DeChenne-Peters' research focuses on student and faculty outcomes in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) as an opportunity for increased in equity in high impact practices in STEM education.
Dr. Joseph Mirabelli
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Dr. Mirabelli's research focuses on culture, stress, and retention for engineering graduate and undergraduate students, using mixed methods techniques with longitudinal approaches. The MM4DBERs project will support Dr. Mirabelli's investigations on how student identity and discipline can impact trajectories of intention to persist in engineering, engineering experiences, and dimensions of wellbeing.
Dr. Justin Pratt
Assistant Professor in Chemical Education
University of Rhode Island
Dr. Pratt’s research seeks to understand many aspects of chemistry teaching and learning environments. Dr. Pratt's mixture modeling work will consider historical trends in student success in general chemistry, using a combination of demographic and contextual factors. The overarching goal is to understand better ways in which student success can be fostered and improved, particularly for historically marginalized students.
Dr. Matilde Sanchez-Pena
Assistant Professor in Engineering Education
University of Buffalo
Dr. Sanchez-Pena's work is focused on the characterization of different dimensions of care within engineering education systems, including studying the experiences of engineering students and professionals living with mental health conditions, assessing gains in institutional efforts to advance equity and inclusion, and the training of socially responsible engineers.
Dr. Karen Watkins-Lewis
Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology
Morgan State University
Dr. Watkins-Lewis began her career in mechanical engineering before transitioning to systems management roles in aerospace engineering and nuclear energy. Dr. Lewis later pursued psychology degrees at Howard University, specializing in Developmental and Neuropsychology. Dr. Lewis's research interests focus on bio-ecological factors that affect diversity and persistence in science and engineering.
Dr. Meagan Sundstrom
Postdoctoral Researcher
Drexel University
Dr. Meagan Sundstrom is a postdoctoral researcher at Drexel University. Her current research aims to better characterize active learning pedagogies used to teach undergraduate physics using student network data, conceptual inventories, and classroom observations. Through the MM4DBERs fellowship, Meagan hopes to expand her suite of statistical methods in order to analyze data from participants of the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, with the goal of identifying subpopulations of undergraduate women in physics and their characteristics (e.g., their sense of belonging and motivation in physics and their peer networks) as well as determine which of these subpopulations are most at risk of leaving the field.
Dr. Melissa McCartney
Associate Professor in Pharmacology and Toxicology
University of Buffalo
Dr. Melissa McCartney is an Associate Professor in the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. Dr. McCartney’s research interests center on what educators can do to help undergraduate biomedical science majors see themselves as scientists, especially when identifying a scientific career path and entering the STEM workforce.