Program Faculty and Staff
College Park Scholars
- Advocates for Children
- Arts
- Business, Society, and the Economy
- Cultures of the Americas
- Earth, Life, and Time
- Environment, Technology, and Economy
- International Studies
- Life Sciences
- Media, Self, and Society
- Public Leadership
- Science and Global Change
- Science, Discovery, and the Universe
- Science, Technology, and Society
Dr. Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas
Faculty Director
kinkelas@umd.edu
Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas is an Associate Professor in the College Student Personnel Program, Department of Counseling & Personnel Services at the University of Maryland. Dr. Inkelas is the Principal Investigator for the National Study of Living-Learning Programs (NSLLP), which was awarded two grants from the National Science Foundation to study the role of living-learning programs in facilitating the success of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. Dr. Inkelas has also secured extramural funds from the American College Personnel Association (ACPA), the Association of College & University Housing Officers International (ACUHO-I), and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). The 2007 NSLLP data collection included over 50 postsecondary institutions across the United States, and over 20,000 undergraduate respondents in over 600 living-learning programs. Dr. Inkelas has published numerous articles and book chapters on living-learning programs, and has spoken about her research in both invited and refereed presentations around the United States.
In addition to her work with living-learning programs, Dr. Inkelas’s other research interests include the Asian Pacific American college student experience and assessments of campus racial climates. Dr. Inkelas obtained her B.A. and M.S. from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. from the Center for the Study of Higher & Postsecondary Education (CSHPE) at the University of Michigan. Prior to her appointment at Maryland, she developed and directed the Housing Research Office for University Housing at the University of Michigan from 1998-2001. Dr. Inkelas has been awarded the Research and Scholarship Award from ACUHO-I, the Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award from NASPA, and an Emerging Scholar designate by ACPA. She is currently serving as the 2009 Program Chair for the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Mr. Jim DeGeorge
Associate Director
jmdegeorge2@comcast.net
Jim De George received his masters degree from the University of Maryland, in 1970. He has worked with children and youth of all ages for over 40 years. He served as a teacher, counselor, school principal, and university lecturer. He has been a keynote speaker and group facilitator, at numerous conferences and meetings, throughout the country. Jim has worked primarily with "At-Risk" students and families, throught his career. And, has served as a consultant to many schools and school systems. He is most interested in providing experiential learning opportunities that coincide with academic classroom instruction.
Dr. Sharon Rubinstein
Program Faculty
serubins@umd.edu
Sharon Rubinstein serves on the program faculty of the Advocates for Children program in College Park Scholars. She is a lawyer and former journalist, with a strong background in public interest advocacy, particularly for children. Until recently and for more than eight years, Sharon worked at Maryland’s Advocates for Children and Youth. At ACY she served continuously as communications director, and at various points as a registered lobbyist, and interim child welfare policy director. Sharon has a long-standing commitment to juvenile justice issues. In addition to membership on the American Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Committee, she has consulted to the ABA’s Juvenile Justice Center. She was the Maryland Juvenile Justice Coalition’s communications director for many years.
Sharon spent nearly two years abroad with the University of Maryland’s European Division, taught a Law and Education seminar for the George Washington Graduate School of Education, and is currently supporting the efforts of the Public Justice Center as the Civil Right to Counsel Fellow. Sharon remains active in the ABA, and is one of the editors of the Fourth Amendment Handbook, now in its second edition. As a journalist, Sharon wrote for BusinessWeek Magazine, Newsweek International, the Baltimore Sun, Criminal Justice Magazine, and many other publications. She also wrote for CNN and CBS News, and was the producer of a local radio show, “Justice for Youth.” She serves on the board of the Megaphone Project, a video production company that promotes social justice causes.
Sharon is a former law clerk to the Honorable John Feikens, Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Michigan and is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Law School.
Ms. Kimberly Holmes
Graduate Assistant
kholmes@umd.edu
Kimberly Holmes is a first-year doctoral student in the Higher Education PhD program. Kim is interested in studying factors behind gaps in the educational attainment and persistence of African American men and women in higher education, the experiences of underrepresented students in the STEM fields and the impact of leadership development on students of color in college.
Kim received her B.A. in Latin American studies from the University of Richmond and her M.Ed in Higher Education from the College of William and Mary. She has worked in a number of higher education settings, including positions in Multicultural Affairs, Undergraduate Admissions, Athletics (Advising), Residence Life, and Summer Transition Programs at the University of Richmond and William and Mary. She also taught Spanish as an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Dr. Sangeeta Ray
Faculty Director
rays@umd.edu
Dr. Sangeeta Ray earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1991. She has authored En-Gendering India: Woman and Nation in Colonial and Postcolonial Narratives (Duke, 2000) and Edition: A Companion to Postcolonial Studies (with Henry Schwarz, 2000).
Dr. Ray is the author of numerous articles and reviews in such collections and journals as Gender and Studies, Ariel, and Genders. Her prizes and awards include a NEH summer grant from Brown University in 1994; a Lilly Teaching Fellowship from 1994 to 1995; the UM Woman of Color Award in 1997, and was nominated for the Outstanding Faculty Award by the College Park Association of Parents in 1992. She has also been the director of the Asian-American Studies Certificate Program since 1997, was a founding member of the Cultural Studies Association and was the President of the organization from 2006-2008. Dr. Ray's book, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: In Other Words is forthcoming from Blackwell-Wiley in 2009. She is currently finishing up a manuscript titled An Ethics of Postcolonial Reading.
Mr. Gary Ford
Assistant Director
gford@umd.edu
Gary is enrolled in the PhD Program in American Studies. Prior to entering the Program, he obtained an MFA in Creative Writing from New School University, a. JD from Columbia Law School, and a BA in Afro-American Studies from Harvard University. Gary’s prior teaching experience includes two terms as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in African American Studies at the University of Maryland and two years as a teacher in the UPWARD BOUND Program at Fairfield University.
Mr. Harold Burgess
Faculty Director
harold@umd.edu
Harold Burgess, is a long time affiliate of the University of Maryland where he earned his Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatrical design. Prior to becoming Director of the Arts Scholars program, Harold taught lighting design, drafting, and graduate seminar courses in design for the Department of Theatre. In 2005, he received the distinguished Henry C. Welcome Fellowship and a General Research Board Summer Award in 2006. As a professional lighting designer, he has worked with numerous Baltimore/Washington area theatres including: Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Rep Stage, Everyman Theatre and the African Continuum Theatre Company.
Mr. Nicholas Cohen
Assistant Director, Programming
nscohen@umd.edu
Nicholas Cohen is currently pursuing a DMA at the University of Maryland in bassoon performance after earning his MM in performance at Carnegie Mellon University, and his BM in performance with a minor in Psychology from the University of Florida. In addition to performance, Mr. Cohen is interested in continuing the advancement of instrumental pedagogy especially in the case of dyslexic students. Mr. Cohen’s work in the arts is multi-faceted. Not only is he the Assistant Director of the College Park Scholars Program, but he is also currently the Ensemble Manager of the University of Maryland Wind Orchestra.
Ms. Jennifer Cihonski
Assistant Director, Administration
jscihonski@gmail.com
Jennifer Cihonski is a candidate for a Master’s degree in English with an emphasis on contemporary literature. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in English and Journalism from Penn State University in 2008. During her undergraduate career, she published several articles with the area’s local magazine Town & Gown and donated her time to helping children learn to read and write through the organization of KidsRead. At Penn State, she transcribed some of Ernest Hemingway’s correspondence for the notable Hemingway Letters Project. In her spare time, she relaxes by cooking, biking, and playing the clarinet and saxophone.
Business, Society, and the Economy
Dr. Mark Wellman
Faculty Director
mwellman@rhsmith.umd.edu
Mark Wellman is currently a Tyser Teaching Fellow at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and the director of the Business, Society & the Economy program of College Park Scholars. Dr. Wellman has received numerous outstanding awards including a faculty fellowship from the Graduate Management Admission Council Education Research Institute. His research is examining the impact of the MBA degree on career success outcomes. For his outstanding contribution to business education, he received the Alan Krowe Award for Teaching Excellence. He teaches in the area of global strategy, and organizational change. His research interests include human capital, career success, and strategic management. Dr. Wellman is a member of the Academy of Management. Before returning to the classroom in 2001, he served as the assistant dean of the MBA/MS programs at the Robert H. Smith School of Business from 1990-2001. During his tenure, he was part of an ambitious effort to enhance the reputation of the MBA program. Dr. Wellman also participated in a comprehensive renewal of the MBA and oversaw the program expansion. Full-time MBA enrollment increased by more than 100 percent and part-time enrollment increased nearly 175 percent. In addition, he assisted in the opening of three off campus locations for the MBA program. Prior to arriving at Maryland in 1990, he served as the director of graduate studies in business at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Wellman holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a focus on organizational behavior and development from the George Washington University School of Business Administration. In addition, he has an undergraduate and graduate degree from Bowling Green State University.
Mrs. Claudia Donnelly
Assistant Director
cdonnelly@rhsmith.umd.edu
Claudia Donnelly holds a Masters Degree in Sports Administration from Ohio University and a Bachelors Degree in Communication from Rutgers University. She is the Assistant Director of the Business, Society & the Economy program of College Park Scholars. She fulfills various administrative roles including helping the BSE faculty coordinate activities planned for the students each semester. In addition, she coordinates the communications between the BSE program and the students within the program. Before joining the Scholars program at the University of Maryland, Mrs. Donnelly worked on the political campaign of a candidate in Montgomery County.
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Faculty Director
tholtz@umd.edu
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. is a dinosaur paleontologist and member of the faculty in the Department of Geology. His primary research subject is the evolution and adaptations of the carnivorous dinosaurs, most especially the tyrant dinosaurs. He has also published on the effects of plate tectonics on the evolution of dinosaurs and their contemporaries, and on reconstructing the locomotion and predatory techniques of various fossil animals. For a more general audience, Dr. Holtz has written children's books on dinosaurs and was one of the primary consultants on the BBC/Discovery Channel TV series Walking with Dinosaurs.
Dr. Holtz has been with the Department of Geology since 1994, teaching classes on dinosaurs, invertebrate paleontology, and historical and environmental geology. He has received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the University Honors Program (in 1997) and the Celebrating Teachers Award from the Center for Teaching Excellence (in 2003). In the Fall of 1999 he and Associate Director Merck began the College Park Scholars Earth, Life and Time Program to promote the scientific understanding of the natural historical sciences among some of UMCP's most talented students. In addition to his background in the natural historical sciences, Dr. Holtz brings to ELT his love of the best in science fiction and his knowledge of the worst in the pseudosciences.
Dr. John W. Merck, Jr.
Associate Director
jmerck@umd.edu
Dr. John W. Merck, Jr., also a vertebrate paleontologist, has been with the Geology Department since 1999 and has served as its Director of Undergraduate Studies since 2004. Merck works a little farther back in time and farther down the tree of evolution than Holtz, studying the evolutionary relationships among the marine reptiles of the early Mesozoic, including ichthyosaurs, nothosaurs, placodonts and plesiosaurs. He is a committed undergraduate educator, whose philosophy is that curriculum should be structured so that students receive the maximum educational benefit for their effort. Merck's teaching experience spans geological and biological subjects including physical Geology, invertebrate paleontology, vertebrate evolution, and comparative vertebrate anatomy. He has a special affection for the ELT curriculum, the one venue in which he truly is free to emphasize the meaningful connections between concepts of natural history that are usually obscured by the artificial divisions of academic bureaucracy.
Merck's teaching is also informed by his academic and professional experience with digital information technologies, enabling him to instruct ELT students in appropriate methods of presentation, including web sites and professional quality digital graphics.
Environment, Technology, and Economy
Ms. Katherine Grover
Faculty Director
ksgrover@umd.edu
Ms. Grover is the Director of Environment, Technology, and Economy (ETE) and a Lecturer in Environmental Science and Policy (ENSP). She has a background in biology, economics, and political science, and brings that interdisciplinary focus to her teaching. Her courses are also informed by her decade of professional experience in the environmental field, including work in India, Mexico, and with the US EPA. She is particularly interested in learning about global environmental governance as it relates to climate change and developing countries. Her interest in environmental issues began as she was growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Her time away from the university is spent with her husband and their two young children, and practicing Hindi and bhangra dancing.
Ms. Volha Roshchanka
CPSP 118E Instructor
volhar@umd.edu
Volha Roshchanka is a graduate student at University of Maryland, working towards her Master’s degree in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology. Prior to starting graduate education, she spent 3 years working as a Research Analyst for the Global Forest Watch Program of the World Resources Institute. Ms. Roashchanka received her undergraduate degree from College of the Atlantic, ME, in Human Ecology – an interdisciplinary study of humans and their environment. In her free time, she volunteers for an environmental nonprofit, Friends of the Osa, that does conservation work in Costa Rica.
Dr. James Glass
Faculty Director
jglass1@umd.edu
James M. Glass received his PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970. He is the recipient of the University's Distinguished Scholar Teacher Award (2002-2003), and in 2004 the Outstanding Faculty in the State of Maryland Award, given by the Maryland Association for Higher Education. He is the author of six books and dozens of articles and book chapters. His most recent research has been into the Holocaust; his book 'life unworthy of life': Racial Phobia and Mass Murder in Hitler's Germany, (1997), analyzed the psychological dynamics behind Germany's genocide of the Jews, particularly the links between the German professions and the moral and ethical acceptance of mass murder. His most recent book (2004): Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust: Moral Uses of Violence and Will examines the forces behind Jewish resistance to the German assault and their collaborators; it includes extensive interviews with resistance survivors, and a discussion of critical ethical issues that arise from resistance assumptions and perspectives. Professor Glass has taught and published in the areas of political psychology, international ethics, political theory and philosophy; he has been invited to deliver numerous lectures on his research both nationally and abroad.
Mr. Mike McDonald
Associate Director
mmcdonald@gvpt.umd.edu
Mike McDonald is a graduate student working towards his Ph.D. in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Davidson College in 2003. His dissertation focuses on the role of intellectual property rights in economic development. Other research interests include international political economy, American foreign policy, trade policy, and international public health.
Mr. Tony Marcum
Associate Director
amarcum@gvpt.umd.edu
Tony Marcum is a graduate student working towards his Ph.D. in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wright State University in 2003 and his Master of Arts in Political Science from Purdue University in 2005. His research interests focus on System and Structural Theories of International Relations, Realist approaches to International Politics, the Philosophy of Science, National and International Security, War and Conflict, Foreign Policy, and Methodology. His current project is an examination of the causes of preemption in the international state system.
Ms. Javiera Alarcon
Assistant Director
jalarcon@gvpt.umd.edu
Javiera Alarcon is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park with a B.A. in Government and Politics, and Criminology and Criminal Justice. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Government and Politics with a concentration in Comparative Politics. Her undergraduate honors thesis related the limitations of freedom of speech found in the current U.S. War on Terror in comparison to Chile's War on Communism during Augusto Pinochet's military regime. Having studied abroad in Chile for the Spring 2005 Semester, she has had the opportunity to visit other bordering South American countries, such as Bolivia and Argentina. Latin American politics is a primary interest of hers, but she also shares a curiosity for other areas of the world.
Dr. Reid Compton
Faculty Director
compton@umd.edu
Dr. Reid Compton received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Virginia in 1984. He has been at the University of Maryland teaching a number of upper- and lower-level biology courses since 1997. Prior to that, he had positions as a scientific editor at the National Academy of Sciences, as a faculty member in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and as a post-doctoral research fellow at Princeton University. Dr. Compton’s research focused on the cellular and molecular regulation of animal development, specifically the relationship between cell proliferation and differentiation. Since coming to College Park, Dr. Compton has committed entirely to undergraduate education and promoting student success. Before becoming faculty director of the Life Sciences Scholars program in 2009, Dr. Compton served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Biology for 9 years. He was the first recipient of the Provost’s Faculty Advisor of the Year Award and has been recognized as a mentor for The Celebrating Teachers Program and the Merrill Presidential Scholars Program three times. Dr. Compton is the proud father of two Terps: Bryan, a 2005 graduate in Finance, and Erin, a 2008 Psychology graduate and former Life Sciences Scholar.
Ms. Becky Kenemuth
Assistant Director
rzonies@umd.edu
Becky is a Terp-for-Life! She completed both her Bachelors Degree in Hearing and Speech Sciences and her Masters Degree in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland. During graduate school, Becky was a Graduate Assistant for the Department of Resident life and was responsible for planning and implementing the "Overnight Stay Program" to introduce prospective student to the University. After graduation, Becky became the Internship Coordinator at the University Career Center where she was responsible for guiding students through their internship search. She assisted them as they identified areas of interest, searched for opportunities, crafted resumes, wrote cover letters, interviewed, and obtained excellent internship experiences. She also worked closely with employers who recruit and hire University of Maryland students.
During the Spring 2006 semester, Becky took time away from her role as Internship Coordinator to be a Resident Director on a Semester at Sea voyage. Becky traveled around the world on a ship with 750 college students and visited 10 ports of call along the way. Countries on the voyage included Brazil, South Africa, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, and China...just to name a few. Becky is excited to be the Assistant Director for the College Park Scholars - Life Sciences Program, and she looks forward to many more years at Maryland. Go Terps!
Dr. Kalyani Chadha
Faculty Director
kchadha@umd.edu
As a teacher and a researcher, Kalyani Chadha has focused on analyzing trends in international communication as well as television programming and its impact on society. The recipient of a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Maryland, College Park, she has published articles in several communication conferences, journals and books. She joined the Media, Self and Society program in 2000, and was recently appointed the program's director. She is presently working on a book project that examines the consumption of Hindi films by young Indian Americans. Prior to coming to the United States in 1992, she worked as a journalist in India.
Mr. Matt Bates
Assistant Director
mbates@jmail.umd.edu
Active in labor and alternative media since the 1960s, Matt Bates has also worked as a “mainstream” reporter, winning the top award for investigative reporting from the New England Associated Press in 1983. He taught media skills and handled internal communications and press relations for the Connecticut AFL-CIO and, for 15 years, for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. From 2003 to 2006, Matt held an officer’s post at the national AFL-CIO. Currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, Matt has taught Media Literacy (JOUR 175) and News Writing and Reporting (JOUR 201). He is writing a dissertation on the post-World War II U.S. labor press.
Dr. David Crocker
Faculty Director
dcrocker@umd.edu
David A. Crocker is Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, USA. He specializes in sociopolitical philosophy, international development ethics, transitional justice, democracy and democratization, and the ethics of consumption. In the School's M.A. and Ph.D. development program, he teaches courses on ethics, development, foreign aid, democracy, and human rights. He directs the School's specialization in International Development. Crocker taught philosophy for twenty-five years at Colorado State University. He was a visiting professor at the University of Munich, twice a Fulbright Scholar the University of Costa Rica, and held the UNESCO Chair in Development at the University of Valencia (Spain). Currently an officer of the Human Development and Capability Association, he was founder and former president of the International Development Ethics Association (IDEA). In the spring of 2007, he was named director of the undergraduate College Park Scholars-Public Leadership living-learning-service program.
Among his publications are Praxis and Democratic Socialism ; editor (with Toby Linden), Ethics of Consumption: The Good Life, Justice, and Global Stewardship ; Florecimiento humano y desarrollo internacional: La nueva etica de capacidades humanas ; editor (with Jesus Conill) ¿Republicanismo y educacion civica: Mas alla del liberalismo? , and Ethics of Global Development: Agency, Capability, and Deliberative Democracy (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). He is working on a book whose working title is Reckoning with Past Wrongs: Ends, Means, and Cases.
Ms. Stacy J. Kosko
Associate Director
sjkosko@umd.edu
Stacy Kosko is working on her Ph.D. in Public Policy with a concentration in international development and a special interest in human rights and international education policy. A 2009 paper on development ethics and human rights was recognized with the Wiebke Kuklys Prize for the best paper presented by a graduate student at the Human Development and Capability Association conference in Lima, Peru. Stacy is currently the Associate Director of the College Park Scholars Public Leadership program and also spent the summer of 2009 with Ovidiu Rom, an education development organization in Bucharest, Romania. She came to the University of Maryland in 2007 from The Advocacy Project (AP), a DC-based human rights organization with which she consulted for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict and People Building Peace and worked as AP's Outreach and Fellowship Coordinator before becoming Deputy Director in 2006. She also spent a summer working for AP at the Dzeno Association, AP's Roma partner in the Czech Republic. Before graduating from Georgetown University with an M.S. in Foreign Service and a certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies. She graduated as valedictorian from Syracuse University in 2000 with BAs in Television/Radio/Film, English and Textual Studies, and French.
Ms. Jennifer Littlefield
Assistant Director
jnlittle@umd.edu
Jennifer Littlefield is currently a Ph.D. student in The School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland focusing on leadership and nonprofits. Prior to coming to Maryland, she served as the Assistant Director of the Institute for Leadership Advancement in the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. In this role Jennifer assisted with all areas of the Institute including working with their two undergraduate leadership programs, planning and coordinating a study abroad program to Tanzania Africa, and working with various corporate and community partners of the ILA. Prior to working at the Institute, she served as the Development Director for UGA's School of Social Work and College of Education. Before working at UGA Jennifer held the role of Development Director at The Shelter and Advocacy Center for Abused Children in Augusta Georgia. Jennifer holds both a Bachelor and Master of Business Administration from the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
Mr. Walter Y. James
Teaching Assistant, Community-Based Learning Coordinator
wjames@umd.edu
Walter Y. James is currently a Masters candidate at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, specializing in International Development. Prior to coming to Maryland, Walter worked as a project assistant in rural Haiti on sustainable water projects and community organizing for Haiti Outreach. As an undergraduate, he studied and interned in Senegal. Walter holds a BS in Biology and a BA in French from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Faculty Director
tholtz@umd.edu
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. is a dinosaur paleontologist and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geology. His primary research subject is the evolution and adaptations of the carnivorous dinosaurs, most especially the tyrant dinosaurs. He has also published on the effects of plate tectonics on the evolution of dinosaurs and their contemporaries, and on reconstructing the locomotion and predatory techniques of various fossil animals. During the 1990s he was involved in the In the 1990s he worked in the paleoclimate research laboratory of Dr. Thomas Cronin as part of PRISM: Pliocene Research, Interpretation, and Synoptic Mapping (a project to reconstruct global climates of 3 million years ago as a model of the last time in Earth History when the North Pole was ice free). For a more general audience, Dr. Holtz has written children's books on dinosaurs and was one of the primary consultants on the BBC/Discovery Channel TV series Walking with Dinosaurs and History Channel's Jurassic Fight Club.
Dr. Holtz has been with the Department of Geology since 1994, teaching classes on dinosaurs, paleontology, global change, and historical and environmental geology. He has received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the University Honors Program (in 1997), the Celebrating Teachers Award from the Center for Teaching Excellence (in 2003), and the Outstanding Instructor Award, College of Computer, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences (in 2005). In the Fall of 1999 he and Associate Director Merck began the College Park Scholars Earth, Life and Time Program to promote the scientific understanding of the natural historical sciences among some of UMCP's most talented students. In Fall of 2009 Drs. Holtz and Merck begin our new Scholars program in Science & Global Change.
Dr. John W. Merck, Jr.
Associate Director
jmerck@umd.edu
Dr. John W. Merck, Jr., also a vertebrate paleontologist, has been with the Geology Department since 1999 and has served as its Director of Undergraduate Studies since 2004. Merck works a little farther back in time and farther down the tree of evolution than Holtz, studying the evolutionary relationships among the marine reptiles of the early Mesozoic, including ichthyosaurs, nothosaurs, placodonts and plesiosaurs. He is a committed undergraduate educator, whose philosophy is that curriculum should be structured so that students receive the maximum educational benefit for their effort. Merck's teaching experience spans geological and biological subjects including physical Geology, invertebrate paleontology, vertebrate evolution, and comparative vertebrate anatomy. He has a special affection for the ELT curriculum, the one venue in which he truly is free to emphasize the meaningful connections between concepts of natural sciences that are usually obscured by the artificial divisions of academic bureaucracy.
Merck's teaching is also informed by his academic and professional experience with digital information technologies, enabling him to instruct ELT students in appropriate methods of presentation, including web sites and professional quality digital graphics.
Science, Discovery, and the Universe
Dr. Alan Peel
Faculty Co-Director
apeel@umd.edu
Alan Peel is a research associate and lecturer here at UM in the Astronomy Department, studying the dynamics of galaxies and galaxy clusters and determining what that can tell us about cosmology. He spent a "gap year" between degrees as an Environmental Scientist in Berkeley, California, doing field work for site remediation which somehow lasted seven years. After a PhD in physics (cosmology) at UC Davis, he spent two years at Cambridge working in Stephen Hawking's group on modeling galaxy cluster velocities. Married with three kids (two daughters growing up too fast and a very short, hairy son who looks remarkably like a beagle), Alan's other interests include, classical music, homebrewing, performing in the Revels, fencing and convincing people that anyone can learn physics.
Dr. Neal Miller
Faculty Co-Director
nmiller@pha.jhu.edu
Neal Miller taught a freshman colloquium with SDU from 2003 through 2007, and is returning to teach the sophomore colloquium. He is an active researcher in astronomy, using radio emission to locate interesting galaxies and then studying their properties at optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray wavelengths. He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University and his doctorate from New Mexico State University. In his life outside of academics, he serves as the personal assistant to an extremely energetic four-year old and three lazy cats.
Dr. Paul Romani
Program Associate
paul.romani@nasa.gov
Paul Romani teaches the freshmen colloquium for SDU. In the 5th grade, he got interested in science and in the 7th grade his science teacher hooked him on astronomy by giving him a copy of Nigel Henbest's 'The Exploding Universe' to read. With degrees from the University of Michigan in both Astronomy and Atmospheric Sciences, Dr. Romani currently works at NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Most of his recent research work involves atmospheric chemistry and cloud physics in the atmospheres of the outer, or giant, planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Currently he is focused on the infrared spectrometer on the NASA-ESA Cassini mission to the Saturn system both in uplink operations and science analysis. Another of his many interests is the cross-cultural and historical study of astronomy, and science in general.
Ms. Lee Ann Carnes
Assistant Director
lcarnes@umd.edu
Lee Ann Carnes earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in developmental psychology from the Tulane University of New Orleans (as well as a minor in British Literature). While earning her degrees, she served as the lab coordinator and a researcher for the Center for Infant and Toddler Development. Following the events of Hurricane Katrina during her senior year, she continued to work for an additional three years to help rebuild the city. Ms. Carnes began her Ph.D. candidacy in School Psychology at the University of Maryland in the fall of 2009. Her research focuses on school-aged children who have emotional and/or conduct disorders.
Mr. Matthew Zagursky
Program Webmaster and Computer Practicum Instructor
mzagursk@umd.edu
Matthew Zagursky is a senior pursuing a Physical Sciences & Physics double major. A former SDU student himself, Matthew now instructs the sophomore web design and online communications course. He has eight years of web programming under his belt, and for the past two years, Matthew has been the webmaster of SDU's website and will continue to be for the coming terms. He is also an active undergraduate researcher in the Astronomy Department with two separate projects: mass modeling of galaxies and exploring Mercury's exosphere. In his free time, Matthew enjoys video games, watching TV, and going out with friends.
Science, Technology, and Society
Dr. Betsy Mendelsohn
Faculty Director
bmendel@umd.edu
Betsy Mendelsohn is a historian of environment and technology who taught STS at the University of Virginia before becoming an instructor in the Scholars STS Program in 2004. She succeeded Prof. James Duncan as Director of this program and the University STS Certificate Program in June, 2007. Dr. Mendelsohn is an active participant in the Society for the History of Technology and the American Society for Environmental History, and teaches as an adjunct lecturer for the University of Maryland History Department. She has published essays on the historical importance of technology to environmental quality and the history of American environmental law. She earned a B.A. in history from Yale University (1983) and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1999). Dr. Mendelsohn's research focuses on the incorporation of science into the resolution of legal conflicts about sharing resources such as water, air, public roads, and ecological health.
Ms. Claire Robbins
Assistant Director
crobbins@umd.edu
Claire Robbins moved to Maryland in 2007 to pursue her Ph.D. in the College Student Personnel Administration program, where she is now a third-year doctoral student. Her research interests include women, gender, and feminism in higher education; academic major choice; student development theory; and living-learning programs. At Maryland, Claire has co-taught EDCP 217 (Introduction to Leadership) and served as a facilitator for the Ten Woman Plan, a sexual assault prevention program in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. She also joined a phenomenal group of engineering students on a service-learning spring break trip through the Clark School’s Breakaway program. Before coming to Maryland, Claire was a program coordinator in Student Affairs at Duke University, first in the Dean of Students Office and then in the Women’s Center. Claire earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Education and Sociology/Anthropology from Swarthmore College.
Mr. William Evans
Instructor
William_C_Evans@mcpsmd.org
William C. Evans has taught choral music and been Music Department Chair at Sherwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland since 1979. He received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Clarion University in Pennsylvania and a Master of Music in Voice from The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Bill directs three choral groups at Sherwood: Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, and Freshman Chorus. He teaches the popular Electronic Music and Recording Studio Techniques class. Bill has been Musical Director, Technical Supervisor and Creative Writer for Sherwood High School's original musical production "Rock 'n' Roll Revival," now in its 37th year. Bill has served as a choral adjudicator for the Annapolis Music Festival for fourteen years, as well as festivals in Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Bill is a Acting Director of the Music Technology Lab at the University of Maryland - College Park, where he teaches Music Technology. During spring 2003 he was a part-time faculty member and guest conductor of the Towson University Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He has also been a guest lecturer for the Music Department at the Catholic University of America.
Mr. Evans has received numerous honors and awards over the years, including the University of Maryland Outstanding Teachers Award from the Center for Teaching Excellence (2004), Sherwood PTSA Educator of the Year (2006) and (2000), Maryland State Computer Educator of the Year from the Maryland Instructional Computer Coordinators Association (1991), Outstanding Contribution to the Community (1989) and the Outstanding Contribution to Youth Award (1987) from the Greater Olney Civic Association.
Ms. Sabrina Liao
Instructor
sabrinaliao@gmail.com
For years, Sabrina Liao has been working as a creative director in a new media agency in Asia. Her clients include Coca-Cola Asia, Estee Lauder, HSBC and more. Her work and projects have won numerous awards including the prestigious "Click Award" in Asia between 2000-2002.
Sabrina holds a Master of Arts in Multimedia and Music from New York University (NY, USA) and a Bachelor of Education from University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). She has also chaired at many international conferences such as CHI 2000-2003 (Computer Human Interaction), IDC2004 (International Design and Children) and CC2007 (Creativity & Cognition). She has published 5 computer books in Chinese, teaching people to use multimedia tools such as Flash, Photoshop and Dreamweaver in a creative and innovative way.
Mr. J. Rosser Matthews
Instructor
jrmatt3@umd.edu
Rosser Matthews graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1985 as a mathematics and philosophy double major. Subsequently, he earned a Master's and Ph.D. degree from Duke University where his research focus was on the history of science and medicine. He has taught a wide variety of courses in the history of science, history of medicine, STS, and general history survey courses at a number of institutions - including North Carolina State University, Duke University, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the College of William and Mary, Christopher Newport University, and the STS program at Virginia Tech. This semester, in addition to being an instructor in the STS program at the University of Maryland, he is also an instructor in the George Washington University History Department.
His research focuses on the history of statistical reasoning as a way to illustrate the role of chance, uncertainty, and risk in both the scientific and public policy arenas. One product of this research was a book on the historical emergence of the clinical trial in contemporary medicine, which was published in 1995 by Princeton University Press under the title Quantification and the Quest for Medical Certainty. Since completing that project, Matthews has acquired additional expertise in the areas of contemporary public policy and public health analysis. He is particularly interested in using an "STS perspective" to analyze the reception of epidemiological studies in the legal and policy arenas. This research interest has resulted in a publication on the role of medical practice guidelines in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law and a 13-month appointment at the National Institutes of Health where he was a DeWitt Stetten Jr. Memorial Fellow in the History of Biomedical Sciences and Technology in 2001-2002. At present, Matthews is a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University where he is collaborating with Alan I. Faden, a member of the medical school faculty, on a book that will use history as a way to illustrate the problems confronting contemporary American medicine.
