Grand Valley State University



Lindsey PetersonVisual & Media Arts DepartmentB.S., Graphic Design & Photography, Olivet Nazarene UniversityM.F.A., Graphic Design & Visual Experience, Savannah College of Art and DesignLindsey is a designer, photographer, and visual storyteller who is passionate about creating experiences that foster community and bring people together. Her research work thus far has focused on the emotion of awe and its ability to facilitate empathetic understanding and prosocial behavior within the discipline of design.?When not designing or creating, you can find Lindsey outside enjoying nature, playing tennis, or writing a letter. She loves to meet new people, ask questions, eat oranges, and definitely drinks too much coffee.? Joel PotrykusVisual and Media ArtsJoel is an independent filmmaker, specializing in screenwriting and directing. His work normally focuses on Midwest slackers backed into a corner. His debut feature film won Best New Director at the Locarno Film Festival, while his follow-up feature film won the FIPRESI Prize at the Ljubliana International Film Festival and was invited to be part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science Permanent Collection. His work has screened at SXSW, the Lincoln Center for the Arts, the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, and the Cinémathèque Fran?aise in Paris. Outside of GVSU, he works with Oscilloscope Laboratories, an NYC distribution company founded by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys.Sarah MatthewsModern LanguagesB.A., Spanish, Grand Valley State UniversityM.A., Hispanic Studies, Literatures (Spanish) Sarah Matthews has taught courses in Spanish and Liberal Studies. Sarah’s academic interests are interdisciplinary and include second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, immigration and migration in the Americas, and contemporary literary representation of immigrant voices. She enjoys literature, music and traveling.John Appiah KubiStatisticsBSc., Mathematics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.MPhil., Mathematics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.MS., Statistics, University of Texas at El Paso.PhD., Applied Statistics, University of Memphis.John is a recent graduate from the University of Memphis in?Memphis, TN.?His research focuses on modeling and analysis of correlated binary data, Bayesian procedures in biostatistics and applied statistics. He is particularly interested in Bayesian inference via hierarchical modeling. His recent work involved maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimators for the double binomial distribution. He loves teaching and?playing football (soccer).Thomas GrovesDepartment of Biomedical Sciences?B.S., Psychology, Centre CollegeM.S., Biological Sciences, Western Michigan UniversityPh.D. Candidate,?Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University?Thomas will be teaching human anatomy and physiology at GVSU and his research agenda has surrounded questions about how simple nervous systems integrate a diverse set of sensory modalities to inform perception and make decisions about behavior. In particular, most of?his work has utilized the medicinal leech to take a neuroethological approach in investigating how animals use visual systems to extract specific features of a visual scene.?When not teaching or working with leeches, he spends his time with his wife and daughter. Thomas enjoys hiking,?sailing, downhill skiing, American Civil War history, poetry, and golden?retrievers. He is an unhappy, but optimistic fan of the Detroit Lions.?Nathan Narain KapoorHistory Department?B.S., History, Tennessee Technological UniversityM.A., History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, University of Oklahoma Ph.D., History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, University of Oklahoma Nathan’s research focuses on our past and current relationships with energy infrastructure. He has studied and published on the relationship between electric power systems and colonial states. His doctoral work and book project center on the history of electric power in New Zealand. Some of his other research investigates the history of alternative energy systems and development of public health systems. Apart from his research and teaching, he enjoys video gaming, woodworking, weighting lifting, and spending time with his wife and daughter and of course their ridiculous Basenji named Kelvin.Natalie LaudicinaBiomedical SciencesB.S., Evolutionary Anthropology, The University of MichiganPh.D., Anthropology, Boston UniversityNatalie's research focuses on how bony morphology can inform us about behavior. Using 3D animation modeling, she reconstructs birth mechanisms in human, fossil, and extant primate species in order to better understand how and why human childbirth can be difficult. She spent most of 2017 traveling to museum collections around the world, and has spent many summers doing fieldwork in Wyoming and France.?Amanda KarstenPsychology Department?B.A., Psychology, Western Michigan UniversityM.A., Applied Behavior Analysis, Western Michigan UniversityPh.D., Psychology, Western Michigan University?Amanda’s clinical and scholarly interests include practitioner training, social-communication needs of young adults with autism, and addressing the bidirectional gap between research and community-based services for people with disabilities. Amanda previously held faculty appointments at Western New England University and Western Michigan University. In addition to exploring why humans do what we do, Amanda enjoys playing neighborhood baseball games, hanging out at the library, and spending time in the great outdoors with her family and a strong cup of coffee.Andrew DiLerniaStatistics DepartmentB.S., Mathematics and Statistics, Grand Valley State UniversityPh.D., Biostatistics, University of MinnesotaMy name is Andrew DiLernia, and I grew up in Potterville, Michigan. My research interests pertain to analysis methods for functional magnetic resonance imaging data and predictive modeling. I ran cross country and track for 3 years at Grand Valley State University in my?undergraduate years,?and am a proud?Laker alumni. In my free time I enjoy casually playing the piano, running, playing basketball, and watching football. Fall is by far my favorite season since it has the best weather and scenery of the year.Benjamin Feng Department of Biomedical SciencesB.S., Ocean University of Qingdao ‐ BiologyM.S., Nankai University, China ‐ Molecular BiologyM.S., University of Cincinnati ‐ Molecular and Developmental BiologyPh.D., University of Cincinnati ‐ Cell and Cancer BiologyDr. Benjamin Feng worked in the biotech industry in the San Francisco Bay area after completing his Ph.D. training. Later, he conducted postdoctoral research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati, OH). He was a research scientist at Spectrum Health from 2014-2016 (Grand Rapids, MI). Dr. Feng was a professor in biomedical research at Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Tianjin, China) before joining the Department of Biomedical Sciences (GVSU). He has experience teaching graduate and undergraduate students. His research interests span from transplant immunology, the influences of natural products on infection to coaching and performance enhancement. In his spare time, you may find him on tennis courts or hiking trails.Nicholas PrevilleBiology DepartmentB.A., Biology w/ Emphasis in Aquatic Science, Grand Valley State UniversityM.A., Biology w/ Emphasis in Aquatic Science, Grand Valley State UniversityNick has been at Grand Valley since following his girlfriend here as an undergrad in 2013. Thankfully that decision has worked out as they were married during the summer of 2020 and he has been teaching at Grand Valley since 2019. Nick is interested in the conservation and restoration of Michigan’s water resources and is part of a long-term monitoring project examining the fish community of the Grand River. He is an avid Packers fan and enjoys fishing, birding, and travelling the country with his wife to fish and bird. He plans to spend the next four to five years looking for a house because it will take at least that long for housing market to recover…Chelsea BrehmMovement ScienceB.S. Physical Education – Sport Leadership Emphasis, Grand Valley State UniversityM.Ed. Adult & Higher Education, Grand Valley State UniversityABD, Human Performance & Health Education – Sport Management, Western Michigan UniversityChelsea is interested in youth sport participation patterns and how travel leagues influence the athlete experience. She is currently investigating how travel league participation in certain sports correlates to playing in college and obtaining athletic scholarships. Outside of academia, Chelsea spends a lot of time with her family traveling, reading, boating, playing sports and eating good food. She also coaches high school varsity volleyball and has been state runner up for 4 of the last 5 seasons – maybe this season they can bring home a championship!Letitia JapMusic, Theater, and Dance Department?B.M., Violin Performance, The University of Texas at AustinM.M., Violin Performance, New England ConservatoryD.M.A., Violin Performance & Literature, Eastman School of Music?Letitia Jap enjoys a career as a performer and teacher. She finds most joy using music to connect with people. Letitia has been a featured soloist with orchestras like the Seattle Symphony, Austin Civic Orchestra, and Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, Letitia has served as concertmaster with orchestras such as the Seoul International Community Orchestra and the Boston Chamber Orchestra.Letitia also maintains an active schedule as a teacher, hoping to inspire the next generation of musicians. Letitia was Head Chamber Ensemble Coach at the University of Rochester, held teaching assistant positions at the Eastman School of Music, was faculty at the Eastman Community School of Music, and World Music lecturer at Nazareth College. Apart from making music, Letitia loves to read, eat good food and try new restaurants, watch Shark Tank, and explore cities.??Samantha DineWriting Department?B.A.,Writing, Grand Valley State UniversityM.A., English Composition, Central Michigan UniversityM.A., Strategic Communications, Michigan State University?Samantha teaches composition and business/professional communication courses in the Writing department. She is a proud GV alum and enjoys connecting with current students to help them develop as writers. She is a Grand Rapids native and lives on the Northeast side with her 3 dogs. When she isn't doing English nerd things, she likes biking, TV, classic movies, cooking, and walking dogs at the Kent County Animal Shelter.??Beth HallPhysics DepartmentB.S. Physics, The University of AkronM. Ed., Grand Valley State UniversityBeth is most interested in how to improve the quality of science taught in K-12 schools with a focus on underrepresented populations in science.? She applies researched educational practices in working with preservice teachers, particularly constructivism, inquiry, project based learning, and metacognition, while drawing on her over 25 years of experience.? When not planning or dreaming about the classroom, Beth enjoys traveling and experiencing all things outdoors, including hiking, backpacking, white water rafting, kayaking, and scuba diving.? Frequently she drags her husband, pet dogs, and PAWS foster puppy along also.? She is looking forward to visiting her four adult children in their new and exciting adventures, once the youngest one graduates high school this year.Chelsea DuballBiology DepartmentB.S., Environmental Science and Management, University of Rhode IslandM.S., Biological and Environmental Science, University of Rhode IslandPh.D., Soil Science, University of WyomingChelsea is interested in how soils develop and function in wetland ecosystems. In particular, she researches the soil biogeochemistry of wetland ecosystems towards developing solutions for identifying problematic hydric soils and improving wetland conservation and management. She uses pedological, hydrological, and ecosystem concepts and approaches to address broad scale concerns in wetland systems throughout the arid western US, the arctic, a variety of coastal regions, and beyond. She is also actively engaged in a wide range of research pertaining to science communication, public engagement, active learning, and promoting underrepresented groups in STEM fields. When she isn’t knee deep in the muck, she enjoys tackling new art projects, gardening, baking, and hiking/biking with her two energetic dogs and partner. ................
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