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Washington State University
CAS Connect September 2015

Welcome new CAS faculty

Meet many of the newest members of the CAS community whose disciplinary expertise—from high-energy-density physics to mindfulness to chamber music—enriches and expands the arts and sciences at WSU.

Christopher Barry

Christopher Barry

Associate Professor
Department of Psychology

chris.barry@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Adolescent self-perception; personality factors in child and adolescent conduct problems and aggression; self-perception and social media behavior; evidence-based assessment of child psychological functioning; teaching developmental psychopathology; adolescence; assessment of children

Previous post: University of Southern Mississippi

Education and training: PhD, MS, University of Alabama; BS, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Honors and achievements: Clinical assessment of child and adolescent personality and behavior (3rd edition). With P.J. Frick, C.T. Barry, and R.W. Kamphaus, New York: Springer, 2010

Outside of work, I enjoy running and travel.

Tammy Barry

Tammy Barry

Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training
Department of Psychology

tammy.barry@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: biologically-based and contextual correlates of child externalizing behaviors, including ADHD, aggression, and disruptive behaviors associated with autism; teaching cognitive assessment as well as assessment/therapy practicum for doctoral students

Previous post: University of Southern Mississippi

Education and training: PhD, MA, Clinical Psychology; BS, Psychology, BA, Communication, University of Alabama

Honors and achievements: National Institutes of Health post-doctoral fellow, University of Alabama, 2000-2003; two National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)-funded grants; University of Alabama at Birmingham Maternal and Child Health Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Project, Outstanding Former Trainee, 2006

Outside of work, I enjoy reading, outdoor activities, home improvement projects, spectator sports (especially college football), travel, and spending time with my 12-year-old son and my husband.

Paul Buckley

Paul Buckley

Clinical Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry

ptbuckley@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: novel methods of classroom instruction, especially for large lecture sizes; analytical and instrumental chemistry; environmental analysis

Previous post: Lewis-Clark State College

Education and training: PhD, Chemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder; BS, Chemistry, Northern Arizona University; BS, Forestry, Northern Arizona University

Honors and achievements: President’s Award for Outstanding Teaching, Lewis-Clark State College, 2014-15

Outside of work, I enjoy
the outdoors, playing guitar, and camping with my daughter.

Jennifer Givens

Jennifer Givens

Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology

jennifer.givens@wsu.edu

Teaching and research interests: Environmental sociology; global and comparative sociology; political economy; development and well-being; climate change; quantitative methods

Previous post: University of Utah

Education and training: PhD, MS, Sociology, University of Utah; MEd, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; BS, Business, Northeastern University

Honors and achievements: “Sociology: Drivers of Climate Change Beliefs” in Nature Climate Change, 2014; “Global Climate Change Negotiations, the Treadmill of Destruction, and World Society: An Analysis of Kyoto Protocol Ratification” in International Journal of Sociology, 2014.

Outside of work, I enjoy mountain biking, skiing, hiking, running, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

Patricia Glazebrook

Patricia Glazebrook

Professor and Director
School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs

patricia.glazebrook@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Environmental philosophy, international development, ecofeminism, climate change, philosophy and history of science and technology, ancient philosophy, French and German philosophy

Previous post: University of North Texas

Education and training: PhD, MA, University of Toronto; BA, University of Alberta

Honors and achievements: Heidegger’s Philosophy of Science (Fordham University Press); “Women and climate change: A case-study from northeast Ghana” in Hypatia; board member, Gender CC: Women for Climate Justice, Berlin

Outside of work, I enjoy African drumming, cats, travel, wine-tasting, swimming, and biking.

Joe Hedges

Joe Hedges

Assistant Professor of Painting/Intermedia
Department of Fine Arts

joe.hedges@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Using painting and digital technologies to explore the tension between seemingly natural and unnatural environments and objects; links between art and science; media archeology; painting history (Dutch Golden Age and early American trompe l’oeil); intermedia and interdisciplinary collaborations

Previous post: Northern Kentucky University

Education and training: MFA, University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning; BFA, Northern Kentucky University

Honors and achievements: Artist, Solgonda exhibition, Currents New Media Festival, Santa Fe, NM, 2015; curator and artist, Momento/Memento, four-person exhibition at Reverse Space, New York City, 2015; presenter, Finding Magenta, Foundations in Art: Theory and Education Conference, Indiana University, 2015.

Outside of work, I enjoy exploring with my wife, Mei, camping, writing, recording music, cats, and learning Mandarin Chinese.

Martin King

Martin King

Clinical Assistant Professor of Horn and Musicology
School of Music

martin.king@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Orchestral and chamber music performance; French solo literature and music for horn alone; teaching future teachers, with emphasis on personal musicianship and practical knowledge

Previous post: Mississippi State University

Education and training: DMA, Horn Performance (in progress); MMus, Horn Performance, University of Alabama; BMus, Music Education, James Madison University

Honors and achievements: Soloist, 2015 Southeast Horn Workshop; professional division soloist, 2015 International Horn Competition of America

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time outdoors, hiking, camping, and gardening, and the company of my wife, Amber, and two-year-old daughter, Lily. I also enjoy reading and following college football.

Conny Kirchhoff

Conny Kirchoff

Assistant Director
WSU Psychology Clinic
Department of Psychology

c.kirchhoff@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Cross-cultural research on temperament and behavioral problems in children; teaching clinical skills and assessment

Previous post: University of Idaho, Moscow

Education and training: PhD, Washington State University; MEd, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Diploma, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my husband and children, outdoor activities, and traveling.

 

Marcus Knudson

Marcus Knudson

Research Professor
WSU Institute for Shock Physics/Sandia National Laboratories

mknudson@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Dynamic compression of materials to extreme pressure and temperature; how these conditions relate to basic fundamental science, planetary science, and the evolving field of high-energy-density physics

Previous post: Sandia National Laboratories

Education and training: PhD, Physics, Washington State University; BA, Physics and Mathematics, St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minn.

Honors and achievements: Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (2013); authored “Direct observation of an abrupt insulator-to-metal transition in dense liquid deuterium,” Science (2015); “Shock-wave exploration of the high-pressure phases of carbon,” Science (2008)

Outside of work, I enjoy outdoor activities, refereeing my daughter’s soccer matches, and spending time with my wife, Shannon, and our daughters, Lynnea and Brianne.

Benjamin Ladd

Benjamin Ladd

Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
WSU Vancouver

benjamin.ladd@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Alcohol and drug abuse and prevention; mechanisms of behavior change; alcohol use and social support/context; motivational interviewing

Previous post: Reed College

Education and training: PhD, MS, Clinical Psychology, University of New Mexico; BS, Psychology, Brown University

Honors and achievements: Feasibility and reliability of a coding system to capture in-session group behavior in adolescents,” with K. Tomlinson, M.G. Myers, and K.G. Anderson, in Prevention Science (2015); “Typology of couples entering Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy: An empirical approach and test of predictive validity on treatment response” with B.S. McCrady in Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (2015); “When you see it, let it be: Urgency, mindfulness and adolescent substance use” with J.M. Robinson and K.G. Anderson in Addictive Behaviors, 39, 1038-1041.

Outside of work, I enjoy playing soccer, hiking, and camping.

Sean Long

Sean Long

Associate Professor
School of the Environment

sean.p.long@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: The construction of mountain belts and the processes that thicken the crust where tectonic plates are colliding; related projects in the Himalayas, Andes, and western USA; teaching structural geology and field camp

Previous post: University of Nevada, Reno

Education and training: PhD, Geology, Princeton University; MS, Geology, Idaho State University; BS, Mathematics, The College of Idaho

Honors and achievements: “Synorogenic Extension Localized by Upper-Crustal Thickening: An Example from the Late Cretaceous Nevadaplano” in Geology; “Variable Shortening Rates in the Eastern Himalayan Thrust Belt, Bhutan” in Tectonics; Arnold Guyot Teaching Award, Princeton University, 2010

Outside of work, I enjoy outdoor recreation with my wife, Heather, who is also a geologist, our year-old son, Evan, and our black lab, “Ziggy”; camping, mountain biking, skiing, and fly-fishing; 20 years of playing bluegrass guitar, and now getting to know the Moscow-Pullman bluegrass scene.

Rock Mancini

Rock Mancini

Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry

rmancini@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Organic polymer synthesis, chemical biology, and immunology; particularly development of synthetic strategies for immune-modulating molecules that can be used in cancer immunotherapies

Previous post: University of California, Irvine

Education and training: Postdoctoral scholar, University of California, Irvine; PhD, Organic Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles; BS, Polymer Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh

Honors and achievements: “Controlling the Origins of Inflammation with a Photo-Active Lipopeptide Immunopotentiator,” with L. Stutts and A.P. Esser-Kahn, in Angewandte Chemie International Ed. Engl., 2015, 54, 20, 5962-5965—selected as Wiley-VCH “Hot Paper” and highlighted by Chemical & Engineering News

Outside of work, I enjoy rowing, running marathons, and brewing beer (which I enjoy almost as much as drinking it!).

Jeffrey McMahon

Jeffrey McMahon

Assistant Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy

jeffrey.mcmahon@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: topics central to the McMahon Research Group, including quantum simulations of condensed matter as well as electrodynamics simulations of materials; teaching a broad range of courses, as each presents unique, yet rewarding challenges.

Previous post: Northwestern University

Education and training: PhD, Chemistry, Northwestern University; BS, Chemistry, Western Washington University

Honors and achievements: US Department of Labor Springer Thesis Prize for Outstanding PhD Research; Springer & Northwestern University Graduate Student Award in Computational Chemistry, American Chemical Society

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family and, being a licensed pilot, I enjoy flying—both for the fun of it as well as for traveling.

Sarah Miller

Sarah Miller

Professor of Trombone
Assistant Director of Athletic Bands
School of Music

s.miller@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Teaching musical performance through narrative theory and defining successful brass pedagogy concepts from a narrative perspective; and expanding this topic across other musical disciplines, from conducting to music education

Previous post: University of Kansas

Education and training: DMA, Low Brass Performance, University of Kansas; MMus, Euphonium Performance, University of Arkansas; BMus, University of Georgia, Music Education

Honors and achievements: Toured and recorded with international brass ensemble Eurobrass; grant to record and tour with In Motus Quartet; associate editor, International Tuba and Euphonium Association Journal

Outside of work, I enjoy cooking and grilling with my husband, especially when watching sporting events. We are huge fans of the Indianapolis Colts and Pacers, and watch as many games as we can!

Kevan Moffett

Kevan Moffett

Assistant Professor
School of the Environment
WSU Vancouver

kevan.moffett@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Linked roles of groundwater, surface water, plant-water interactions, and human water use in the spatially and temporally variable physical, chemical, and biological cycles of the Earth System

Previous post: University of Texas at Austin

Education and training: PhD, Environmental Earth System Science (Hydrogeology), Stanford University; BS, Environmental Engineering, Yale University

Honors and achievements: 2014 nominee, Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering; Recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Mentoring 2012, Stanford University School of Earth Science; authored competitive national grants (NSF, ACS) and papers in top hydrology, environment, remote sensing journals.

Leslie New

Leslie New

Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
WSU Vancouver

leslie.new@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Hierarchical Bayesian models; state-space models; ecological modeling; effects of anthropogenic disturbance; human-wildlife conflict

Previous post: U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Education and training: PhD, University of St Andrews; BSc, Cornell University

Honors and achievements: National Research Council Fellow with the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission; Invited Participant to the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee Meeting; published in American Naturalist, Journal of Applied Ecology, Ecological Modeling and other scientific journals

Outside of work, I enjoy baking, reading, horseback riding, traveling, Star Wars, and the opera.

Amelie Pedneault

Amelie Pedneault

Assistant professor
Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

amelie.pedneault@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Sexual offending, situational crime prevention, environmental criminology

Previous post: Simon Fraser University

Education and training: PhD, Criminology, Simon Fraser University; MS, Justice Studies, San José State University; LLB, Université, Sherbrooke, Québec

Honors and achievements: Published in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment and Journal of Criminal Justice

Outside of work, I enjoy running and hiking.

Stephanie Porter

Stephanie Porter

Assistant Professor
School of Biological Sciences
WSU Vancouver

stephanie.porter@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: How cooperation between plants and microbes affects their evolution and ecology; how intimately intertwined life histories shape interactions, patterns of adaptation, and invasion biology in plants and their symbionts using quantitative genetic and genomic techniques

Previous post: University of California, Riverside

Education and training: PhD, Population Biology, University of California, Davis, BA, Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Honors and achievements: UC Davis dissertation year fellowship and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship; currently leading an NSF-funded project to examine ecological and evolutionary shifts in the interaction between nitrogen-fixing bacterial symbionts and their host plants during a biological invasion

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family and three pet chickens, and hiking in natural areas when I can.

Julie Staggers

Julie Staggers

Associate Professor
Department of English

julie.staggers@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: technical communication, risk communication, public policy, Cold War-era secrecy culture at Hanford, technical communication pedagogy, writing in science and engineering, service learning, and civic engagement

Previous post: University of South Florida

Education and training: PhD, Rhetoric and Composition, MA, English, Purdue University; BA, English, University of Washington

Honors and achievements: Co-chair, 2014 National Conference of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing; chapter coauthor, The New Normal: Pressures on Technical Communication Programs in an Age of Austerity

Outside of work, I enjoy being a native of the Yakima Valley and now exploring the Inland Empire with my basset hounds, “Ruby” and “Tank,” and their dachshund, “Mildred Fierce.”

Ashly Townsen

Ashly Townsen

Assistant Professor
School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs

ashly.townsen@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Civil war, rebel groups, conflict management, post-conflict negotiation, peacekeeping, political psychology, spatial methodology, experimental methodology, and understanding which individuals join rebellions and why

Previous post: University of Illinois

Education and training: PhD, Political Science, University of Illinois; BS, Political Science, Sam Houston State University

Honors and achievements: “Hot Spot Peacekeeping,” with Bryce W. Reeder and Matthew Powers, in International Studies Review 18(1): 69-91 (2015)

Outside of work, I enjoy, traveling, hiking with my lab-mix (“Charlie”), concerts, camping, cooking new dishes, and watching baseball.

Yuan Wang

Yuan Wang

Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics and Statistics

ywang@math.wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Statistical learning of complex data objects including tree-structured data, functional data, and imaging data; Bayesian discriminant analysis; signal processing and channel design; clinical trial design; cancer related collaborative research

Previous post: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Education and training: PhD, Colorado State University

Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, swimming, indoor rock climbing, snowboarding, basketball, and badminton.

 

Dale Willits

Dale Willits

Assistant Professor
Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

dale.willits@wsu.edu

Research and teaching interests: Policing, criminological theory, juvenile delinquency, research methods

Previous post: California State University, Bakersfield

Education and training: PhD, University of New Mexico

Honors and achievements: “Police Organisation And Deadly Force: An Examination of Variation Across Large and Small Cities,” with J. Nowacki, in Policing And Society, 24, 63-80; “Situational Predictors of Violent Intentions: Results from a Factorial Survey” in The Social Science Journal, 52, 176-187.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family and our pets, traveling, and reading.