Mary Hegarty
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
I am a cognitive psychologist and my research focuses on individual differences in spatial abilities. Initially I think that what motivated me was curiosity about my own spatial abilities. More recently I have been motivated by increasing data that spatial abilities are important predictors of success in STEM disciplines, independently of mathematical and verbal abilities. A lot of my current research is on everyday wayfinding and navigation or what people often refer to as their "sense of direction".
My current research is focusing on understanding why people differ in the sense of direction and has implications for diagnosis of early Alzheimer's disease and for training people to be better everyday navigators.
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
I teach a lab class in which students have to work in groups to design, conduct and analyze their own study on human cognition and I love mentoring them through this process and am always impressed by their final projects and papers.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
Hiking, cooking, knitting and traveling.
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
I love that our campus emphasizes interdisciplinarity and I have developed collaborations with people in a number of departments.
UC Santa Barbara Leadership
UC Santa Barbara Leadership
UC Merced Leadership
CSU Channel Islands Leadership
CSU Fresno Leadership
Carlos M Nash
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
My academic training is in the field of linguistics. I am interested in language use, phonetics, and phonology. Although I am a full-time university administrator, I still find time to do linguistic research and language documentation projects. When I was a child, I had the opportunity to be surrounded by many languages. Multilingualism, and the fact that I love to work with people, are the reasons why I became a linguist.
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
I truly enjoy learning communities and engaging undergraduate and early-career graduate students in research.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
I am a trained musician. I play piano (classical music to modern pop), guitar, flute, and ukulele. I also enjoy photography.
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
Graduate students! I love learning about who they are, their life story, why they chose UCSB, and their career and academic interests.
Blake Gillespie
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
As a biochemist, I split my energies between the 'hows' and 'whys' of protein structure and function, and the 'whats' and 'how muchs' of beer volatiles and insect metabolite composition.
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
In the classroom, I like to let the students lead the learning by creating spaces for them to express and explore their interests and goals.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
I spend my free time are reading, writing, printmaking, gardening, doing astrophotography, backpacking, and SCUBA diving. This summer I’m trying to grow enough legumes to be bean-self-sufficient in 2023!
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
What I love about my campus community is how we challenge each other to be better and keep growing.
CSU Channel Islands Leadership
Cynthia Flores
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
My research interest is at the intersection of mathematical physics, partial differential equations, and peridynamicsmodeling. I am motivated by the structure of mathematics, the ability to think in terms of frequency, and the diversity of applied math problems.
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
My favorite approach to learning is hands-on! So, I engage in undergraduate research practices whenever possible. I've also been really into intensive-writing activities in the classroom.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
I like going to the beach, practicing yoga, cooking, and spending time with my family.
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
My favorite thing about our campus community is the students! Our students are hidden gems; I love watching them take off into the world and become our next set of leaders.
Ahmed Awad
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
Research interest is in design, synthesis, and investigation of novel molecules as therapeutics for treatment of cancer or bacterial infections. I am motivated by the desire to be the first chemist to synthesize a new drug to treat a disease such as pancreatic cancer or a drug that can fight drug-resistant bacteria.
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
Involve undergraduate students in research projects to answer important and challenging scientific questions.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
Running, hiking, traveling
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
Meeting new students every year and seeing them grow and develop over time and having my colleagues and our shared goals to ensure students’ success.
Yvette Cortez
AGEP Coordinator
A little about me . . .
Joined AGEP team in February 2020 as Coordinator for AGEP CSUCI Campus
What I love about my job?
A proud alumna of the CSUCI Class of 2009 B.A. Psychology
Part-time position which allows me to spend more time with my family and the grandkids.
Former career served as a Program Administrator in Medical Education at USC School of Medicine and Ventura County Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
Family gatherings, grandkids, quiet time and meditation, serving others, community volunteering, reading, learning about racial reconciliation, event planning, Gold’s Gym workout, Painted Cabernet w/ Tony, attending local car shows.
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
The students we serve and the impact we can make in our students lives by being present for them. To come alongside our students and encourage them in their goals and dreams. Si se puede!
Faculty, staff and leadership are all working together to make our students be the best they can be.
Chris Kello
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
I am interested in foundations of intelligence and cognition, including neural networks and the physical bases of thought. I am motivated by artificial intelligence, both its successes and shortcomings.
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
Small group assignments in class with the instructor and teaching assistants going around the class to check on groups and provide them with feedback and guidance. I also like many small assignments/exams/papers throughout the term rather than a small number of high-stakes grades.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
Trail running, listening to books while driving, word games
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
Student gratitude, dedicated staff and faculty, new buildings
UC Merced Leadership
Angela Winek
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
Effective pedagogy for serving underrepresented students, motivated by growing up in California’s Central Valley and witnessing educational disparities…
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
I like to have a completely flipped classroom, giving students agency in each activity…
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
Cooking, Gardening, Yoga, Hiking, Fashion, DIY Projects, Hosting Gatherings…
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
The students are my favorite part of our campus community because they are why we are all here…
Korynn Maravilla
AGEP Coordinator
A little about me…
I was born and raised in Merced, CA. I recently graduated from the University of California, Merced with a Bachelors in Sociology. Throughout my college career I worked as a Recycling Lead Intern at UC Merced. I recently accepted my new position as Academic Coordinator in Graduate Division.
What my role consists of as Academic Coordinator?
In my capacity as academic coordinator, I will be responsible for many administrative aspects of the program's functions including organization of meetings and events, documentation, communication, financial management, reimbursements, publicity, website and more. I coordinate three different academic grants, one of those being AGEP.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
In my free time I love to play/coach softball, hang out with my family, friends, and my two dogs, as well as be creative by working on DIY projects.
Jim Marshall
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
While I began my career researching endangered species in southwest Florida, upon entering academia, my research quickly evolved. As a faculty member and now as a university administrator, my research focuses on student success, particularly that of students seeking careers in STEM and STEM education.
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
I've found many "active learning" strategies to be highly effective in increasing motivation to learn, relevance of learning, and achievement.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
As I enter retirement, I'm re-learning golf and spending a lot of time on my road bike.
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
The diversity of students and faculty, their dedication to student success, and the transformational experience the campus provides its students.
CSU Fresno Leadership
Chris Meyer
What’s your research interest –what motivated you?
My research interests include metabolic biochemistry, biotechnology, and enzyme structure-function relationships, specifically enzymes in the pathway that control biodegradable and renewable carbon sources in bacteria and plants. As a faculty member at Cal State Fullerton, I led a large NSF funded group. As Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, my research interests now are centered on STEM education and the integration of teaching and research with the goal of democratizing student exposure to research and interdisciplinary team science.
What’s one of your most effective or favorite high-impact teaching practice?
I am a huge supporter of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences -or CUREs! We have introduced CUREs components into a number of courses.
What are your hobbies (personal interests)?
My hobbies include martial arts (Kenpo Karate), reading, movie-watching, and cooking and eating great foods!
What are your favorite things about your campus community?
Fresno State is a vibrant and diverse ecosystem with talented and dedicated students, staff, and faculty.It is a point of pride that we contribute to the success of many diverse and First-Generation college students who have gone on to exciting careers.The campus enjoys a very special place in the community as many of our graduates stay in the area and contribute to advancing the Central Valley.There are many opportunities for collaborations between science, engineering, and agriculture to tackle complex challenges in food, water, energy, health, and sustainability -major issues in the Central Valley as well as globally.
