STEM Communities Leadership

Leadership Overview

The STEM Communities Project involves collaborative leadership from the project team, faculty who serve as course redesign team leaders, and undergraduate students who serve as Learning Assistant advisory committee members. These 3 branches are reflected in the 3 puzzle pieces in our project logo.

Project Team - Senior Personnel

Dr. Heather Galloway

Principal Investigator

Dean, Honors College
512.245.2266
galloway@txstate.edu


Dr. Li Feng

Co-Principal Investigator

Professor, Finance and Economics
512.245.8462
li.feng@txstate.edu


Dr. Alice Olmstead

Co-Principal Investigator

Assistant Professor, Physics
512.245.0587
alice.olmstead@txstate.edu


Dr. Eleanor Close

Co-Principal Investigator

Associate Professor, Physics
512.245.8664
eclose@txstate.edu


Dr. Cynthia Luxford

Co-Principal Investigator

Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
512.245.1290
cluxford@txstate.edu


Dr. Alicia Montecinos

Postdoctoral Researcher

Honors College
msu22@txstate.edu

Dr. Madison Fitzgerald-Russell

Postdoctoral Researcher

Physics / Honors College
madison.fitzgerald@txstate.edu

Dr. Jieon Shim

Postdoctoral Researcher

Finance and Economics
nwg12@txstate.edu

Project Team - Student Researchers

Tyler Atkinson
Undergraduate Researcher

Kimberly Balboa
Undergraduate Researcher

Hannah Castro
Undergraduate Researcher

Kylie Hedge
Undergraduate Researcher

Emily Vanderworth
Undergraduate Researcher

Monica P. Arboleda Martinez
Graduate Research Assistant

Faculty Team Leaders

Biology

BIO 1330 - Functional Biology

Dr. Erica Nierth
Senior Lecturer
erica.nierth@txstate.edu

BIO 1331 - Organismal Biology

Dr. Andrea Aspbury
Senior Lecturer
aspbury@txstate.edu
 

Chemistry & Biochemistry

CHEM 1341 - General Chemistry I

Duke Willoughby
Lecturer
tvp20@txstate.edu

CHEM 3375 - Principles of Biochemistry

Dr. Joel Gray
Senior Lecturer
jg1345@txstate.edu

Dr. Karen Lewis
Associate Professor
karen.lewis@txstate.edu

Mathematics

MATH 2472 - Calculus II

Dr. Iván Ojeda-Ruiz
Senior Lecturer
ojeda@txstate.edu

Dr. Cody Patterson
Assistant Professor
codypatterson@txstate.edu

Physics

PHYS 1335 - General Physics I for Life Sciences Majors

Dr. Brandon Lunk
Senior Lecturer
brlunk@txstate.edu

PHYS 1345 - General Physics II for Life Sciences Majors

Dr. Brandon Lunk
Senior Lecturer
brlunk@txstate.edu

Undergraduate Student Leaders

Fall 2023 Learning Assistant Advisory Committee

Jairo Gutierrez

Physics major  
Mathematics minor 
jgg127@txstate.edu

Olivia (Liv) Saunders

Physics and Spanish major
Applied Math minor
ojs20@txstate.edu

Maya Perry

Health Science major
Biology minor
mjp192@txstate.edu

Devin Williams

Biology major
Biochemistry minor
vte7@txstate.edu

Sarah Weisbrodt

Biochemistry major
Biology and Computer Science minor
qwm5@txstate.edu

Daniela (Dani) Rodriguez

Pre-nursing major
wkr12@txstate.edu

Fall 2023 Pedagogy Course Assistants

Anabel Martinez

Wildlife biology major
zxo4@txstate.edu

Lauren Spencer

Biology major
Business Administration minor
ume2@txstate.edu

Project Leadership Alumni

Project Team Alumni

Egla Ochoa-Madrid
Public Relations Lead

Dr. Mavreen Rose Tuvilla
Postdoctoral Researcher

Babitha Govindaiah
Graduate Research Assistant

Daniel Payan
Undergraduate Researcher

Charles Ramey II
Postdoctoral Research Associate

Dr. Brianne Gutmann
Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr. Amreen Nasim Thompson
Postdoctoral Researcher

Alexander Vasquez
Undergraduate Researcher

Alexis (Lexie) Kerr
Undergraduate Researcher

Dr. Jiwoo An Pierson
Postdoctoral Researcher

Venkata Sowjanya Koka
Graduate Research Assistant

Itzel Herrera
Undergraduate Researcher

Mariella van der Sluijs
Graduate Research Assistant

Learning Assistant Advisory Committee Alumni

Venus Stanton
Spring 2022

Iman (Mon) Nash
Spring & Fall 2022

Shashank (Ayush) Neupane
Spring 2023

Teresa (Tess) Luna
Spring 2022

Lauren Spencer
Fall 2022

Kyah Weaver
Spring 2023

Bridget Bangert
Spring 2022

Alexis (Lexie) Kerr
Fall 2022 & Spring 2023

Chloe Hansom
Spring 2022

Anabel Martinez
Spring 2023

External Advisors

External Evaluator

Dr. Kavita Mittapalli
CEO, MN Associates, Inc.
Website

Advisory Board

Dr. Tessa Andrews
Associate Professor, Genetics
University of Georgia
Website

Dr. Araceli Martinez Ortiz
Professor, Biomedical Engineering & Chemical Engineering / Interdisciplinary Learning & Teaching
University of Texas - San Antonio
Website

Dr. Daniel Reinholz
Associate Professor, Mathematics & Statistics
San Diego State University
Website

Dr. Mel Sabella
Professor, Physics
Chicago State University
 

Additional support for the STEM Communities Project is provided by Honors College staff.