Courtney Corley
Courtney Corley is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. He also earned his BS and MS in computer science at the University of North Texas in 2004 and 2006, respectively. His research passion crosses disciplines in computer science and system health science. Specifically, he is working toward the development of computational explanatory and predictive models that integrate social, behavioral, and cultural factors with biomedical factors. During summer, he worked on a journal article with Dr. Diane J Cook on monitoring seasonal influenza through text and structural data mining of web and social media.
Lubna Hamdan
Lubna Hamdan is a PhD candidate in environmental science and engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her dissertation is about nuclear waste management-geological repository. Lubna holds a BS in physics from Yarmouk University-Jordan and an MS in physics from University of Jordan. Her research interests include water resources management, developing resources of clean energy, nuclear waste management, and climate change. Her future goal is to be a faculty member at a research university, where she can teach and pursue research in her field.
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones is a doctoral candidate in mathematics education at Rutgers, State University of New Jersey. Jennifer has held positions as elementary classroom teacher, district technology and mathematics resource teacher, school-based mathematics coach, and staff developer. Her main research interests include the role of affect in urban mathematics teaching and learning, and equity and gender issues in public education. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from both critical race theory and Black feminist thought Jennifer is completing a qualitative dissertation that explores the racial and mathematics identity development of African American middle school girls in a small urban school district. She enjoys working with children and adults in collaborative learning communities, and believes that great educational leadership requires the skill to teach and inspire others, as well as the courage to empower those around them.
Camonia Long
Camonia Long is a doctoral student in sociology at Howard University. She was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and received both her BS and MS Ed in health science education from Baylor University. Camonia has worked in various capacities as a teaching assistant, research assistant, and program assistant in sociology, and as a program coordinator in health education. In her dissertation she examines the effects of urban social perceptions on health. Her interests include medical sociology, urban sociology, race and ethnicity and health education. Presently, she serves as a student advisory board member for the American Sociological Association. Camonia plans to purse post-doctoral research upon the completion of her degree.
Lorena Marquez
Lorena Marquez is a PhD candidate in history at UC San Diego. Her proposed dissertation title is "Sacramento En El Movimiento: Chicano Politics in the Civil Rights Era." She received a MA in history from the California State University Sacramento and a BAs in history and Spanish from the same institution. She hopes to teach at the university level and continue to serve the Chicano/Latino community.
Lorena Murga
Lorena Murga is a doctoral candidate in sociology at Texas A&M University. She earned her BA and MA in sociology from Texas A&M International University. Lorena’s research interests include racial and ethnic inequality, immigration/migration, and Latina/o sociology. In her dissertation research she explores the impact “race” has had on the work experiences of immigrant reconstruction workers in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana. Lorena also focuses her efforts on issues pertaining to immigrant and workers’ rights.
Katherine Smith
Katherine Smith is a PhD candidate in the department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA. Her research focuses on art and religion in the Afro-Atlantic world. Specifically, her dissertation investigates representations of chaos and disorder in Haitian Vodou.
Laura Straughn
Laura Straughn is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at Howard University. Her research interest addresses socio-cultural factors that influence marital satisfaction for black couples. She has a wide range of clinical experience in counseling on issues regarding substance abuse, stress management, grief, domestic violence and psychiatric illness. She received her BA in psychology from Florida State University, and her MA in counseling from Fordham University. Laura Straughn is from Pensacola, Florida.
Liying Xu
Liying Xu is a PhD candidate in Petroleum Engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interest combines energy production engineering and energy finance and risk management. Liying holds a BS in chemical engineering from Zhejiang University, China; an MS in petroleum processing engineering from the Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP), SINOPEC, China; and an MA in Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) from the University of Texas at Austin. Although Liying’s interdisciplinary PhD study was initially inspired by the need for integrating business knowledge into petroleum engineering, she will extend the interdisciplinary approach into further areas of energy discovery and production. Liying’s career goal is to join her efforts to meet the increasing needs of improving risk management and decision making in an uncertain world and to shape a better future society with secure and sustainable global energy supplies, global peace and prosperity.