Faculty Experts

Need a subject expert? We have them. Cal State East Bay’s faculty are experts on everything from inter-racial relations and mental health to black holes and earthquake activity. Below, you can search for subject matter experts by topic or name. If you need assistance locating an expert or for immediate or on-site requests, contact News and Media Manager Kimberly Hawkins at kimberly.hawkins@csueastbay.edu and please mark the email as urgent.

If you are a Cal State East Bay faculty member and interested in being listed as a faculty expert on this page, please fill out this form and contact Kimberly Hawkins with any questions at kimberly.hawkins@csueastbay.edu.

Wallis Adams, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Sociology

Expertise:

Mental health,
Peer workers in behavioral health,
Health services,
Recovery,
Peer support,
Medical sociology

James Ahiakpor, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus of Economics

Expertise:

Monetary economics,
Government fiscal and monetary policies

Ana Almeida

Chair of the Department of Biology, Associate Professor of Biology and Associate Director of Green Biome Institute

Expertise:

Plant Genomics,
Development and Evolution

Matthew Atencio, Ph.D

Associate Professor of Kinesiology

Expertise:

Action or Lifestyle Sports,
Youth Sports,
Skateboarding,
Physical Education,
Outdoor Education,
Qualitative Research,
Educational Research

Duke Austin, Ph.D.

Department Chair of Sociology

Expertise:

Race and ethnic relations,
Gender,
Sexuality,
Immigration,
Ethnographic methods

David Baggins, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus of Political Science

Expertise:

Politics,
2016 Presidential Election

Amira Barger

Professor of Management, Continuing Education

Expertise:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI),
Communications Strategies,
Multicultural Marketing,
Change Management, Employee Engagement,
Health Equity, Health Communications

Becky Beal, Ed.D.

Professor of Kinesiology

Expertise:

Social justice issues in sport and physical activity,
The culture of skateboarding (researching for over 25 years),
Former coach of soccer and track & field at youth, high school, and collegiate levels

Katherine M. Bell, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of communication

Expertise:

Celebrity and consumer culture,
Journalism,
Race, gender and sexuality in media.

Scott Bentley

Lecturer of English

Expertise:

English/American literature,
Poetry

Elizabeth Bergman, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus (& former Chair) of Political Science

Expertise:

California politics; especially the state budget, water policy, education funding and policy,
Voters (demographics), voting behavior (turnout) and public opinion/polls,
Elections; administration and processes both statewide and nationally (Voter ID, long lines, voting by mail, poll worker recruitment),
Urban politics; especially relating to sub-city governments (special districts, e.g. school districts),
Practical politics, "how to" of campaigns and how candidates get elected,
Lobbying and political reform, re: money and influence in politics and elections

Ellen Bernstein-Ellis

Speech pathologist with Speech Languages and Hearing Sciences

Expertise:

Aphasia,
Group Treatment of Aphasia,
Life Participation Approach to Aphasia,
Aphasia Book Clubs,
Aphasia Choirs

Benjamin P. Bowser, Ph.D.

Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Social Services

Expertise:

Sociology -- urban studies, East and West Oakland, race relations, inequality,
Public Health -- drug abuse prevention, HIV/AIDS prevention

Lonny J Avi Brooks, Ph.D.

Professor of Communication

Expertise:

Strategic and Organizational Communication,
Social media,
Long term and futures thinking,
Future of work,
Serious games/online gaming,
Diversity and multi-racial identity/LGBT social media issues, sustainability

Mary Cardaras, Ph.D.

Chair of Communication

Expertise:

Media & Politics,
Journalism,
Documentary Film

Paul Carpenter, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair of Kinesiology, Board Member American Kinesiology Association

Expertise:

Sport and Exercise Psychology,
Motivational issues in youth sport,
Accomplished Ultracyclist - Currently President UltraMarathon Cycling Association an International Organization for the sport of ultracycling

Chris Chamberlain, D.Mgt.

Department Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Hospitality, Recreation & Tourism

Expertise:

Municipal Recreation Administration and Management,
Org Development

Ayona Chatterjee, Ph.D.

Department Chair and Associate Professor of Statistics and Biostatistics

Expertise:

Bayesian statistics,
Pesticide risk assessment,
Dietary data sets

Lynn Comerford, Ph.D.

Professor, Director, Sociologist in Human Development & Women's Studies

Expertise:

Women’s Studies,
Sociology

Ken Curr, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences

Expertise:

Virology,
Immunology (Emphasis on HIV-1),
Molecular/Cell Biology,
Genetics

Moayed Daniel Daneshyari

Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Expertise:

Artificial Intelligence,
Machine Learning,
Robotics,
Swarm Intelligence,
Optimization

Jason Daniels, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of History

Expertise:

Early America,
Colonial Caribbean

Gabriela Diaz Davalos, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures

Expertise:

Sociolinguistics,
Spanish language,
Capoeira,
Second Language Acquisition

Jack Davis, Ph.D.

Psychologist and Professor of Educational Psychology

Expertise:

Attention and learning disorders,
ADHD,
Dyslexia,
Nonverbal learning disorders,
Specific learning disabilities (SLD)

Craig Derksen, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Expertise:

Philosophy of Science,
Popular Culture,
Popular Science,
Popular Art,
Evidence and Belief,
Thinking

Jed DeVaro, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics

Expertise:

Labor Economy,
Worker’s Rights

Hongwei Du, Ph.D.

Chair of Management Department

Expertise:

Information Technology and Information Systems Management,
Telecommunication and Computer Networking,
Data and Database Management

Elena Dukhovny

Associate Professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences

Expertise:

Speech-Language Pathology,
Augmentative Communication,
Alternative Communication

Roberta Frances Durham, RN, Ph.D.

Professor of Nursing

Expertise:

Global Health, Obstetrics,
Migrant women health outcomes,
Women's health,
Neonates/newborns

Alina Engelman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Expertise:

Deaf studies,
Disability health,
Global health,
HIV/AIDS,
Emergency preparedness communications for vulnerable populations including people with disabilities and seniors

John Eros, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Music

Expertise:

Music Education,
Music Theory

Levent Ertaul

Department Chair of Computer Science

Expertise:

Cyber Security Policies & Privacy,
Cyber Security Attacks,
Cyber War,
Hacking Techniques,
International Cyber Security Issues

David Fencsik, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology

Expertise:

Attention,
Perception,
Memory

Susi Ferrarello

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Expertise:

Phenomenology,
Ethics,
Bioethics,
Philosophical Counseling

Toni E. Fogarty, PhD, M.P.H.

Professor of Health Care Administration and MS-HCA Graduate Coordinator

Expertise:

Health care delivery systems,
Health care reform,
Health care reimbursement,
Health insurance,
Long-term health care

Susan Forsyth, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Expertise:

Reproductive health,
Tobacco Control,
Tobacco imagery in video games

Mary F. Fortune, Ed.D.

Professor of Hospitality, Recreation & Tourism

Expertise:

Leisure management,
Special event planning, leadership development/team building,
Health and wellness,
Student development/student government,
Technology and communication

Samantha Francois, Ph.D.

Lecturer

Expertise:

Women's History,
US History,
History of the Family and Sexuality

David E. Fraser, MPA, Ed.D.

Lecturer of Public Affairs and Administration

Expertise:

Leadership and management in public agencies,
Leadership in higher education,
Organization theory and change,
Program development and evaluation,
Qualitative research methods

Amy Furniss, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Physics

Expertise:

Astroparticle Physics,
Female in the STEM field

Kathy Futterman, Ed.D.

Educational Psychology & Teacher Education Lecturer/Supervisor/Adjunct Faculty

Expertise:

Dyslexia,
Special Education,
Learning Disabilities,
Reading Disorders

Kim Geron, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus

Expertise:

American Politics (specifically California, state and local politics, race and ethnic politics)

Elena Givental

Adjunct Professor of Geography & Environmental Studies

Expertise:

Weather,
Climate Change,
Water Resources,
California Geography,
Geopolitics

Brian Gonsalves, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology

Expertise:

Cognitive neuroscience,
Human memory,
False memory & memory distortion,
Brain imaging,
EEG

Albert Gonzalez, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Anthropology, Geography & Environmental Studies

Expertise:

Archaeology,
Latinx and Chicanx Studies,
Native American Studies,
Tribal Consultation

Mariama Gray, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership

Expertise:

Disproportionate student discipline,
Principal preparation,
Critical geography/spatial analysis of unequal relations of powers

Katy Grimm

Associate Professor of Physics

Expertise:

Particle Physics,
Quantum Mechanics,
Sub-Atomic Physics

Lindsey Grubbs, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Public Health

Expertise:

Bioethics,
Literature about illness,
History of psychiatry

Zaher (Zach) Hallab, Ph.D.

Professor of Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism

Expertise:

Hospitality and Tourism,
Marketing

Lisa Handwerker, Ph.D., MPH

Lecturer

Expertise:

Medical Anthropology,
Women's Health,
Cross-cultural health,
Modern China,
Chinese birth planning and infertility,
Reproductive Technologies,
Anthropology of Food,
Research Methods

Michael Hedrick, Ph.D.

Professor of Biological Sciences

Expertise:

Human & Animal Physiology,
Faculty Governance within the CSU

Erik B. Helgren, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Chair

Expertise:

Solar Technology Materials Science,
Physics Education

Nolan Higdon

Lecturer of Communication

Expertise:

Critical Media Literacy,
Propaganda,
Politics,
News,
Nationalism,
History,
English,
Communication

John Paul Horn, MSW, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Social Work

Expertise:

Child welfare,
Queer foster youth,
Emerging adulthood,
Transition aged foster youth,
Foster care policy,
Identity development,
Foster youth in college

Keith Inman

Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

Expertise:

DNA/Forensic Science Research,
Judicial Influence

Caron Inouye, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology

Expertise:

Bird biology,
Environmental toxicology,
Animal physiology,
STEM education

Linda Ivey

Professor of History

Expertise:

Immigration history,
Environmental history of the US,
California history,
Public history

Buddy James, D.M.A.

Department Chair of Music, Professor, Director of Vocal Studies, and Founding Director of School of Arts and Media

Expertise:

Vocal music,
Orchestral Music,
Opera

Patricia K. Jennings, Ph.D.

Associate Dean

Expertise:

Infertility and treatment,
Race, class and access to infertility treatment,
Research methods,
Social inequality,
Social mobility,
Gender inequality

Samantha Juan

Assistant Professor of Nursing

Expertise:

Simulation,
Nursing Education,
Critical Care Nursing

Andrew Kelly

Assistant Professor

Expertise:

Medicare/Medicaid,
Affordable Care Act,
Private Insurance,
Health Reform,
Health Politics

Grant Kien, Ph.D.

Professor of communication

Expertise:

Communication,
Technology and society,
Critical cultural studies,
Digital media and popular culture,
Media and politics,
Media memes

Derek Jackson Kimball, Ph.D.

Professor of Physics

Expertise:

Precision measurements in physics,
Searches for dark matter,
Dark energy,
New forces

Michele Korb, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Teacher Education, Science educator

Expertise:

Science teacher education

Eric Kupers

Professor of Theatre and Dance

Expertise:

Dance,
Performance,
Inclusive Performance,
Disability and Dance,
Autism,
Social Justice Performance,
Meditation,
Buddhism,
Movement Meditation

Sweety Law, Ph.D.

Professor of Marketing & Entrepreneurship

Expertise:

Innovation diffusion,
Leadership,
Cross-cultural communication,
Organizational culture and change,
Communication campaigns and behavior change,
Social marketing

Kristin Layous, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Expertise:

Psychology,
Happiness,
Gratitude

Danvy Le, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Political Science

Expertise:

Race and ethnic politics,
Political participation,
American Politics,
Civic Action

Michael David Lee, Ph.D.

Professor of Geography & Environmental Studies, Director of International Studies, Director of Education and Policy, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories Center for Aquaculture

Expertise:

Water,
Food,
Aquaculture,
Development,
Sustainability

Cory LePage, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice

Expertise:

Criminal Justice System,
Criminal Courts,
Criminal Law

Rita Liberti, Ph.D.

Professor of Kinesiology

Expertise:

Sport history

Anthony Lima, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus of Economy

Expertise:

Wine Industry Economics,
Sports Economics,
Tech Economics

Monique Manopoulos, Ph.D.

Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures

Expertise:

Postcolonial Francophone Studies

Tony Marks-Block, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies

Expertise:

Fire,
Forest Health,
California Land Management,
Indigenous Livelihoods,
Environmental Justice,
Subsistence systems,
Restoration ecology

Peter K. Marsh

Professor of Music

Expertise:

Music and cultures of Mongolia,
Northern or Inner Asia, and Central Asia,
Soviet and Post-Soviet History

Daniel Martin, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Management

Expertise:

Compassion,
Social capital,
Human Resources Management,
Technology,
Psychology

Julie McNamara, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Teacher Education

Expertise:

Mathematics Education,
Teacher Preparation,
Teaching and Learning of Mathematics,
Common Core Mathematics,
Math Wars,
Classroom Teaching

Aaron Miller

Lecturer of Kinesiology

Expertise:

Sports,
Education,
Culture,
Power,
Athlete Activism,
Racism,
Sexism

Amara Miller, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Expertise:

Social movements and complex organizations,
Popular culture,
Feminist Theory,
Critical Theory,
Social Inequalities,
Body and Emotions,
Post/Colonialism,
Memory Studies,
Sociology of Violence,
Social Psychology,
Digital & News Media,
Religion & Identity,
Historical & Field Methods

Jacob Miranda, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Expertise:

Bias in Science; Replication Crisis,
Pedagogy (Students and Teachers Outcomes; Legislation that impacts it),
Political (Affective) Polarizations

Kaumudi Misra

Associate Professor of Management

Expertise:

Time Zone Effects,
Work-Life Flexibility Policies,
People Analytics,
Global Team Performance

Jean Moran, Ph.D.

Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Expertise:

Water resources, especially groundwater, in California,
Nitrate contamination of groundwater,
Radionuclides released from nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities,
Isotope hydrology and groundwater age dating,
Hydrology and hydrogeology pedagogy

Christopher Moreman, Ph.D.

Professor and Department Chair

Expertise:

Death,
Dying, and Afterlife,
Religious Experience,
Religion and Popular Culture,
Religion & Horror,
Zombies,
Paranormal

Tammie Simmons-Mosley, Ph.D.

Professor of Accounting & Finance

Expertise:

Real Estate

Arnab Mukherjea

Department Chair and Associate Professor of Public Health

Expertise:

Public Health,
Health Disparities,
Social Determinants of Health,
Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders,
Community-Engaged Research,
Interpretation of Health Research for Public Comprehension

James A. Murray, Ph.D.

Professor of Biological Sciences

Expertise:

Neural basis of navigation,
Sensory biology,
Animal communication,
How nervous systems work,
Neuroscience education,
Confocal microscopy,
Marine invertebrates,
Marine biology

Maria Nieto, Ph.D.

Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences

Expertise:

Fiction Writing,
Intersex Advocate,
Same-Sex Marriage Debate

My Phung (Jenny) O, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Kinesiology/Director of Center for Student Research Scholars Program

Expertise:

Sport and performance psychology,
adult learning and performance,
motor learning,
undergraduate student research,
high impact practices,
group dynamics,
leadership

Joon-Hee Oh, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Marketing & Entrepreneurship

Expertise:

Marketing,
Strategy

Jesús Oliver, Ph.D.

Professor of Math

Expertise:

Black Holes,
Differential Equations,
LatinE in STEM

Maria Ortuoste, Ph.D.

Department Chair and Professor of Political Science

Expertise:

Asia-Pacific regional security,
South China Sea disputes,
International security, law and organizations,
Southeast Asian governments and regional organizations

Thomas C. Padron, Ph.D., CMP, CHE, CWP

Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Hospitality and Tourism

Expertise:

Food & Beverage,
Restaurant Management,
Event Planning and Management,
Hospitality & Tourism,
Professional Preparation – Cover Letters, Resumes, Reference Pages, Preparing for the Interview,
Professionalism & Etiquette,
Customer Service,
Leadership

Seung Paek, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Administration

Expertise:

Private security,
Policing cybercrime

Nancy Park

Lecturer of History

Expertise:

China,
Chinese law,
Chinese history,
Japan

Kelsi Perttula, PhD, MS

Assistant Professor of Public Health

Expertise:

Metabolomics (high dimensional data compared with epidemiological outcome) ,
Multi-omics analysis (metabolomics, proteomics, genomics)

Peter K. Marsh

Professor of Music

Expertise:

Music and cultures of Mongolia,
Northern or Inner Asia, and Central Asia,
Soviet and Post-Soviet history

Brandon Phillips

Assistant Professor of Public Affairs and Administration

Expertise:

Latino/a/e Community Issues,
Activism,
Public Policy,
Critical Race Theory,
Nonprofit and Community-Based Organizations

Arran Phipps. Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Expertise:

Dark matter,
Low temperature electronics,
Physics,
Physics

Kevin Pina

Broadcast Lecturer, Filmmaker, Journalist

Expertise:

Haiti

Vibha Puri, Ph.D.

Lecturer of Sociology and Social Sciences

Expertise:

Women’s issues,
Reproductive rights including surrogacy, cloning, women’s employment, etc.,
Theory on capitalism, colonialism,
Race relations,
Juvenile issues

Balaraman Rajan, Ph.D.

Professor of Management

Expertise:

Healthcare,
Telemedicine,
mHealth,
Capacity Management

Lettie Ramirez, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus of Teacher Education, Director Hispanic Serving Institution Grant, STEP, Director STEM

Expertise:

ESL,
Parental involvement,
Teacher Ed,
Bilingual Ed

Asha Rao, Ph.D.

Professor of Management

Expertise:

Women in leadership,
Leadership,
Diversity Management (focus on Disability, Religion, Culture, South Asian, LGBTQIA),
Negotiations,
HRM

Xeno Rasmusson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Human Development & Women's Studies

Expertise:

Gerontology,
Aging,
Health & Aging,
Healthy Aging,
Successful Aging,
Cognitive Aging,
Dementia,
Alzheimer's disease,
Memory Training,
Active Aging and whole person interventions,
Music and aging,
Dance and aging and Parkinsons' disease,
Volunteerism and aging,
Neuropsychology and Neuroscience,
Drugs - drug action, drug policy, clinical drug trials, drug abuse/addiction, medical marijuana,
Higher Education - engaged learning, research methods, community-based research, service learning, diversity, neuro-diversity and social justice

Gretchen Reevy, Ph.D.

Lecturer of Psychology

Expertise:

Stress and coping,
Non-tenure-track faculty in higher education (also called adjunct faculty, contingent faculty),
Non-cognitive (for instance, personality) predictors of academic achievement,
The human-animal bond,
Sex comparisons in some psychological traits