Faculty Research Interests

My research includes studies on the integration of mathematical reasoning into computer science curricula, development and integration of innovative teaching approaches that aim to improve the learning process and enhance the comprehension of the study materials, evaluation and assessment of the effectiveness of the proposed techniques, curricular development issues related to core introductory programming courses, interdisciplinary courses, courses for non-majors, and elective courses for computer science and information systems majors.

My current research focuses on the interactions between trophic levels in host plant-herbivore-predator/parasitoid systems. I am currently working with the tulip tree beauty moth in the Northeast U.S. looking at interactions between host plants, caterpillars, and fly and wasp parasitoids that attack the caterpillars.

I have also recently begun working with an agricultural system in Texas looking at the interactions between cotton, endophytic fungi, and aphid and beet armyworm herbivores. The endophytic fungi colonize the cotton plants and can affect cotton growth and aphid reproduction. I also work on the evolution of fairy shrimp life history, sex determination, and sexual selection.

My research interests all aim to alleviate societal problems. They include alternative refrigerants to R-22 and their physical properties, flammability studies of partially fluorinated hydrocarbons, thermophysical properties of ionic liquids and of their mixtures, and the thermodynamic behavior of medicinally valuable compounds.

I primarily specialize in research related to gender, work, and family. The bulk of my research is on work-family conflict and the division of paid and unpaid labor in households. I am particularly interested in health outcomes associated with various aspects of work-family balance. A second area of research examines the effectiveness of high impact practices, such as experiential classroom simulations, in achieving student learning outcomes. While not a primary area of focus, I have also conducted research on how culture and identity shape food patterns and meanings.

My primary interests are in the fields of American federalism and state and local policy agendas. Recently I co-edited the book Teaching Federalism: Multidimensional Approaches (2023), which was published as part of Edward Elgar’s Teaching Methods series. Prior to that I researched how the American federal system has affected the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in four co-authored publications. I am currently co-editing The Health of Democracy in Federal Political Systems: Consolidating, Thriving, or Backsliding? which draws upon papers presented at the 2023 International Association of Centers for Federal Studies Annual Conference in Philadelphia.

Much of my state politics research focuses on Pennsylvania. I have co-edited Pennsylvania Politics and Policy: A Commonwealth Reader, Volume 1 (2018) and Volume 2 (2019). I am currently doing research for Governing the Commonwealth: Politics, Policy and Executive Power in Pennsylvania. The book examines how recent Pennsylvania governors have used their formal and informal powers to influence public policy across a range of issues including education, the environment, and social welfare.

My research focuses on the neurobiology of social behavior and how hormones play a role in regulating those behaviors. Together with Widener undergraduate biology majors, I work on projects ranging from brain and behavior studies in songbirds, stress physiology in fish, to testing gene therapy treatments for nervous system disorders in rodents. All of my projects are conducted at Widener, some of which are done in collaboration with researchers at larger institutions.

My research interests include forest phenology/climatology, sustainable development, and tropical ecology.

My research interests include the treatment of rape victims by the criminal justice, medical and legal systems, the transformation of rape crisis centers, and the experiences and struggles of rape victim advocates, and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners.   In addition, I have conducted research on the effect of marijuana legalization on crime rates, mock jurors’ understanding of sentencing instructions, and students’ fear of crime on campus.

My research interests include modern Chinese history, race and ethnicity, and transnational history. I have published a number of book chapters, journal articles, and book reviews in these fields. I am currently working on a book manuscript on the history of Muslims in China.

My research is focused on high-energy variability in active galactic nuclei. Some galaxies have super massive black holes at their centers, which are actively pulling in matter. As gas falls into the black hole, it heats up and emits tremendous amounts of light. High-energy radiation (such as X-rays and gamma-rays) comes from the innermost regions near the black hole.

I study how these objects vary in brightness over time and use analysis techniques to put constraints on the physical parameters and geometry of the central black hole.

My research interests are in nonlinear phenomena such as granular materials.

My research interests lie in agency, moral responsibility and free will, metaphysics, the philosophy of action, applied ethics, and the intersections between these areas.

Much important philosophical work on moral responsibility and agency has traditionally focused on the positive aspects of our agency - what it is to be praiseworthy or blameworthy for our actions, what it is for our behaviors to belong to us, what it is to act intentionally, and so on? Much of my research centers on investigating the negative side of our agency - responsibility for our omissions, non-doings, etc. For instance, can I cause my plant to die by failing to water it, and can I be blameworthy for that omission?

In my dissertation "Much to Do about Non-Things: Exploring Agency and Responsibility Through Omissions," I defend a unified account of moral responsibility for actions and omissions based on abilities. I also explore several important resulting asymmetries between actions and omissions, which impact agency, regret, moral responsibility, luck, causation, and issues in applied ethics. I have also expanded this research to include collective omissions and failures to act. This involves exploring how we can contribute to collective harms – such as famines, climate change, and structural injustices – via our failures to act, in addition to our actions. I model when, why, and how we can be morally responsible for these contributions.

I also have projects on omissions of omissions (forgetting not to do something is importantly different than simply doing it) and impairments to agency found primarily in cults.

I (unfortunately) enjoy making bad puns in my writing.

I am interested in the development of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). The embryonic Drosophila central nervous system similar to the human spinal cord is a paradigm for understanding the cellular processes and genetic pathways regulating the formation and maintenance of a diverse population of nerve cells.

My research interests include investigating the role of RNA degradation in Drosophila development, investigating the impact of wounding in the Drosophila embryonic central nervous system, and investigating the effect of protein degradation on the activity of different transcription factors in neuronal fate decisions during nervous system development in Drosophila.

• Prose Craft
• Fiction Writing
• Narratology 
• U.S. Literature
• Genre Fiction 
• Radical Print Culture

Using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, I involve many undergraduate students in my research on how alternative splicing affects lipid metabolism in an effort to better understand gene regulation mechanisms related to obesity. I am also interested in the effect of diet and supplements on lifespan and fitness in both male and female fruit flies. Additionally, I collaborate on a project to identify regulatory genes involved in sexual dimorphism in the jumping stick Stiphra sp.

I research transatlantic modernism and feminist science fiction. My central interest is in how experimental literature encodes and enacts social change.

I have a variety of research interests that mostly focus on prospective teacher education. The four main foci include mathematical knowledge for teaching teachers (MKTT), the professional development of mathematics teacher educators, prospective teachers' knowledge of fractions, and task development for mathematics content courses for prospective teachers.

• Protein dynamics
• Polymer dynamics
• Fluorescence spectroscopy
• Metal enhanced fluorescence

My teaching both influences, and is influenced by my research. My research interests include social inequality (race/ethnicity, gender, and class), race and ethnicity, as well as the sociology of knowledge. My publications have appeared in the Journal of Historical Sociology and the Ashgate Research Companion to Black Sociology. The trajectory of my research will continue to focus on social inequalities and education, particularly with regard to racialized and gendered stratification of knowledge. While my current research focuses on how race and gender structure the reproduction of knowledge within U.S. Sociology, this work is centered in a global perspective that investigates how race and gender pattern the construction of knowledge in a globalized society. Further, my future research will explore the reproduction of racialized knowledge in public high schools and the application of critical pedagogy therein.

My mathematical interests lie broadly in topology and knot theory. Imagine a tangled loop of string with its ends joined together—that’s a mathematical knot, and it opens the door to a rich world of intriguing problems and patterns. I’m especially passionate about working with undergraduate students on research projects, both in knot theory and in areas inspired by their own mathematical curiosities.