Summer ’22 PhD Graduates Given Warm Send-Off

Doctorate graduates were given a warm and personal send-off Thursday in a longstanding College of Sciences tradition. Remarks by Dean Maggy Tomova, Ph.D., were followed by individual recognition of the Summer ’22 graduates in attendance. A toast sent them forward into their next milestones, which varied from academia to postdoctoral research and national laboratories. Click here for a full gallery of photos.

Big Data Analytics

Charles Harrison, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Edgard Maboudou, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Change Point Detection for Streaming Data using Support Vector Methods” 

Chemistry

Kaveena Autar, Ph.D., faculty advisor, James Hickman, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Development of an hiPSC-Cortical Neuron Long-Term Potentiation Model and its Application to Alzheimer’s Disease Modeling and Drug Evaluation“

David Fairchild, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Fernando Uribe-Romo, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Reticular Design and Synthesis of Metal-Organic Frameworks with Targeted Emergent Properties”

David Fox, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Lei Zhai, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Surface Engineering for Controlled Growth and Deposition Of Nanomaterials – Assembly and Design at the Nano-Microscale“

Luz Kelley, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Matthieu Baudelet, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Genomic Analysis of Pollen Grains for Forensic Applications“ 

Tatiana Molden, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Dmitry Kolpashchikov, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “From DNA Logic Gates to DNA Nanorobots: Development of “Smart” DNA Nanomachines for Detection and Therapy of Diseases“

Clinical Psychology

Catrina Calub, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Mark Rapport, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Attention Control in ADHD: An Investigation Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)“

Matthew Cook, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Amie Newins, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Sexual Aggression Risk and Sexual Assault Scripts in Men: A Vignette Study“

Matthew Kramer, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Robert Dvorak, Ph.D., and co-chair, Lidia Meshesha, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Hannibal Lecter and a friend walk into a bar: The role of psychopathy in peer drinking behaviors“

Brandon Matsumiya, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Clint Bowers, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “A study of deep-level processing and self-efficacy of reflective practice and their relationship with achievement goal orientation, interest, reported reflective practice, and formal instruction in graduate clinical psychology students“

Emily Ross, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Jeffrey Cassisi, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “The Reciprocal Effect of Gastrointestinal Health on Psychological Distress and Disability in Emerging Adults“

J’Nelle Stephenson, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Daniel Paulson, Ph.D., and co-chair, Vikki Gaskin-Butler, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “A Psychosociodevelopmental Framework for Conceptualizing the IPV Transgenerational Cycle: The Relationships Between Maternal Mental Health, The Parent-Child Relationship, and Young Child Outcomes“

Emy Willis, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Michael Dunn, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Underlying Dimensions of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Pre- and Post-Treatment in Women with Co-Occcuring Substance Use Disorder“

Conservation Biology

Ian Will, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Charissa de Bekker, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Multiomic hypotheses of behavioral manipulation by Ophiocordyceps (zombie ant fungus) infecting Camponotus (carpenter ant)“

Integrative Anthropological Sciences

Melvin Guzman Piedrasanta, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Brigitte Kovacevich, Ph.D., and co-chair, Michael Callaghan, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Social Complexity and Water Management Strategies at Holtun, Guatemala“

Mathematics

Ranses Alfonso Rodriguez, Ph.D., faculty advisor, S. Roy Choudhury, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Extensions of the General Solution to the Inverse Problem of the Calculus of Variations, and Variational, Perturbative and Reversible Systems Approaches to Regular and Embedded Solitary Waves“

Yuchen Cao, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Jiongmin Yong, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Optimal Impulse Controls with Changing Running Cost and Applications in Mortgage Refinance“

Ryan Rooparain, Ph.D., faculty advisor, S. Roy Choudhury, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Various Dynamical Regimes and Transitions from Homogeneous to Inhomogeneous Steady States in Nonlinear Systems with Delays and Diverse Couplings“

Modeling & Simulation

Amanda Bond, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Peter Hancock, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Investigating Mitigation Strategies for Spatial Disorientation“

Jacquelyn Schreck, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Gerald Matthews, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “The impact of operator personality and trust in an automated main control room: Nuclear power plant operator reaction time, perceived workload, and perception of the automated system” 

Physics

Coleman Cariker, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Luca Argenti, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Attosecond optical probe and control of atomic autoionizing states”

Michael Himes, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Joseph Harrington, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Atmospheric Retrieval: Bayesian Methods, Machine Learning, and Application To Exoplanets”

Gyan Khatri, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Enrique del Barco, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Terahertz Spintronics with Antiferromagnetic Insulators” 

Vanessa Lowry, Ph.D., faculty advisors, Kerri Donaldson Hanna, Ph.D., and co-chair, Humberto Campins, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Spectral Characterization and Age of the Moon and Primitive Asteroids”

Saad Mehmood, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Luca Argenti, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Control of Coherence in Attosecond Atomic Ionization” 

Sajad Saghaye Polkoo, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Christopher Kyle Renshaw, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Imaging Based Beam Steering for Optical Communication and Lidar Applications” 

Muhammad Sajid, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Abdelkader Kara, Ph.D. and co-chair, William Kaden, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Computational And Experimental Studies of Adsorption and Reactions on Molybdenum Nitride and Silica Covered Ruthenium Surfaces” 

Ruqayyah Shouk, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Richard Klemm, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Design of A High-Power Terahertz Emitter Array Using a High-Temperature Superconductor”

Sociology

James Caldwell, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Amanda Koontz, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Associations Between Patient-Provider Trust and HIV Care Continuum Outcomes“

Ketty Fernandez, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Libby Mustaine, Ph.D., and co-chair, Bethany Backes, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Predicting the Likelihood of Verbal Coercion Across Race and Ethnicity Through Routine Activity Theory“

J. Gary L’Hommedieu, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Amy Donley, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “The Sociology of God: The Case of Homeless Believers“

Traccy Martins, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Jason Ford, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Mediation and Moderation Analyses Investigating Marijuana Use Among LGB Adults“

Ashley Stone, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Shannon K. Carter, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “In Plain Sight: Examining the Diffusion of Black Women’s Knowledge in the Era of Expanding the Sociological Canon“

Kayla Toohy, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Jay Corzine, Ph.D.

Dissertation: “Homicide Patterns in Urban Places: A Geospatial Analysis of Homicide in Baltimore, MD“