The Academic Minute for 2023.10.16-2023.10.20

The Academic Minute from 10.16 – 10.20

Monday
Heather Vough – George Mason University
Why People Don’t Call Themselves Entrepreneurs
Heather Vough is an associate professor of management at the George Mason University School of Business and a Ph.D. in Business Program Director. Her research interests include identity construction and sensemaking in organizations, professions, and careers. Heather has also held academic positions at the University of Cincinnati and McGill University. She holds her Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Illinois. Her work has been published in multiple journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Management. Her work has also been featured in media outlets such as the Harvard Business Review, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Huffington Post.

Tuesday
Sunmin Lee – University of California, Irvine
Sleep and Chronic Diseases
Dr. Sunmin Lee, PhD, ScD, is a Professor in the Department of Medicine, in the School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine. Dr. Lee is also a Co-Leader of Cancer Control Program, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lee is trained in social epidemiology. Her research focuses on reducing health disparities among minoritized and immigrant populations, especially among Asian Americans. She has incorporated both quantitative and qualitative research methods and has conducted both epidemiologic and intervention studies, to comprehensively examine the etiologies of health disparities and design, implement, and evaluate randomized controlled trials that are culturally and linguistically appropriate to reduce health disparities.

Wednesday
Mejdulene Shomali – University of Maryland Baltimore County
Challenging Misconceptions about Queer Sexualities in Arab Cultures
Mejdulene Bernard Shomali is a queer Palestinian poet and assistant professor of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She received a PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan and an MA in Women’s Studies from the Ohio State University. Her work focuses on femininity, queerness, and transnational Arab cultural production. Her first book, Between Banat: Queer Arab Critique and Transnational Arab Archives was published by Duke University Press in February 2023.

Thursday
Joshua Brake – Harvey Mudd College
Using Light to Analyze Plants
Joshua Brake is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California.
Before joining the faculty at Harvey Mudd, he received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and his M.S. and B.S. in Engineering with an Electrical Concentration from LeTourneau University. During his Ph.D. studies he developed new tools and techniques in biomedical optics to see deeper into tissue.

Friday
Austin Garner – Syracuse University
Sea Urchins Can’t “Get a Grip” on Climate Change
Austin M. Garner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and BioInspired Institute at Syracuse University. His research focuses on how animals interface with their environment with a particular focus on how animals attach to surfaces in variable conditions. He employs an interdisciplinary research approach that combines expertise in both life and physical sciences. Garner’s research currently focuses on the attachment systems of lizards (geckos and anoles) and sea urchins. Prior to joining Syracuse University, Garner was a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at Villanova University from 2021-2022. Garner earned a Ph.D. in Integrated Bioscience in 2021 and a B.S. in Biology (magna cum laude) in 2016, both from the University of Akron.