People

Principal Investigator

 

Dr. Nate Brown

Nate Brown is a Professor of Mathematics at Penn State University. His research in mathematics is described here. The long-term objective of his social justice work is tangible and measurable change, so interests range from education to research to policy reform. He’s always looking for collaborators to learn from and work with! Feel free to email him!

Affiliated Faculty

Dr. Neil Hatfield

Dr. Neil Hatfield is an Assistant Research Professor in Penn State’s Department of Statistics. With a background in Mathematics Education, his dominant research focus looks into how students think about the concept of distribution and the concepts which serve as a foundation for distribution.  He is also becoming increasingly interested in issues of equity in Statistics (and other STEM) courses, particularly when examining major/non-major flavors of the same course.

 

Contributing Faculty

 

Staff and Students

Lindsay Palmer

Lindsay Palmer is a doctoral student in the dual-title degree program in Psychology (social area) and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (primary advisor: Dr. Jes Matsick) in the Underrepresented Perspectives Laboratory. Her research interests include academic inclusion, diversity, prejudice, and stigma. She received her B.A. from the University of Virginia, and worked as a research assistant and lab manager for Dr. Sophie Trawalter’s Social Cognition and Behavior Laboratory before attending Penn State. In the STEM Diversity Lab with Dr. Nate Brown, she works as a graduate research assistant examining phenomena related to academic inclusion in mathematics fields.

Katherine Lewis

Katie Lewis is a doctoral student in the dual-title degree program in Psychology (social area) and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (primary advisor: Dr. Theresa Vescio). Her research interests include masculinity, aggression, sexual violence, and power. She received her B.S. from Ohio State University, and worked as a research assistant and lab manager for Dr. Jennifer Crocker’s Self and Social Motivation Lab before attending Penn State. In the STEM Diversity Lab with Dr. Nate Brown, she works as a graduate research assistant examining phenomena related to academic inclusion in mathematics fields.

Abby Sine

Abby Sine is a doctoral student in Statistics. Her research interests include network analysis in measurement development as well as student views of success. She received her B.S. in mathematics from West Virginia University, ​with a focus on mathematics education before attending Penn State. Outside of research, she enjoys rock climbing, watching WVU athletic events, and bowling.

Deja Workman

Deja Workman is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Information Sciences and Technology, Design and Development, along with a minor in sociology; she intends to complete a certificate in Diversity Studies. Deja is a lab assistant in the STEM Diversity Lab and a research assistant at the Center for Human-Computer Interaction within the College of IST. Outside of research, Deja is a member of the Millennium Scholars Program and an employee of Penn State Residence Life.

Nina De Luna

Nina De Luna is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Immunology and Infectious Disease and a research assistant in the STEM Diversity Lab. She enjoys participating in science outreach events and going running/hiking in her free time.

 

Previous Members

Candace Todd

Candace Todd is an undergraduate student at Penn State pursuing a B.S. in Statistics and a former research assistant in the STEM Diversity lab. She is a member of the Millennium Scholars Program, a program that prepares high achieving STEM students to apply for PhD programs in their senior year.

Gretha Dos Santos

Gretha Dos Santos was the project manager in 2018-2019. She graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in mathematics in 2018.

Liwei Wei

Liwei Wei earned a PhD in educational psychology from Penn State in 2018 for work on small-group discussion approaches that promote students’ high-level comprehension and critical-analytic thinking. She earned a Master of Arts in applied linguistics and a Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature from Tsinghua University, China.

Wenrui Cai (Wen)

Wenrui Cai (Wen) graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in Mathematics in 2019. Her passion for teaching and leadership led her to pursue a graduate degree in Mathematics Education at Columbia University.

Catherine Babecki

Catherine Babecki received a B.S. in Mathematics from Penn State in May 2017. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Washington, Seattle. She was the project manager from Aug 2017 – July 2018.

Connor Cassady

Connor Cassady is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of mathematics, he is interested in music, stand-up comedy, and increasing diversity and minority representation in all STEM fields.

Raymond

Raymond received his B.S. in Mathematics from Penn State in May 2017. He is currently a mathematics graduate student at Purdue University.

Sara Jamshidi Zelenber

Sara Jamshidi Zelenberg received her PhD in mathematics from Penn State University in 2018. She is currently a post-doc at the department of applied mathematics at Illinois Tech where she studies machine learning, algebraic statistics, and computational algebraic geometry. Her interests also include sustainability and math education. Check out her YouTube channel for Calc 3.