Our Team
- SSSLab |
- Our Team
Laura W. Plexico
Professor
Department Chair
Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences
FacultyAdministration
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students
Collaborators
Stephen Erath, PhD., College of Human Sciences
Education
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Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, Clinical Psychology, 2006
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M.S. Pennsylvania State University, Clinical Psychology, 2002
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B.S. Texas A&M University, Psychology, 2002
Research Interest
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Physiological and coping responses to peer and family stress
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Social difficulties in childhood and adolescence
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Parent-child and peer relationships
Lab Alumni
Ansley Ayers
Shelby Easter
Mary Carmen Haynes
Molly Quinn
Elle Shipman
Sarah Stephenson
"My favorite class was British literature. I enjoyed this class because it allowed for deep discussion and thought regarding the literature we were reading. It also allowed me to draw connections to things outside of the literature itself. Because it was a CLA specific class I was able to get to know my professor well and connect with the other students in the class. I left this class with a broader knowledge of British literature as well as improved critical thinking skills."
Victoria Slayton
Victoria is a senior majoring in speech, language, and hearing sciences with a minor in human development and family studies. Her other involvements include being the president of the Auburn Wesley Foundation and a member of the National Student Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (NSSLHA).
Why Victoria joined the lab: "I wanted to join the lab to learn more about research in the field of speech-language pathology."
Caroline Snow
Caroline is a junior majoring in speech, language, and hearing sciences with a minor in human development and family studies. Her other involvements include being a member of the Auburn University Danceline, National Student Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (NSSLHA), and Cardinal Key Honor Society.
Caroline's reason for joining the lab: "I wanted to join the lab in order to further my understanding of the experiences of children with communication disorders and gain research experience."
Courtney Parks
Courtney is a graduate research assistant at Auburn University and is in her first year of the master's program for speech-language pathology. She graduated with her B.A. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from San Diego State University in spring of 2021.
Sophie Wilkerson
Sophie is a senior majoring in speech, language, and hearing sciences with a minor in philanthropy and non-profit studies and a concentration in special education, rehabilitation & counseling/school psychology intending to graduate in December 2022. Her other involvements include the National Student Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (NSSLHA), Bold and Gold Organization, a WINGS Peer Mentor in the EAGLES Program, and Eagles Chair of Delta Delta Delta.
Sophie's reason for joining the lab: "The reason I wanted to join the lab is because of my interest in the project and desire to learn more about research in speech-language pathology"
Emma Childs
Emma is a junior majoring in speech, language, and hearing sciences. Her other involvements include Delta Gamma sorority and serving as a Life Group Leader for First Baptist Opelika.
Emma's reason for joining the lab: "I wanted to get more involved in my major and felt that research would be a great opportunity to learn more about the field, stay updated with what's currently happening within SLHS, as well as get more experience and be exposed to more activities and discussions that occur within this major."
Priyal Patel
Priyal is a senior majoring in speech, language, and hearing sciences with a minor in psychology. Her other involvements include being a member of Zeta Tau Alpha and the National Student Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (NSSLHA).
Priyal's reason for joining the lab: "I believe in making an impact in the direction of healthcare. I am interested in researching, educating, and improving the quality of life in children with speech and language difficulties, specifically kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I understand that this lab is the best way for me to get experience in the field, as well as broadening my knowledge in speech language pathology"
Caroline Rice
"My academic advisor has not only guided me through course selections so that I take classes aligned with my professional goals, but she has also given me career advice and held my hand through my college experience. Because of the guidance of my academic advisor, I'm confident that I'm extremely prepared to not just get a job right out of college, but to excel in it.
Abigail Weyerman
Rebecca Dunterman
Rebecca Dunterman received her B.S. in Psychology from Western Illinois University. Presently, she is pursuing a Ph.D in the Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences department. Rebecca has research experience in a variety of areas including cognitive aging, visual attention, eye-tracking, and perceptions of aging. Her research here at Auburn University will focus on changes in visual attention associated with age and their impact on driving safety. Rebecca enjoys keeping in touch with family and friends in her free time.
Jesse Cape
Jesse Cape is a senior majoring in biomedical sciences with a minor in Spanish. She plans to apply to medical school to pursue her dream of becoming a surgeon. Jesse plans to use her Spanish language skills along with her knowledge of science to care for patients around the world.
Andrew Luu
Andrew Luu received his B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Dominguez Hills. His prior research examined the impact of technology on learning outcomes. Andrew has experience working with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), galvanic skin response (GSR), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. Currently, he is interested in examining cognition, memory, and language acquisition to improve learning outcomes. In his free time, he enjoys cooking four-hour meals that taste completely average.
Erica George
Erica George is a senior majoring in psychology with a minor in counseling. After the completion of her undergraduate degree, she plans to attend a graduate program in psychology with an emphasis in Industrial/organization psychology.
Blakely Hammonds
Blakely Hammonds is a senior majoring in speech, language and hearing sciences and minoring in psychology. After the completion of her undergraduate degree, Blakely plans to earn her master's degree in speech-language pathology. After becoming a certified speech-language pathologist, she plans on working with children and adolescents in an educational setting. Blakely wants to make a difference in children's lives by combining her knowledge of language and psychology.
Sydney Hendrix
Sydney Hendrix is a senior who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in counseling. After finishing his undergraduate degree, he plans to attend graduate school for cognitive psychology. His career plans involve teaching and research. In his free time, he likes to play piano.
Demi Hester
Demi Hester is pursuing a degree in neuroscience with a minors in Spanish and business. She will graduate in the spring of 2023. She has a keen interest in studying the brain and how it works. She plans to attend medical school after graduating from Auburn in hopes of becoming a plastic surgeon. She wants to specialize in breast cancer reconstruction and open up her own clinic.
Addie Hutcheson
Addie Hutcheson is senior who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to enter a graduate program and eventually obtain a PhD in psychology. Her career plan is to become a clinical psychologist. She would like to enter private practice, treating cognitive disorders.
Yixuan Ni
Yixuan Ni is a senior majoring in psychology. He plans to go to graduate school to pursue a PhD in cognitive neuroscience. He is interested in finding out how cognitive activities are affected by the brain. He enjoys listening to rock and roll and watching movies in his spare time.
Meredith Nowak
eredith Nowak is a senior majoring in psychology and minoring HDFS. Meredith plans to attend graduate school after graduating from Auburn University where she plans to study more about the development of children with a strong interest in the brain and its development. In the future, Meredith wants to work hands-on with young adults and children.
Grace Schooley
Grace Schooley is a senior majoring in biomedical sciences with a minor in Spanish and a concentration in pre-med. She hopes to go to medical school in the summer of 2023 to pursue her dream of becoming an emergency room doctor. Speaking Spanish is such a valuable trait, especially for emergency medicine, so she is very excited to be working with our Spanish-speaking studies in the LAM Lab.
Emma Cox
Emma joined the lab in the Fall of 2020 after spending several years as an undergraduate research assistant. Emma graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Auburn, and then spent time working as a puppy developer for Auburn's Canine Performance Sciences. Her research interests include cognitive changes across the lifespan in dogs, as well as predictive factors of success in working dog populations.
Adam Davila
Adam joined the lab Fall 2018. Originally from Bristow, Virginia, Adam earned a BS at the University of Mary Washington and an MS from Villanova, studying the functional relationships of abstract concept learning. Adam is also interested in temporal perception as well as working memory. Outside of science, Adam enjoys learning new recipes and has a love/hate relationship with sports, and also has a bad habit of buying far more books than he has time to read.
Jordan Gillespie
Jordan joined the lab in the Fall of 2019. Jordan graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC and then spent time as a research assistant at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center in Philadelphia, PA. Her research interests include the impact of olfactory stimulation during early development in canines as well as other indicators of career success in working dogs.
Audrey Scott
Audrey graduated from Auburn University in spring of 2021 with her B.S. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and a minor in Counseling. Audrey conducted undergraduate research in Dr. Plexico's lab and she is currently working on her master's thesis entitled, "The Development of Speech Language Pathologists' Counselor Self-Efficacy."
Peter J. Lusche, M.D.
Peter J. Lusche, M.D., graduated from the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and completed training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the U.S.C. - Los Angeles County Medical Center. For over thirty years, he has dedicated a significant amount of his practice to developing and coordinating community mental health programs for children, including children in protective custody and foster care. For his contributions in clinical and academic practice, program development and community service, he was made a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association in 2003.
Angelyn Harrell, M.S.
Angelyn Harrell, M.S., is a BCBA who graduated from Auburn University’s ABA Master’s program in 2015. Her expertise includes working with individuals with autism, severe problem behavior, foster youth, and caregiver training.
Jodi Robeson, M.S.
Jodi Robeson, M.S., is a BCBA working with the APMRT. She graduated from Auburn University in 2018. Jodi’s areas of experience include working with individuals with autism spectrum disorders, foster youth, incarcerated adolescents, problem behavior, and staff training.
Heatherly Williford, M.S.
Heatherly Williford, M.S., is a licensed Board Certified Behavior Analyst working with the APRMT. She earned her Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis and Developmental Disabilities (ABA-DD) from Auburn University in 2015. Her expertise includes the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior in residential treatment facilities, schools, homes and clinical settings, as well as working with individuals with autism spectrum disorders, children and adolescents in foster and adoptive care, curriculum development and implementation, registered behavior technician staff training and parent-caregiver training. Outside of APMRT, her professional interests include the relationship between behavioral treatments and neural dysfunction, neural plasticity of individuals with autism spectrum disorders or trauma backgrounds, and operating an online publication.
Wayde Morse
Education
- BS, University of New Mexico, 1991, Economics & Political Science
- MS, Colorado State University, 1996, Agricultural and Resource Economics
- PhD, University of Idaho, 2007, Conservation Social Sciences (NSF IGERT Fellow)
Research Interests
- Linked social and ecological systems
- Recreation, environmental services and conservation incentive programs
- Landowner decision-making, rural livelihoods and the process of interdisciplinary research
- Research interests are for the US and Latin America
Selected Publications
- Cox, C., W. Morse, C. Anderson and L. Marzen. 2014. Using public participation geographic information systems to identify places of watershed service provisioning. Journal of the American Water Resources Association DOI:10.1111/jawr.12269.
- Cox, C., W. Morse, L. Marzen and C. Anderson. 2014. Applying public participation geographic information systems to wildlife management. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 19:200-214.
- Lowery, D., W.C. Morse and T. Steury. 2014. Exploring Saturation of themes and spatial locations in a qualitative PPGIS study. Society and Natural Resources. 0:1-15.
- Lupoli, C., W.C. Morse, C. Bailey and J. Schelhas. 2014. Assessing the impacts of international volunteer tourism in host communities: A new approach to organizing and prioritizing indicators. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 22(6):898-921.
- Stern, M.J., C.A. Martin, S.A. Predmore and W.C. Morse. 2014. Risk tradeoffs in adaptive ecosystem management: The case of the U.S. Forest Service. Environmental Management, 53(6):1095-1108.
- Stern, M., C.A. Marin, S.A. Predmore and W.C. Morse. 2014. Risk tradeoffs in natural resource planning: the case of the U.S. Forest Service. Environmental Management, 53(6):1095-1108.
- Stern, M. J., S.A. Predmore, W.C. Morse and D.N. Seeholtz. 2014. Project risk in the US Forest Service: Factors predicting appeals of environmental assessments and their outcomes. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 42:95-104.
- Morse, W. C. 2013. Integration of frameworks, theories and models across disciplines for effective Cross-disciplinary communications. In: Enhancing Interdisciplinary Communication. Eds. Stephen Crowley, Sanford Eigenbrode, Michael O'Rourke, and J. D. Wulfhorst. Sage Publications.
- Morse, W. C. 2013. Changing stakeholders and the planning process. In: Urban-Rural Interfaces: Linking People and Nature. Eds. David Laband, Lockaby, B. G., Zipperer, W. C. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
- Lowery, D., and W. C. Morse. 2013. A Qualitative method for collecting spatial data on important places for recreation, livelihoods and ecological meanings: integrating focus groups with public participation geographic information systems. Society and Natural Resources. 26:1422-1437.
Hayes Thornell
Hayes is a senior majoring in speech, language, and hearing sciences with a minor in human development and family studies and is pursuing a second minor in counseling. Her other involvements include the National Student Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (NSSLHA) and volunteering with IMPACT.
Hayes' reason for joining the lab: "I wanted to join this lab because of my interest in learning more on the subject of communication disorders and be able to gain more research experience before pursuing graduate school."
Maryanna Bates
Maryanna is a senior majoring in speech, language, and hearing sciences with a concentration in human development and family studies. Her other involvements include the National Student Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (NSSLHA) and the Bold and Gold Organization.
Maryanna's reason for joining the lab: "I want to gain experience in lab research while expanding my knowledge of children with communication disorders. Participating in this research opportunity is the best way for me to grow my understanding in the field of speech language pathology."
Maggie Zuelzke
Maggie is a senior majoring in speech, language, and hearing sciences with a minor in human development and family studies. Her other involvements include the National Student Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (NSSLHA), her sorority, and her church.
Maggie's reason for joining the lab: "I wanted to expose myself to research methods relevant to my field and career as well as familiarize myself with things I would be learning in the future."
Erica Ramey, DNP, PMHNP, PMHS
Erica Ramey, DNP, PMHNP is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and an associate professor in the school of nursing at UAB. She completed her doctor of nursing practice at Vanderbilt University and completed her psychiatric nurse practitioner preparation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research and experience focus on child and adolescent mental-health, deprescribing, and drug-gene compatibility.
Deepika Chandel
Deepika Chandel is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy at Auburn University. Deepika earned her bachelor’s degree in Dental Surgery from India. During her time in India, she worked full-time as a dentist and frequently served nonprofit hospitals that provided free dental services. She also worked with multiple nonprofit entities to take oral health care and hygiene awareness to the grass-root level, provide mass education, and provide affordable professional services to people in rural areas. She received her Masters in Public Administration from Auburn University at Montgomery in the spring of 2016.
Deepika is passionate about being a change agent for healthcare policy. She is also a strong proponent of a proactive versus reactive approach to health policies. Her dissertation examines how the state executive policies and responses influence death rate outcomes in the U.S. during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Track: Public Administration, Nonprofit Organizations & Community Governance
Areas of interest: Public Administration & Policy Adoption, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Nonprofit Management, Research Methodology, State Politics and Policy
Education:
Master of Public Administration, Auburn University at Montgomery, AL
Bachelor of Dental Surgery, CCS University, India
Xi (Troy) Chen
Troy received his Master of Public Administration from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Human Resources Management from South China Normal University. Now a doctoral candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy, Department of Political Science at Auburn University, he teaches an undergraduate American Government course. He has presented at the American Society for Public Administration, the Southern Political Science Association, and the Southeastern Conference for Public Administration with research topics on environmental policy, welfare policy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). His dissertation focuses on state comparison and variation on safe drinking water regulation.
Track: Applied Research, Community Planning
Areas of interest: Environmental Policy Analysis, Research Methodology, Program Evaluation, State and Local Government, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Education:
Master of Public Administration, Illinois Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Management, Human Resource Management, South China Normal University
ICPSR Certificate in Quantitative Methods, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
Mac-Jane Crayton
Absolutely passionate about the nature of local government and nonprofit collaboration, Mac-Jane Crayton is a doctoral candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy at Auburn University, with a focus on nonprofit management.
As a Graduate Assistant at Auburn University in the office of Outreach Global and a Success Strategies instructor for first year students, Crayton has extensive experience in organizing and facilitating service-learning opportunities and international community outreach. Mac-Jane is currently the founder and Executive Director of Dream Mentorship, a curriculum-based nonprofit organization that provides women with the resources, strategies, and mentoring they need to pursue their dreams with confidence and clarity by offering professional development training and personal enrichment courses to women in North America and around the world, so that more women can have a competitive advantage in the corporate world. Mac-Jane applies lessons from her life as a student to leading and growing a nonprofit in real life.
Track: Public Administration; Nonprofit Organizations & Community Governance
Areas of Interest: Nonprofit Management, Public Administration & Policy Adoption, Diversity & Inclusion, Environmental policies
Education:
Master of Science in International Relations, Troy University, Troy AL
Bachelor of Arts in History/International Studies, Imo state university, Imo, Nigeria
Kate Henvey DeMoss
Kate is a student in the joint Ph.D. program in Public Administration and Public Policy at Auburn University. She holds a MA from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, and a BA in political science from Trinity University, Texas. Serving as a policymaker and researcher in international economics, trade and development for over fifteen years. Kate has worked at the World Bank Group, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of International Affairs and the North American Development Bank.
Track: American Politics & Policy, Global Public Policy
Areas of interest: Trade policy, foreign aid policy, public opinion, political behavior
Education:
Master of Arts, Georgetown School of Foreign Service
Bachelor of Arts, Trinity University
Brian Ezeonu
Brian Ezeonu is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy at Auburn University. He earned a Master’s Degree in Economics from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria. Before beginning his doctoral program, he worked with nonprofit organizations in Nigeria, collaborating with other international development organizations to implement development projects and programs in Africa. His research focuses on collaborative governance and the role of the nonprofit sector in international development. He also has research interests in the areas of econometrics, public policy and global finance. He has presented his research at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) conference, as well as the Southern Political Science Association conference. He along with two faculty members are also recent awardees of a $120,000 USD research grant from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (ACE-SOAS).
Track: Nonprofit Organizations & Community Governance; Applied Research
Areas of Interest: Collaborative Governance, Non-Profit Management, International Development, Econometrics, Global Finance, Public Policy
Education:
Master of Arts in Economics, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
Bachelor of Arts in Economics, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria
Malerie Goodman
Malerie Goodman is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy. Malerie has worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Hunger Solutions Institute (HSI) in Auburn University’s College of Human Sciences since January 2020, where she researches college student hunger, supports innovative projects to address food insecurity with data-based approaches, and contributes to HSI’s growing bi-partisan impact on federal policy to address hunger nationwide. Malerie’s academic interests center on using mixed-methods research to inform family policy and child welfare policy decisions, especially at the state level.
Track: Public Administration, Nonprofit Organizations & Community Governance
Areas of Interest: Child Welfare Policy and Administration; Family Policy; State-level Policymaking; Political Culture; Hunger and Food Policy; Policy Framing
Education:
Educational Specialist Degree in School Psychology, California State University, Fresno
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, California
Ryan Hankins
Ryan Hankins is a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy. He is executive director of PARCA, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to inform and improve the decision making of state and local leaders in Alabama through objective research and analysis.
He is active in local and statewide nonprofit work and serves on numerous boards and committees including the Executive Team of the Alabama Committee for Grade Level Reading, the Alabama Counts! 2020 Census Committee, and the advisory boards for the Master of Public Administration at Auburn University and both the Master of Social Work and Department of Human Development and Family Science at Samford University. He has previously served on the board of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits, the Birmingham-Jefferson Food Policy Council, the Medicaid Citizens’ Advisory Board, the Bold Goals Workforce Development Council, the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, and is past president of the Alabama Association of Free Clinics.
He is a graduate of the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute, Leadership Birmingham, Leadership Alabama, and a Birmingham Business Journal Top 40 Under 40 Honoree. He has taught courses in nonprofit management and has guest lectured in classes in nonprofit management and fundraising.
Track: Public Policy
Areas of Interest: Nonprofit theory and administration nonprofits in policy making, philanthropy, faith-based organizations, state and local government, applied research
Education:
Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management Executive Education, Harvard Business School
Graduate Studies in Public Administration, University of Alabama, Birmingham
Master of Divinity, Samford University
Post-baccalaureate studies, Oxford University
Bachelor of Arts, Ouachita Baptist University
Javier Juárez-Pérez
Javier holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Veracruz in Mexico. He joined Augusta State University's MPA program in 2006, where he collaborated with nonprofit organizations dedicated to serving the Hispanic immigrant community's needs. After graduation, he returned to Mexico, where he joined the School of Economics at Umar University in 2009. A year and a half later, Javier became the department chair, as well as president of the scholarship committee. He joined Auburn's Ph.D. program in fall 2013. He is currently finishing his dissertation entitled, "The Use of Economic Incentives to Lure Business: Is This A Winner's Curse Policy in Local Economic Development?" Javier seeks to uncover local governments' fiscal long-term consequences of granting economic incentives to attract firms. In Mexican universities, he has taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in economics. At Auburn, he has taught undergraduate courses in Comparative Politics and introductory courses on American Government.
Track: Public Policy
Areas of Interest: Local Economic Development, Public Sector Economics, Policy Analysis, Political Economy, Research Methods, Comparative Politics, and Financial Analysis of Governments
Education:
Master of Public Administration, Augusta State University
Bachelor of Economics, University of Veracruz
Steven Nelson
Steven Nelson is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy. His professional experience spans almost 30 years in the environmental field and includes work as a consultant and contractor in private industry, performing environmental site investigations and cleanups. For the past 25 years he has focused on environmental health and safety management in higher education and currently serves as the Associate Director of Environmental Health and Safety at Auburn University. His dissertation involves comparative state water quality policy to address emerging contaminants. His published work has appeared in Review of Policy Research, The Extractive Industries and Society, and Risk, Hazards, & Crisis in Public Policy.
Track: Public Policy
Areas of Interest: Environmental and natural resources policy, sustainability, and environmental justice.
Education:
Bachelor of Arts, Southern Illinois University
Master of Business Administration, Georgia State University
Kara Newby
Kara Newby graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and a Master's in Human Development and Family Science, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Policy & Public Administration. Before beginning her graduate work, she served as the Operations Manager for the Hunger Solutions Institute with Auburn University, working in education and advocacy for hunger alleviation globally and locally. During her career, Kara has worked in the nonprofit sector as well as with the Ohio State University Extension Service in the area of family and child development.
Kara’s research interests include place-based politics, specifically how geographic location affects political identity and policy implementation. She is also interested in the intersection of race and place, specifically as it relates to rural minorities and politics, policy implementation, and law enforcement. Some of her work has also looked at social welfare policies such as SNAP and how they intersect with politics, and how policies affect participation in these programs. She also has an interest in nonprofit management and how nonprofits adapt in stress.
Her teaching experience includes Gender and Global Studies, Public Administration, Nonprofit Management, Honors Global Topics, and Hunger Studies. She has presented at the Southern Political Science Association, American Political Science Association, International Society for Third-Sector Research, and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. She has published in the Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs.
Tracks: American Politics and Policy; Nonprofits Organizations & Community Governance
Areas of Interest: Welfare politics and policy, State politics, Nonprofit management, Race and Politics
Education:
MS Human Development and Family Science, Auburn University
BA Psychology, Harding University
Noemí Oeding
Noemí Oeding graduated with a B.A. in Vocal Performance and a Master's in Arts Administration, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Ph.D. Program in Public Administration & Public Policy at Auburn University. Prior to beginning her graduate studies, her career was spent in the arts, first as an opera singer and music teacher, and then as an administrator. She has worked with various arts nonprofits, most notably as Executive Director of the Montgomery Music Project in Montgomery, Alabama.
Noemí’s research interests revolve around nonprofits (specifically in the arts), American political behavior, and the intersectionality between the two. Her dissertation focuses on the impact Black operatic works have on mitigating racial bias. She has presented her research at multiple conferences, including the Southern Political Science Association, the International Society for Third Sector Research, and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations & Voluntary Action.
At Auburn, Noemí teaches undergraduate courses in American Government and Political Participation. She has an applied background in nonprofit management, leadership and governance, fundraising and grant writing, and volunteer and event management. Noemí has successfully secured funding from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Florida State Arts Council, the Alabama State Department of Education, and various private foundations. She also has experience as a grant reader, including serving on the music grant review panel for the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Tracks: Nonprofit Organizations & Community Governance, American Politics and Policy
Areas of Interest: Nonprofit funding and sustainability; Nonprofit management and best practices; Politicization of arts & culture nonprofits; Public opinion and political messaging; Political behavior and polarization
Education:
Master of Arts in Arts Administration, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Kendall Parks
Kendall completed a BA degree in German/Education at the University of Oklahoma. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army and learned Polish and Russian at the Defense Language Institute. He taught German three years at the United States Military Academy in West Point. After military service, he began coursework at Auburn University. In 2017-18, he served as the Graduate Student Council Vice President for Student Affairs, in the spring of 2018 he was the recipient of the AU Parents’ Association Faculty and Staff Award and in the spring of 2019 he received a “More than Auburn” (service organization) Instructor Award. He is a member of the Auburn Student Veterans Association. His dissertation will look at the role of General Lucius Clay (from 1945-1949) as America’s public administrator in the U.S. zone of occupation and compare this with the public administration of the Soviet sector in what would become East Germany. At Auburn, Kendall has taught undergraduate courses in Public Personnel Administration, American Government and German.
Track: Global Public Policy, Public Administration
Areas of Interest: Comparative Politics, Public Administration and Education Policy
Education:
Master of Public Administration, University of Oklahoma
Master of Arts, University of Southern California
Bachelor of Arts, University of Oklahoma
Shaniqua Williams
Shaniqua Williams is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Public Policy and Public Administration program in the Department of Political Science at Auburn University. Her research interests include state politics, race and ethnicity, political behavior, and representation in government. Currently her main research focus is substantive representation in state government, specifically the impact of Black women in politics. She has presented at, as well as co-authored papers accepted for presentation, at the American Political Science Association, Southern Political Science Association, Auburn University Diversity Symposium, Southeastern Conference for Public Administration, and the American Planning Association. Her teaching experience includes undergraduate courses in research methods and state politics.
Aside from her academic pursuits, Shaniqua is involved in programming and mentorship through the Auburn Black Graduate and Professional Student Association. She has also served as a senator on the Graduate Student Council representing the political science department. In addition, Shaniqua has procured the following fellowships: SEC Emerging Scholars, Scholars Strategy Network, UC Berkeley’s Social Inclusion Policy, and Auburn’s President’s Graduate Opportunity Program. Williams is originally from San Diego, California and received her Bachelor’s of Applied Arts in Public Administration from San Diego State University and her Master’s of Public Administration from Auburn University.
Track: American Politics & Policy, Election Administration
Areas of Interest: State Politics, Race and Ethnicity, Political Behavior, and Representation in Government
Education:
Graduate Certificate in Election Administration, Auburn University
Master of Public Administration, Auburn University