Meet Some of Our New Faculty

New faculty for the 2022-23 academic year briefly describe their research and teaching interests.

Nadia Al-Dajani 

dajani.jpgDepartment of Psychology

Dr. Al-Dajani uses ecological momentary assessments (i.e., short surveys deployed to participants while they are in real-world settings) to examine short-term risk factors of suicidal thoughts. Dr. Al-Dajani aims to identify when individuals might consider suicide, and which factors make them more vulnerable to considering suicide in the moment. She plans to extend her work to include a focus on minoritized populations by examining the unique constellation of risk factors that these populations face in their day-to-day lives.


Maj Karl Bentjen

bentjen.jpgAir Force ROTC

Major Bentjen entered active duty Air Force in 2012 after completing B.S. degrees in Mathematics (North Georgia College & State University, 2008) and Computer Engineering (University of Tennessee, 2012). He earned an M.S. degree in Computer Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2018. He is a Developmental Engineer for the Air Force and has served in a variety of leadership roles at the 346th Test Squadron, Air Force Research Laboratory (Sensors Directorate and Headquarters), Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate (International Division), and now the AFROTC Detachment 640 at Miami University as the Operations Flight Commander.


Emily Brown

brownemily.jpgPhysicians Associate Program

Emily Brown is an Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Education for the Physician Associate Program. Emily began her career in microbiology, working for Ohio University's Tropical Disease Institute, and graduated with a BS from Ohio University. She then began working for a large hospital system in the department of anatomical pathology and histology. She continued her studies at Kettering College and completed her MPAS and became a certified PA in 2015. Her husband's military career took them to California, where she practiced Family Medicine and Urgent Care. She and her family eventually moved back to Ohio where she accepted a position in Hospital Medicine. In this role, she refined her clinical practice and bedside teaching acumen as a clinical preceptor. The experience with student mentorship and teaching led her to academia. She joined Miami University in September 2021 as the Director of Clinical Education for Miami's developing PA Program. She is excited to serve in this leadership role as an academic curriculum builder, student mentor, and clinician to university liaison.


Mark Charlton-Perkins

photo holderDepartment of Biology

Originally from South Africa, Mark Charlton-Perkins completed their bachelor's degree in Neuroscience at the University of Otago, New Zealand. They moved to the US for doctoral training at Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation, mentored by Dr. Tiffany Cook, and completed their postdoctoral studies under the mentorship of professor William Harris at the University of Cambridge, UK. Their research harnesses the power of new CRISPR-based genetics to study rare genetic nervous system diseases such as Wolfram's Syndrome, Neuromyelitis and Neurofibromatosis. Their lab aims to understand these diseases better and find new patient-oriented drugs or genetic therapies.


Joseph Corbett

corbett_joseph.jpgDepartment of Physics

Joseph Perry Corbett attended undergraduate at Thomas More University (A.S., B.S.) and graduate school at the University of Akron (M.S.) and Ohio University (Ph.D.). He did a postdoc at Ohio State University. He then went into private industry at UES Inc. as Research Scientist in conjunction with the Air Force Research Lab. His expertise is in thin film growth and microscopy of magnetic, semiconducting, and topological materials. The Corbett group will focus on developing topological materials and devices utilizing exotic states in condensed matter systems to overcome the next-generation challenges in devices.


CDR Jeff Dundon

dundon.jpgNavy ROTC

Commander Jeffrey Dundon, a native of Centerville, Ohio, graduated from Miami University and was commissioned into the United States Navy in 2002. He earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Russian and a Bachelor's of Arts in International Studies. He subsequently received a Master of Arts in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. A career naval flight officer, Commander Dundon's operational assignments include three maritime patrol flying tours and one tour onboard USS JOHN C STENNIS. He has also served on the staffs of US FORCES – Afghanistan, the Joint Warfare Analysis Center, and the Navy’s Fifth Fleet.


Kelsey Ellis

ellis.jpg

Department of Anthropology

Kelsey Ellis is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Anthropology. Their research combines behavioral observations of wild primates with molecular techniques, spatial data analysis, and social network methods to better understand how various ecological and social factors influence primate sociality. They work primarily in Central and South America, with most of their fieldwork conducted at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in Amazonian Ecuador. They along with their students are currently investigating how woolly monkeys use vocal communication in group decision-making and the role of adult-infant interactions in woolly monkey society. They earned their PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018.


Capt Wesley G. Green

photo holderAir Force ROTC

Captain Wesley Green is the Recruiting Officer and Assistant Professor of Aerospace Studies for Miami University's Air Force ROTC program. He is a native of South Texas and has served on active duty in the Air Force since October of 2002. He earned an Associate Degree in Meteorology, a Bachelor's degree in Management from Bellevue University, Nebraska, and a Master's degree in Leadership & Organizational Development from The University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas.


Lesley Knoll

knoll.jpgDepartment of Biology

Dr. Knoll (PhD, Miami University) is a freshwater ecologist and her research focuses broadly on how global change affects freshwater systems. Her research is highly collaborative and aims to protect water resources facing multiple stressors such as climate change, land use change, and invasive species. Some of her recent work focuses on warming winters and lakes showing that lakes are biologically active in the winter, that what happens in the winter can shape lake dynamics in the summer, and that lakes provide important cultural ecosystem services to people during the winter.


Rock Mancini

mancini_profile.jpgDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Rock Mancini received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from UCLA and completed postdoctoral training in Synthetic Immunology at UC, Irvine. After starting his independent career at Washington State University, he is now joining Miami University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. The Mancini Group’s Medicinal Chemistry research develops new drug delivery methods for next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines. Current synthetic targets include agonists for members of the Toll-Like Receptor, NOD-Like Receptor, and C-Type Lectin Receptor families.


Anu Mathur

mathur-a.jpgPhysicians Associate Program

Professor Anu Mathur is Assistant professor, Assistant Program Director, Academic Director, and Admission Chairperson for the Physician Associate Program. Having worked for several years in education, she has done much to contribute to developing future clinicians in both academic and clinical faculty positions. Prior to her faculty appointment at Miami, she led several initiatives to improve classroom instruction, exploratory labs, recruitment & admissions, and improvement in program level student assessments as a principal faculty member. In her current role, she will lead the didactic curriculum and supervise the principal faculty in curriculum delivery, product assessment and improvement. Her passion for curriculum development, standardized patient program, fair admission practices, student mentoring ensure the quality of the program. As a lecturer, she teaches and mentors students in obtaining an appropriate medical history, performing an accurate physical examination, medical documentation and improving patient engagement.


Zachary Soulliard

soulliard.jpgDepartment of Psychology

Zachary Soulliard earned their PhD in clinical psychology from Saint Louis University and completed a two-year NIH-funded postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale School of Public Health. Their research broadly focuses on stigma and health disparities affecting those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, with a specific focus on body image and eating behaviors. An additional line of their research is dedicated to testing and implementing evidence-based mental health treatments adapted for LGBTQ+ clients, specifically cognitive behavioral therapy interventions. They look forward to working with the undergraduate and graduate students at Miami to bring more LGBTQ+ research to the university.


Amanda Stevens

stevens.jpgDepartment of English

 Dr. Amanda Stevens (PhD, University of Alabama) is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the English Department's Professional Writing program. Her research interests include spatial rhetoric, museum rhetoric, gaming rhetoric, and professional writing. Prior to this position, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the English Department at Miami University.

 

Jazma Sutton

sutton-j.jpgDepartment of History

Dr. Sutton’s research focuses on the histories of slavery and freedom in the U.S. with a particular interest in African American women’s history and the Midwest. She is currently working on a book project that chronicles Black women’s transition from slavery to freedom in antebellum Indiana and Ohio and the ways in which they expressed their ideas of citizenship through anti-slavery activism and material culture.


Tomoyuki Yabe

yabe-tomoyuki.jpgDepartment of German, Russian, Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Tomoyuki Yabe holds a PhD in Linguistics and specialized in theoretical linguistics and morpho-syntax. He will be teaching Japanese language and linguistics courses at Miami University.