September 17, 2007
Agriculture, education colleges add new faculty
(Editors, note alumni names)
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Students in the colleges of agricultural sciences and in education and human resources at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are seeing new faces behind 11 desks. Assistant Professors Eric J. Holzmueller, Erin Seekamp and Sylvia F. Smith have joined the agriculture college, while Philip M. Anton, Tamara Y. De Stefanis, Kelly F. Glassett, Michael E. May, Grant R. Miller, Whitney C. Ward and Brett Zyromski have signed on with the education college. Associate Professor Marla H. Mallette is also a recent addition to the education faculty.
Here are brief sketches of the new faculty members.
Holzmueller, with academic specialties in forest management and ecology, came to SIUC from a post-doctoral position at the University of Florida in Gainesville. His courses in the Department of Forestry include integrated forest resources management and landscape ecology, and his research focuses on central hardwood ecology and disturbance ecology. He currently is working on a GIS (geographical information systems) project for the state to develop a map showing acreage with management plans put in place by private landowners
Holzmueller earned his bachelor's and master's from Iowa State University in 1999 and 2002, respectively. He earned his doctorate from the University of Florida in 2006.
Smith, with academic specialties in culinary tourism, special event marketing and food safety, came to SIUC from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville after finishing her doctorate. Her courses in the Department of Animal Science, Food and Nutrition include quantity food production, advanced food management, and food and beverage cost control. Her research focuses on her academic interests. She is currently collecting market data for the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro.
Smith is a three-degree graduate of UT, earning her bachelor's degree in 1990 and her master's in 2000.
Seekamp, with academic specialties in environmental communication theories, theories of environmental behavior and wilderness management issues, came to SIUC from the University of Idaho, where she served as a research associate. She will teach in the forestry department. Her research focuses on what is termed "human dimensions" in forestry— planning for protected areas, persuasive communications and attitude change, group information processing and the like. She currently is looking at how Forest Service recreation managers are creating, nurturing and using partnerships to accomplish goals in the face of federal cutbacks. She also is joining an interdisciplinary team working in two local watersheds and will be searching out ways to communicate water-related health risks there.
Seekamp earned her bachelor's in 1998 from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., her master's in 2000 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., and her doctorate in 2006 from the University of Idaho.
Anton, with academic specialties in exercise physiology, has taught as an instructor in SIUC's Department of Kinesiology since 2004. His courses include physical fitness, principles of skeletal muscle action, weight control, strength training, biomechanical analysis of sport, and exercise, nutrition and weight control. His research focuses on the effect of cancer treatment on people's abilities to perform day-to-day activities and on the use of exercise as therapy to lessen those effects. He currently runs an exercise program for cancer survivors from which he continues to collect data.
Anton earned his bachelor's in 1992 from Alma College in Alma, Mich., his master's in 1999 from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his doctorate in 2006 from the University of Northern Colorado.
De Stefanis, with academic specialties in higher education organization and administration, qualitative research, international higher education, women in higher education, student centers and student services, came to SIUC after a year of research work in India. Her courses in the Department of Educational Administration and Higher Education include introductory and advanced qualitative research, cultural foundations of education and personnel seminars. Her research focuses on university faculty abroad and on the role of gender in organizations, with her most recent project a study of Asian female science and technology faculty, their networking and shifting career strategies.
De Stefanis earned her bachelor's degree in 1997 from Louisiana Tech University and is a two-degree graduate of the University of Arizona, earning her master's in 2002 and her doctorate this year. She also has teaching credentials from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, Calif., and from International House in London.
Glassett, with academic specialties in secondary content area reading and technology integration in secondary classrooms, came to SIUC from the University of Utah where he was finishing his doctorate. His courses in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction include content area reading and writing and diagnostic teaching of reading and writing. His research focuses on integration of technology in secondary classrooms, public school reading programs and intervention programs associated with school. He currently is working on a project to evaluate how teachers' beliefs about technology and student outcomes change after using technology. He also is examining the effects of a federal reading program on student achievement in Title I schools in several states.
Glassett is a three-degree graduate of the University of Utah, earning a bachelor's there in 1986 and a master's in 2004. He also has licensures from Utah State University and Westminster College in Salt Lake City.
Mallette, who taught at SIUC from 1999 to 2006, has rejoined the faculty after a year teaching at her doctoral alma mater, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A specialist in reading and literacy, her courses in curriculum and instruction include early literacy, improving school reading programs, reading in the elementary school, reading clinics and research seminars. Her research focuses on literacy teacher education, literacy instruction for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and the convergence of early literacy and technology. She is currently examining how teachers put together and carry out literacy curricula for young children.
Mallette earned her bachelor's in 1988 from SIUC and her master's and doctoral degrees from UNLV in 1995 and 1999 respectively.
May, with academic specialties in applied behavior analysis, functional behavior assessment, severe disabilities and program development, came to SIUC from Nashville, Tenn., where he worked as a coordinator in Vanderbilt University's behavior analysis clinic. His courses in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education include general procedures in special education and research methods. His current research focuses on the effects of biological and environmental interactions on problem behavior and the environmental determinants of aggression.
May earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from SIUC in 1992 and 1999 respectively and his doctorate from Vanderbilt this year.
Miller, with academic specialties in social studies education, universal design for learning, and sheltered instruction, came to SIUC from Boston College, where he finished his doctorate this year. His courses in curriculum and instruction include public school social studies methods and action methods research. His research focuses on historical thinking, developing curricula that help students think like historians and social scientists.
In addition to his doctorate, Miller earned a bachelor's degree in 1998 at Missouri Southern State University and a master's in 2001 at Missouri State University.
Ward, with academic specialties in wilderness leadership and outdoor recreation, previously taught as an associate instructor at Indiana University in Bloomington. His courses in the Department of Health Education and Recreation include issues and skills in adventure programming, modern concepts of leisure, expedition leadership, outdoor living skills, outdoor recreation management and "leave no trace" philosophy and practice. His research focuses on perceptions of risk and benefit, outdoor fears and group participation. He is currently assessing risk/benefit perceptions related to climbing California's Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States.
Ward earned his bachelor's in 2000 from Utah State University in Logan, his master's in 2003 from Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville and his doctorate this year from IU.
Zyromski, with academic specialties in professional school counseling and development issues in teens and young people, came to SIUC from North Carolina State University where he this year finished his doctoral degree. His courses in educational psychology and special education include professional school counseling, consultation of schools and organizational systems, career development procedures and practices, and appraisal in counseling. His current research investigates whether counseling in school helps students perform better academically. He also is looking at practical ways to put his national professional group's model counseling program into practice in actual schools and evaluate the results.
In addition to his doctorate, Zyromski earned a bachelor's in 1998 from Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., and a master's in 2001 from Houston Graduate School of Theology in High Point, N.C.