Michael Rifenburg is Professor of English and Co-Director of First-Year Composition at UNG, with expertise in writing studies and athletic literacies. His scholarship explores writing program administration, student-athlete writing practices, and longitudinal research methods. He currently serves as Senior Faculty Fellow for Scholarly Writing. Key Contributions: Authored award-winning book on student-athlete literacy practices Developed Students as Partners pedagogy for curriculum redesign Recipient of teaching excellence awards for innovative composition instruction
Jon Udelson is an Associate Professor of English at Shenandoah University, located within the Arts & Sciences school. His academic background includes a B.A. in Individualized Study from New York University, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from The City College of New York, and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric & Composition from the University of Louisville. Dr. Udelson's research focuses on the intersection of rhetoric/composition studies and creative writing pedagogy, with expertise in literate development, disciplinary boundaries, and qualitative methods. His creative work emphasizes short fiction and comics, exploring themes of identity and narrative form. His scholarship includes contributions to multimodal composition theory, as seen in On Multimodality: A Multivocal Manifesto (2019) and explorations of digital self-representation in Regarding the Selfie (2016). His creative publications span journals like Juked and The Baltimore Review , alongside the graphic novel Arabic Tattoos (2008). Udelson's work bridges academic and creative writing practices, advocating for innovative pedagogical approaches that integrate stylistic experimentation with multimodal composition.
Julia Voss is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of English at Santa Clara University's College of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on digital literacy, writing pedagogy, and the infrastructures of writing instruction. She examines how classroom environments and institutional practices shape writing education, with a particular emphasis on equity and accessibility. Voss leads the SWIRL Initiative, a transdisciplinary effort to integrate writing and information literacy across disciplines. Her work includes studies on literacy narratives, family-based digital heritage projects, and collaborative problem-solving in writing program administration. Education: PhD in Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy from The Ohio State University Key Projects: SWIRL Initiative, WIEP (Writing Inclusivity & Equity Project), MJ Project (family literacy study) Teaching: Courses include Critical Thinking and Writing, Digital Publishing, and Sociocultural Approaches to Literacy. Voss’s research bridges theory and practice, emphasizing participatory design and community engagement. Her recent work explores the impact of learning spaces on pedagogy and the role of writing programs in institutional decision-making. Awards: None explicitly listed, though her work has been published in top journals like College Composition and Communication and WPA: Writing Program Administration . Grants/Advising: Collaborations with librarians and faculty on curriculum development, including the FYW (First-Year Writing) program and information literacy initiatives.
Dr. Maura McDonnell is a Part-Time Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. Her academic focus includes visual music, audiovisual practice, and digital media technologies. She teaches modules on Visual Music for the M.Phil in Music and Media Technologies and supervises Master's thesis projects in related fields. Educated at Maynooth University (Music and Mathematics, 1985), Ulster University (M.Ed in Adult Education), and Trinity College Dublin (M.Phil in Music and Media Technologies), she completed a PhD in 2019 on 'Finding Visual Music in its Twentieth Century History'. Her research explores intersections between visual arts and music, informed by Musique concrète principles and digital technologies. Her visual music works blend abstract visuals with electroacoustic music, employing digital video effects and generative programming. Her global exhibitions and awards include the Visual Music Award (2011) and an honorary mention at MuVi5 (2018). She actively contributes to international symposiums and peer-review committees, with publications in journals, conference proceedings, and exhibition catalogues. Collaborations include projects with composers Linda Buckley and Cobi van Tonder, and ensembles like Ensemble Parallax. Her work addresses topics such as color-tone correspondence, historical visual music instruments, and multimodal narratives in AR/VR.
Rachelle Tsachor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), part of the School of Theatre and Music. Her work bridges arts and sciences, using Laban Movement Analysis and Alexander Technique to explore movement's impact on artistic practice, human health, and technological interaction. She has held academic roles at institutions including the University of Iowa, Grinnell College, and guest positions at international universities. Education includes a Master of Arts in Choreography/Directing from City College of New York, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Juilliard, and certifications in Laban Movement Analysis and the Alexander Technique. She serves as senior faculty at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (NYC) and Israel’s Wingate College. Her research investigates three core areas: movement’s role in artistic creativity, its physiological/emotional effects, and its application to future technology. Notable projects include choreographing theatre productions at UIC and reconstructing Renaissance dance forms like *Nido d’Amore*. Recent work explores affective computing, robotics, and machine learning through movement analysis. Publications span scholarly editions of historical dance manuscripts (*Dances for the Sun King*) to neuroscience studies on emotion regulation. Her TedX talk *How your body affects your happiness* has garnered over 250,000 views. Media features include interviews with *Everyday Health* and *The New York Times*. Labs/Teams involvement includes collaborations with the Labanarium international movement network and co-investigator roles in interdisciplinary research projects. She actively develops somatic training programs and contributes to global health studies through performing arts integration.
Christopher Dietz is an Associate Professor of Composition, Coordinator of Composition, and Director of the New Music Ensemble at Bowling Green State University's College of Musical Arts. He holds a Ph.D. in composition and theory from the University of Michigan, as well as degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Wisconsin. His compositions draw inspiration from diverse sources, including poetry, toddler behavior, cosmic themes, and political-religious themes. His works have been performed globally by ensembles like Alarm Will Sound, Decoda, and the Toledo Symphony. Notable residencies include Copland House and the Banff Centre. Awards include ASCAP’s Morton Gould Young Composer Awards and the Utah Arts Festival Orchestral Commission Prize. Key compositions include *Origin Story* (2019), *Force Majeure* (2017), and *Kinderspiel* (2011), which explores childlike play through flute and piano interaction. His music reflects a commitment to interdisciplinary inspiration and dynamic structural innovation.
Maria Elina Kallionpää is an artistic researcher at Hochschule für Musik Detmold, affiliated with the KreativInstitut.OWL since 2023. Her work bridges sonification , music technology , and digital humanities to address ecological challenges like marine pollution. As a composer, her data-driven works have been internationally performed, and she is represented by the Fennica Gehrman Verlag . Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University (2016-2018) and held a postdoctoral fellowship at Aalborg University (2015). Education : DPhil in Music/Composition (University of Oxford, 2015), MA in Composition (Royal Academy of Music, 2007), BA in Performing Arts (University of Applied Sciences Jyväskylä, Finland, 2007-2009). Her research in "Sonic Ecologies" explores translating environmental data into musical forms using computational analysis and underwater recordings. She plans to expand this work through collaborations with local orchestras and mathematical modeling, aiming to create large-scale orchestral compositions. Her publications focus on procedural music systems, interdisciplinary aesthetics, and ecological awareness in art. The KIO research group highlights her projects, including "The Reef," which merges piano, video, and sonified coral data. She also contributes to digital media production and creative computing, leveraging her expertise in electroacoustic composition and computational tools.
Erin Sledd serves as an Instructor at Kennesaw State University with over 10 years of professional experience as an artist and graphic designer in publishing, business, and nonprofit sectors. Her teaching spans composition and rhetoric, technical communications, and American literature across traditional, hybrid, and online formats. Her educational background includes: Dual Bachelor's Degree in English and Political Science from Furman University Master of Arts in English Literature from Georgia State University At Georgia State University, she served as research assistant to Virginia Spencer Carr (John B. and Elena Diaz Verson Amos Distinguished Professor in English Letters). Her master's thesis analyzed Thomas Kuhn's Structures of Scientific Revolutions and its implications for humanities through the lens of paradigm shifts in internet and information technology development. Sledd's research interests bridge traditional literary studies with contemporary cultural phenomena. She designs innovative special topics courses including 'The Bleeding Pen: Writing about Vampires' (examining historical, psychological and pop cultural perspectives on vampirism), 'Inside Out: Writing about Space' (exploring architectural, digital and psychological conceptions of space), and 'Conceive. Compose. Consume: Writing about Food' (using culinary themes for multimodal composition). Her work consistently integrates digital platforms and website-enhanced classroom environments. No scientific awards were mentioned in the source materials. As an instructor, Sledd develops comprehensive curricula emphasizing rhetorical awareness, audience analysis, and multimodal composition. She has created foundational courses including English 1101, English 1102, Technical Communications 2010, and American Literature surveys from colonial period to present. Her teaching methodology focuses on reducing wordiness, improving clarity, and contextualizing writing within purpose and audience frameworks. No laboratory affiliations, research teams, or specific future projects were documented in the provided materials.
Eva Maria Vecchi is a Natural Language Processing researcher affiliated with the Institute for Natural Language Processing (IMS) at the University of Stuttgart . Her work bridges Computational Linguistics , Distributional Semantics , and Cognitive Modeling , with a focus on Argument Mining , Bias Analysis , and Compositional Semantic Modeling . She actively contributes to NLP methodology development through projects like the DISSECT Toolkit for compositional distributional semantics. Current Affiliation: University of Stuttgart Role: NLP Researcher Collaborations: The Answering Machine Project, COMPOSES Project Research Interests encompass modeling language meaning computationally, with emphasis on: Compositional Distributional Semantics Semantic Embeddings Lexical and Phrasal Semantic Anomalies Machine Learning for Semantic Modeling Argument Quality Assessment Interdisciplinary approaches with Social Sciences Publishing Trends show focus on computational methods for semantic analysis, with recent works on Demographics in Persuasive Forums (2024) Large Language Models for Argument Quality (2024) User-Driven Moderation in Discussions (2024) Argument Map Modeling (2023) Interdisciplinary Argument Assessment (2023) Generative Claim Extraction (2023) Scientific Awards : Honorable Mention for Best Paper Award (EMNLP 2015) Teaching Activities include: "Teaching Methods in Computational Linguistics" (2024/25) "Argument Mining" course (2023) "Modeling Meaning" course at LMU Munich (2020) Tutorial co-organization at EACL 2023 & ESSLLI 2022
Gül Varol is a permanent researcher (equivalent to Associate Professor) at École des Ponts ParisTech, where she is part of the IMAGINE group within the Laboratoire d'Informatique Gaspard-Monge (LIGM). She holds additional affiliations as an ELLIS Scholar and a Guest Scientist at the Max Planck Institute (MPI). Her academic journey includes a postdoctoral position at the University of Oxford's Visual Geometry Group (VGG) under Andrew Zisserman, and a PhD from the WILLOW team at Inria Paris and École Normale Supérieure. Her educational background includes BS and MS degrees from Boğaziçi University, followed by doctoral studies at Inria Paris and École Normale Supérieure. During her PhD, she spent research periods at MPI, Adobe, and Google, gaining diverse industry and academic experience. Dr. Varol's research focuses on the intersection of computer vision and language processing, with particular expertise in video representation learning, human motion synthesis, and sign language technologies. Her work bridges theoretical advances with practical applications, especially in accessibility technologies like audio description for visually impaired audiences and sign language recognition systems. She has pioneered approaches for text-driven 3D human motion generation, sign language translation with contextual cues, and film-grammar-aware audio description generation. Her research often leverages large language models and vision-language models to solve complex multimodal problems without requiring extensive training data. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a clear trajectory toward more sophisticated multimodal systems that integrate temporal understanding, contextual awareness, and fine-grained control. Her work increasingly focuses on practical applications in accessibility, with significant contributions to sign language technologies and audio description systems. She has demonstrated leadership in developing large-scale datasets like BOBSL (BBC-Oxford British Sign Language Dataset) and advancing methods for zero-shot and training-free approaches that can be deployed without extensive fine-tuning. Her scientific achievements have been recognized with several prestigious awards: ELLIS 2020 PhD Award AFRIF 2019 PhD thesis award from the French association for pattern recognition Google Research Scholar award (2023) Best application paper award at ACCV'20 Dr. Varol has received significant research funding including an ANR JCJC project "CorVis" and research gifts from Google and Adobe. She actively mentors students and researchers, with prospective students encouraged to apply through her lab's application form. Her leadership in the academic community is evident through her service as Program Chair for ECCV'24, Senior Area Chair for CVPR 2025, and associate editor for the International Journal of Computer Vision (IJCV). She is a key member of the IMAGINE research group at École des Ponts ParisTech, which focuses on image analysis and computer vision. Her collaborative work extends to multiple institutions including MPI, Oxford, and various industry research labs. She has co-organized numerous workshops on specialized topics including sign language recognition, vision transformers, and foundation models for 3D humans, fostering community building in these emerging research areas.
Jody Shipka is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where she teaches in the Communication and Technology Track. Her research and teaching span multimodal discourse, digital rhetorics, play theory, materiality, and food studies, challenging conventional associations of composition with solely written texts. Her educational background includes: Ph.D. in English with a Specialization in Writing Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign M.A. in English, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign B.A. in English, Loyola University, Chicago (Summa Cum Laude) Dr. Shipka’s scholarship emphasizes material practices and embodied cognition , arguing that composition encompasses aural, visual, and tangible forms beyond digital media. She examines how everyday objects—such as pinball machines, scrapbooks, and home movies—function as rhetorical artifacts that reshape understandings of archives, authorship, and human-nonhuman relationships. Her work integrates activity theory and remediation frameworks to explore how people repurpose marginalized materials for meaning-making. Recent publications reveal a trajectory toward temporal rhetoric and social justice , with increasing focus on multilingual writers, memory studies, and the agency of nonhuman actors. Her articles consistently bridge theory and practice, offering pedagogical models for multimodal assessment that prioritize material-discursive processes over technological determinism. While no formal awards are listed, her book Toward a Composition Made Whole (2011) received acclaim from scholars like Danielle Nicole DeVoss and Clay Spinuzzi for revolutionizing writing pedagogy, with College Composition and Communication noting its potential to transform writing classrooms into “some of the most exciting spaces on campus.” Dr. Shipka actively contributes to academic discourse as Special Topics Editor for Composition Forum and through editorial roles with Writing Research, Pedagogy, and Policy ; Studies in Writing and Rhetoric ; and Computers and Composition Digital Press . Her current book project, To Honor, Rival and Revise: On the Process of Composing Other People’s Lives , investigates how flea-market ephemera can reimagine archival practices and ethical relationships with historical materials.
Dr. Dominic Glover is a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, a position he has held since 2017. Prior to this, he served as a Project Scientist, Associate Specialist, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley from 2010 to 2016. Dr. Glover's research focuses on applying synthetic biology for the engineering of proteins into structured and functional biomaterials. His work centers on creating standardized protein building blocks composed of ultrastable filamentous proteins and connectors that assemble into geometrically-defined structures of controllable size and shape. This research has significant implications for developing protein nanostructures with atomic-level accuracy, opening new possibilities in biomaterials including electrically conductive protein nanowires for biosensors and enzyme catalysis, engineered metabolic pathways, and tissue scaffolds for regenerative medicine. Analysis of Dr. Glover's recent publications reveals a strong focus on protein self-assembly, biomaterials engineering, and the development of protein-based nanotechnologies. His work spans multiple disciplines including structural biology, nanotechnology, bioelectronics, and synthetic biology. A notable trend in his research is the application of protein engineering principles to create functional biomaterials with specific electronic, catalytic, and structural properties. His team has made significant contributions to understanding protein filament assembly, developing purification methods for protein nanostructures, and creating conductive protein nanowires for energy applications. Dr. Glover has established collaborative research relationships with scientists both within UNSW and internationally, particularly with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. His laboratory appears to focus on protein engineering approaches to create novel biomaterials with applications in energy harvesting, biosensing, and regenerative medicine. While specific grant information is not provided in the available text, his extensive publication record suggests successful funding for his research program.
Francine Falk-Ross is Professor and Chair of the School of Education at Pace University (NYC campus), where she also coordinates the online Literacy Specialist Graduate Program. She holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction-Reading from the University of Illinois at Chicago (1995), an MA in Communication Disorders from SUNY Buffalo (1976), and a BS in Speech-Language Pathology from SUNY Albany (1972). Her certifications include New York State Permanent Teaching Certification and Illinois licenses in Speech-Language Pathology and K-12 education. Her research examines literacy development across all ages , with emphasis on digital technology integration , middle school literacy interventions , and teacher preparation . Key interests include multimodal composing, critical media literacy, and discourse analysis in diverse classrooms. Recent publications explore graphic narratives and poetry as tools for content-area instruction, reflecting her focus on innovative pedagogical strategies. Notable honors include the 2015 Pace University Research Day Best Presentation Award and the 2007 Northern Illinois University Scholarly Research Award. She has led multiple grants, including projects on video-based teacher training, technology integration, and national middle-grades research initiatives. Falk-Ross teaches graduate courses in literacy assessment, differentiated instruction, and digital literacies. She mentors preservice teachers through practicums and internships. As a professional contributor, she chairs AERA's Research in Reading and Literacy SIG and holds memberships in NCTE, ALER, and other educational associations.
Dr. Bre Garrett is an Associate Professor and Director of Composition at the University of West Florida , within the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. Her work bridges rhetorical studies and writing pedagogy , emphasizing digital tools , multimodal communication , and innovative teaching frameworks. She leads the first-year composition program, develops curricula, and co-authored the textbook Rhetoric and Writing: Composition at UWF . Garrett advocates for accessible writing education and explores the impact of social media on literacy. Education Bachelor's degrees in English and Psychology, Appalachian State University Master's degree in English, Appalachian State University Doctorate in English (rhetoric and composition emphasis), Miami University Research & Teaching Focus Garrett’s research centers on multimodal composition , digital pedagogy , and reimagining writing instruction. She collaborates with students and colleagues to analyze how diverse communication modes (e.g., video, text) enhance meaning-making. Her work, such as “Re-Inventing Digital Delivery for Multimodal Composing,” critiques traditional essay formats and promotes adaptable writing frameworks. She also investigates one-on-one writing studios as a pedagogical model. Grants & Leadership In 2015, Garrett secured a QEP start-up grant to integrate e-portfolios into the Certificate in Professional, Technical and Workplace Writing. As Director of Composition, she oversees curriculum design and instructional materials, including a custom textbook, while advocating for inclusive teaching practices. Programs & Affiliations Garrett is affiliated with the UWF Writing Lab , English Internship Program , and English Honor Society . She contributes to initiatives like the First-Year Composition series and frequently comments on modern writing discourses in higher education.
Dr. George Nicholson is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Statistics at the University of Oxford , specializing in statistical genetics , biomedical data analysis , and methodological innovation . His work bridges probabilistic modeling with real-world health applications. Research Focus: Development of advanced statistical methods for analyzing complex biomedical datasets, including longitudinal clinical trials, UK Biobank, and SARS-CoV-2 surveillance systems. Key Contributions: Creation of composable statistical inference frameworks, generalized Bayesian approaches for model misspecification, and hierarchical models for population differentiation studies. Methodological Expertise includes Bayesian networks , Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques , spatio-temporal modeling , and multivariate factor analysis . His recent publications address critical challenges in: Public Health: Designing robust methodologies for SARS-CoV-2 prevalence estimation through wastewater surveillance and clinical data integration Genomics: Characterizing genetic determinants of adiposity progression and metabolic disease trajectories Clinical Trials: Developing novel latent factor models for treatment response evaluation in autoimmune disorders
