People

Former Students

Morgan Earp Ph.D. (2007)
Morgan completed a Ph.D. in Quantitative Research Methods in August of 2007. She is currently working for the United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service in Fairfax, VA, and Washington D.C. as a survey and mathematical statistician in the Research and Development Division's Data Quality Research Section. She is responsible for conducting nonresponse bias studies as mandated by the Executive Office of the President's Office of Management and Budget's standards and guidelines. Morgan uses previously reported census data to determine whether estimates of later surveys are biased due to survey nonresponse and whether specific weighting procedures address such bias. She also explores relationships between operation characteristics, survey nonresponse, and effectiveness of survey incentives in boosting response rates.

Jini Puma Ph.D. (2007)
Jini completed a Ph.D. in Quantitative Research Methods in June 2007. She is a Research Associate with the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center at the University of Colorado at Denver. She is lead evaluator on three different research projects: a project describing the culture of chew tobacco use; one evaluating the effectiveness of a provider intervention that attempts to reduce children's exposure to second-hand smoke; and one exploring the longitudinal impacts of an elementary school nutrition curriculum. The Chew Tobacco research project incorporates a community-based participatory research (CBPR) model, so Jini is training community members from all over the state of Colorado to conduct story circles, photovoice, and in-depth interviews. Additionally, Jini started her own statistical consulting business, Manus LLC, in 2007. Her research clients include universities, national collegiate organizations, and the state of Colorado. Jini tries to incorporate the principles of CBPR into every research project.

Laura Ramzy MA (2007)
Laura Ramzy completed an MA in Counseling Psychology in June 2007 and is currently enrolled in the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Oregon. The department's philosophy includes a commitment to integrating diversity awareness and multicultural counseling competency into all facets of the training program, as well as taking an active role as a professional in shaping environments and engaging in research within changing environmental contexts. Laura's current research involves examining the relationship between levels of acculturation for second-generation immigrant adolescents and their mental health; she also interested in exploring the role of religion in the acculturation process for Middle Eastern immigrants. Post-graduation, Laura aims to obtain a faculty teaching position in psychology, and continue to engage in community- based research.

Amy Engelman Ph.D. (2006)
Amy completed a Ph.D. in Child, Family, and School Psychology in June, 2006. She is Research & Project Manager at SUMA/Orchard Social Marketing, Inc. in Austin, TX. She conducts formative and evaluative research for public health media and outreach campaigns. In addition, she develops trainings for 21st Century Community Learning Center program directors and staff.

Barri Tinkler Ph.D. (2004)
Barri completed a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in August 2004. Presently she is assistant professor of education at Shepherd University in West Virginia, and also the NCATE Director. She’s been involved with service-learning at Shepherd University within her department and at the university level. She is the service-learning coordinator for a partnership program that the education department maintains with the Harpers Ferry Job Corps center in which Shepherd students tutor students at the residential facility who are working on their GED. Most of the Job Corps students are from inner-city D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Richmond. In 2009, Barri is hoping to develop an undergraduate course in CBR that would be cross-listed with the sociology and social work departments.