Experts Guide

Norton studies the use of technology (artificial intelligence, telehealth, virtual reality) in the mental health counseling profession, bias within the counseling profession and the role of mental health counselors in forensic evaluation.

Brice studies speech and language among bilingual populations in individuals with and without disabilities. He can discuss how two languages interact across sound, meaning, and use, and how this affects special education, speech-language pathology, and education. His clinical expertise focuses on the assessment and treatment of Spanish-English–speaking students and clients.

Panos is director of research for the Center for Climate Literacy and is a founding editors for the newly launched open access practitioner pocket journal, Climate Literacy in Education. She and her colleagues recently launched a freely accessible resource portal as part of the Florida Environmental Natural History Portal -- Ecoliteracies for Climate Action in Florida.

Braun researches educational policy, disability studies, psychology and international and comparative education. She can discuss disparities in access to quality education across multiple categories of marginalization, including gender, home language, socioeconomic status, rural/urban, race and ethnicity and disability. Her work also focuses on inclusive education policy and practice for students with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Feldman studies how inservice science teachers learn from their practice in subjects including physics, environmental education and education for sustainability. He has been PI and co-PI of 18 National Science Foundation projects in collaboration school districts and colleagues in the sciences and engineering including environmental studies of acid mine drainage, arsenic in the environment, algal biofuels and water and wastewater treatment.

Dumford's research focuses on student engagement, learning and equity in postsecondary education, with expertise in quantitative research, data analytics and institutional effectiveness.

Cranston-Gingras is director of the Center for Migrant Education, and her whose work focuses on supporting children with disabilities and youth from migrant farmworker families through education and advocacy. She studies children who have been marginalized by schools and society including children with disabilities and those from migrant farmworker families.

Gunn's research and scholarship focus on:

--Literacy practices in the community outside of schools, such as prisons, museums and afterschool centers.

--Literacy in teacher education, emphasizing issues, strategies and tools that influence preservice and in-service teachers' practices.

--Literacy instruction in PreK-12 classrooms, including social-emotional learning, resilience and literacy development.

Banack's research focuses on integrating contemporary youth literature to engage young readers. She aims to help English teachers integrate youth literature by adding excerpts, planning literature circles or utilizing youth literature as whole class novels. She surveys undergraduate students about their engagement with texts they read in high school. She can discuss young adult literature, English education and secondary education. Her work also emphasizes university partnerships through cross university and secondary collaborations.

Black's research focuses on leadership preparation, educational partnerships and policies supporting bilingual and special education students.

Campbell is an expert in exercise and nutrition interventions for weight loss. He is director of the Performance & Physique Enhancement Laboratory at USF. He is is a paid consultant to professional sports team organizations, sports entertainment corporations and a litigation consultant and expert witness related to dietary supplementation.

Lovell has co-authored three English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) textbooks with USF colleague Jane Govoni. She has also published on Mark Twain, including an album that tells Mark Twain's life in spoken word and song featuring Jimmy Buffett, Clint Eastwood, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley, Emmylou Harris and others.

Nieman's research focuses on helping physical education teachers understand and meet the different needs of their students. He studies how teachers can make PE more engaging, fair and relevant for kids from all kinds of backgrounds. He also look at what helps or prevents young people from getting involved in sports and physical activity, especially those who might not always feel included.

Osvath’s research explores the intersection of extended reality (XR), the Metaverse, video games and qualitative inquiry, examining how immersive and gamified environments can enhance teaching, learning and creative expression. His expertise includes strategically applying virtual and mixed reality to deepen engagement and expand multimodal forms of communication.

Topdemir studies how school counselors can support immigrant students and their families and presents on topics such as school counselor leadership and advocacy. She served as a school counselor for 14 years and has been a Licensed Mental Health Counselor for five years.

Zeidler's research in the field of science education centers on socioscientific issues — taking a sociocultural approach to teaching and learning about how moral and ethical issues can foster epistemic insight and moral character in the pursuit of scientific literacy. His work incorporates aspects of argumentation and discourse, moral reasoning and character formation, epistemic development and practices, place-based immersive scenarios and the nature of science.

Allsopp focuses on effective instructional practices — particularly in mathematics for students with learning and behavioral disabilities, as well as innovative approaches to teacher preparation.

Rosengrant pioneers innovative teaching through virtual reality, gaming and STEM technology as the driving force behind USF’s cutting-edge INQ Lab. His research focuses physics education and educational technologies. He aims to improve the quality of instruction that students in physics courses receive related to problem solving, classroom instruction and lab based settings.

Michael studies educational policy at the federal, state and local levels, particularly racial desegregation policies from the 1960s and ‘70s. She was among the first researchers to study Jimmy Carter’s educational policies, beginning with his work as chairman of a Georgia county school board. She wrote the book "Jimmy Carter as Educational Policy Maker: Equal Opportunity and Efficiency," published in 2008.

Cobb-Roberts' research focuses on higher education leadership, mentoring as critically engaged praxis and institutional change.

Hadley's research focuses on how teachers can help foster young children’s oral language growth through conversations, shared book-reading and play. She is also interested in identifying pre-K literacy instructional methods that support later reading comprehension.

Shaunessy-Dedrick's research focuses on underrepresented groups of gifted children and social-emotional needs of International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement students.

Davis' research focuses on play therapy, creative counseling techniques and innovative practices in counselor education and supervision. He is a Florida Certified School Counselor, National Certified Counselor and School-Based Registered Play Therapist.

Vomvoridi-Ivanovic's research spans teacher education, mathematics education, science education and engineering education — primarily at the secondary and post-secondary levels. She focuses on broadening STEM participation, humanizing mathematics education and advancing teacher and student development through responsive pedagogy and interdisciplinary collaborations, and her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

Kim's research focuses on propensity score analysis, multilevel confirmatory factor analysis, Bayesian estimation and robust ANOVA in collaboration with faculty and graduate students.

Dart's research focuses on evidence-based behavioral and mental health interventions that promote students’ social, emotional and academic success in schools. He is a co-director of the School Mental Health Collaborative, a national research and technical assistance center that informs policy and practice to promote students' social-emotional and behavioral success.

Smith researches how computer games can help people learn science, language arts, second language learning and other disciplines, partly by embedding computer games into web-based eBooks. He has a patent that reinvents the novel and digital book technology to include online games and social interaction, to increase comprehension skills, content learning and the experience of the story.

Sun's research centers on understanding and enhancing motivation for physical activity among children and adolescents. the interactive effect of situational and self-initiated motivation in physical activity settings. She studies children/adolescent physical activity program design and evaluation as related to the physical, cognitive and motivational domains.

Ambush's research explores how education and community partnerships can help people learn, grow and thrive. He studies study how schools, families and local organizations can work together to create holistic learning experiences that build leadership, belonging and purpose, especially for youth. His work has reached more than 1,000 students annually through award-winning initiatives recognized locally, nationally and internationally for their innovation and measurable outcomes. 

Robinson is director of USF’s Critical, Creative and Design Thinking program and an award-winning educator and researcher whose pioneering work in arts integration and inclusive education has advanced interdisciplinary collaboration, teacher development and support for marginalized learners across Florida and beyond.

Berson's research examines how young children use digital technologies to explore the world, engage in civic inquiry and develop critical thinking. She studies technology, inquiry-based learning and children’s civic agency, shaping international conversations on digital citizenship, ethics and education in the digital age.

Schneider studies how children express themselves through writing, reading and technology. Her work explores the ways young people use artificial intelligence and digital tools to create texts, images and performances that bring their ideas to life. She uses arts-based approaches such as process drama, children’s literature and multimodal composition to help educators understand and support how youth learn, think critically and communicate in today’s world.

Jacobs' research focuses on teacher learning and growth throughout their careers, including the development of teacher leaders in schools and the professional learning of university-based teacher educators. Her work examines school-university support for teacher learning; teacher learning through hands-on, practice-based experiences; and how mentoring, practitioner research and job-embedded learning helps teachers develop their skills.

Castillo's research focuses on how to implement public health and community school approaches to removing barriers to student learning. He also investigates professional and practice issues relevant to school psychologists and co-directs the Institute for School-Community Partnerships, Integrated Services and Child Mental Health and Educational Policy -- a research and technical assistance center focused on improving educational and related services for children, youth, families and communities. Castillo's work broadly aims to support schools and their stakeholders by addressing real world problems of practice through community engaged research, implementation and evaluation efforts. 

Latimer's research focuses on making STEM education -- especially math -- more welcoming and meaningful for all students, both in formal and informal learning contexts. He studies how teachers prepare and grow in ways that honor student experiences, interests and needs and explores the experiences of academic mothers and how caregiving can inform and strengthen teaching, mentoring and educational leadership. He also examines out-of-school STEM programs to understand how young people develop confidence and a strong sense of identity in engineering and science.

Bradley-Klug's research primarily focuses on pediatric school psychology -- activities to promote the physical and mental health of children, youth and young adults who are living with a chronic health condition. She is interested in health literacy and promoting integrated health care.

Moore researches the attributes, dispositions and supports that contribute to the retention of urban educators, examining how individual qualities, leadership, school districts and policy impact their ability to thrive in challenging educational environments. Her recent scholarly work has addressed educator persistence and retention, the development of a robust urban teacher and leader pipeline and creating responsive, relevant classroom environments.

Evanovich's research interests include multi-tiered systems of support for behavior with a focus on positive behavior interventions and supports. Specifically, she is interested in academic and behavioral interventions for students with and at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders and to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline practices, including restraint and seclusion). She also studies the the use and integration of relationship based practices within a PBIS framework and evidence-based interventions for students with behavioral disorders.

Kelly focuses on developmental readers, students with dyslexia and reading assessments.

Dunn studies the challenges teachers face and the supports they need in the workplace during bereavement. She can discuss teacher well-being, teacher grief, emotional labor and ELA curriculum.

Tadlock is a professor of education with experience as a department chair, college dean, provost, president and regional chancellor across six universities. He has past expertise in middle school education and young adolescent development. He can discuss educational leadership and change management in higher education. 

Berson studies how teachers can use questions, stories, pictures and digital tools to help children better understand history and the world around them. He also focuses on teaching children how to stay safe and think critically when using technology, especially online.

Latzke's research focuses on helping pre-service teachers to make strong connections between their coursework and their field experiences.

Sears' research focuses on curriculum issues, change initiatives in K-20 STEM settings, the development of reasoning and proof skills, clinical experiences in secondary mathematics and the integration of technology in mathematics.

Haraf studies teacher preparation, leadership and professional learning, with a focus on issues in urban elementary schools. She can discuss elementary education, teacher education, school-university partnerships, teacher candidate supervision, teacher leadership and access and opportunity in urban education.

Kiefer's research focuses on adolescents’ motivation, peer relationships and development, with particular attention to improving educational outcomes for children from minority and underprivileged backgrounds.

Van Ingen Lauer's research focuses on innovation in clinically rich teacher preparation — specifically on equipping teachers to meet the mathematics learning needs of all children.

Her research investigates: how teacher education programs can help prepare early childhood teachers to work with children and families from all backgrounds and develop critical perspectives; how different beliefs and practices influence the education of young children in globalized contexts; and how Asian American children and families experience schools and teachers, and how they can be improved.

With three decades of combined experience in teaching, instruction, and curriculum development across K-12 educational settings, Arthur specializes in advancing innovative, experiential and inquiry-based teaching and learning. Her work focuses on evidence-based practices that support the preparation and ongoing development of pre- and in-service teachers across diverse subject areas. She has specific expertise in the design and execution of convergence education, universal design for learning (UDL), inquiry-based instruction, Generative Artificial Intelligence to support technological pedagogical content knowledge and cultivating content-rich, collaborative partnerships with local STEM-based organizations committed to inspiring and equipping the next generation of educators.

Bennett's research focuses on culturally sustaining pedagogy, literacy and arts in carceral spaces such as prisons, community literacy, multicultural literature and teacher education. She and a colleague recently partnered with the Florida Department of Corrections to work with prisoners on improving their literacy rates and mental health.

Briant Spratling's research examines the intersection of law, institutional policy and student wellness in higher education, with a focus on graduate and professional students. Drawing from her background as an attorney, student affairs administrator and equity-focused nonprofit leader, Briant Spratling investigate how colleges and universities develop, interpret and implement policies related to student support, behavioral intervention, basic needs and institutional responsibility. She is interested in how legal frameworks -- both formal (statutory, regulatory) and institutional (codes of conduct, behavioral policies, housing contracts, etc.) -- affect students‚ access to resources, sense of safety and belonging and overall well-being.

Osborn researches and publishes in the areas of foreign/world language education and interdisciplinary education. He is an expert in applied linguistics in education.

Tan's research focuses on the development of adopted children, children's mental health, children's schooling experiences and family relations.

Katz has spent more than 45 years in education as a pre-K-12 teacher, curriculum coordinator, assistant principal, principal, director of leadership in Sarasota County and adjunct professor. Her research and expertise interests include students with disabilities, K-8 leadership, private schools, curriculum, human resource management, change management, coaching/mentoring and professional learning for school leaders, site analysis and administrative teamwork. She initiated a comprehensive career pathway for leaders in Sarasota County, including a leadership academy, new leader induction program, a mentoring program with retired leaders and collaborative partner teams for new principals.

Unal's research examines how technology and artificial intelligence can enhance teaching, learning and assessment in K-12 and higher education. He has developed multiple nationally recognized AI platforms for educators, including TeacherServer, FacultyServer and GrantServer, which have received regional and national innovation awards. He has published extensively on AI in education, teacher preparation, classroom management, online learning and program assessment.

Karanxha's research examines policy implementation in leadership preparation, charter schools and special education. She also conducts research on leadership, change and school discipline.