James Madison University has the honor of employing some of the world’s foremost experts on a wide variety of topics.
Members of the Media: We hope you use this resource in your research on trending topics. Experts listed below have extensive media experience and each brings a unique perspective and expertise to their fields. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, let us know and we’ll work to help you find a source. To get in touch with an expert, contact Mary-Hope Vass at vassmg@jmu.edu.
Faculty and staff: This is an evolving, living list. If you would like to nominate yourself or a colleague for inclusion, please contact Eric Gorton at gortonej@jmu.edu.
Featured current events experts:
The table below is best viewed at horizontal orientation on your device.
| Last Name | First Name | Fields | Expertise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akers | Jeremy | Health & Medicine | Nutrition and Metabolism; Nutrition and Exercise in Chronic Disease; Weight Management |
| Alexander | Rob | Politics & Policy, Law & Policy, Business, Sustainability & Environment | Environmental and climate change policy; Local government management; Public-private partnerships; Sustainable communities |
| Almarode | John | Education | Science of Learning |
| Almjeld | Jen | Social Sciences | Girlhood Studies; Feminist Methodologies; Identity Performances; Digital Rhetorics |
| Altaii | Karim | Sustainability & Environment, Education, Engineering & Technology | Renewable Energy Applications; International Education and Programs; Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning |
| Barnett | Brad | Business | Financial Aid in College |
| Baxter | Philip | Politics & Policy | International Security; Geopolitics; Nuclear Weapons and Proliferation; Emerging Technology; Data Mining and Modeling; Open-Source Intelligence Collection |
| Bentley | Mace | Natural Science | Climate Change (geoscience); Geography; Weather |
| Benzing | Tom | Sustainability & Environment, Education | Water Resources Management; Science Education |
| Bergmeister | Suzanne | Business | Startups; venture capital/angel investing; social entrepreneurship |
| Birch | Caitlin | Arts & Culture, Social Sciences | Special collections; Digital archives and digital preservation; Oral history |
| Blake | Charles | Politics & Policy | Latin America; Dynamics of Corruption |
| Blankenship | Ben | Social Sciences, Politics & Policy, Health & Medicine | Social Identity; Political Psychology; Stigma; Prejudice and Stereotypes; LGBTQ Psychology |
| Bortolot | Zack | Engineering & Technology, Journalism & Media | Satellite and aerial imagery; Image processing |
| Brannon | Rebecca | Social Sciences | American Revolution; America's Founding; American Loyalists |
| Britt | Lori | Social Sciences | Facilitative Leadership; Dialogue and Deliberation |
| Chen | Jie | Politics & Policy, Social Sciences | Chinese politics; Chinese society; Higher Education in the U.S. |
| Coates | Tabitha | Business, Social Sciences, Education | Meaning of Work; Generation Y; Phenomenology; Organization Development |
| Cohen | Marty | Politics & Policy | Political Parties; Moral Issues in Politics |
| Coleman | Santo | Health & Medicine, Social Sciences | Men’s health; Masculinity/toxic masculinity; Fatherhood relationships; Adolescent health; Obesity; Bioethics; Diversity in education |
| Danzell | Orlandrew | Politics & Policy, Law & Policy | International/domestic terrorism; Military interventions; conflict in Africa; Intelligence Theory/ Anti-Money Laundering |
| De Hertogh | Lori-Beth | Health & Medicine, Social Sciences | Rhetorics of Health and Medicine; Feminist Rhetorics |
| Dean | Art | Social Sciences, Education | Diversity in education; Access and Inclusion in Higher Education |
| Depaolis | Rory | Health & Medicine | Infant Language Development; Speech and Hearing Science |
| El-Tawab | Samy | Engineering & Technology | Intelligent Transportation; Computer Networks; Internet of Things; Cyber Physical Systems; Cybersecurity |
| Enke | Ray | Natural Science, Health & Medicine, Education | Genomics; Molecular Biology; Vision Research; Epigenetics; Undergraduate Research |
| Fagan | Allison | Arts & Culture, Civil Rights | Chicanx and Latinx Literature; Race and Ethnicity |
| Featherstone | Jared | Social Sciences, Education | Mindfulness; Writing and Learning |
| Feitosa | Klebert | Natural Science | Soft Materials; Complex Fluids; Glassy Dynamics; Amorphous Systems |
| Fink | Jason | Business | Risk Management; Portfolio Management; Market Dynamics; Personal Finance |
| Frana | Philip | Social Sciences | Software and Information Studies; Computing and Culture; Individualized and Interdisciplinary Education |
| Frysinger | Steven | Natural Science, Engineering & Technology, Sustainability & Environment, Social Sciences | Environmental Information and Decision Support Systems; Interaction Design; Human Computer Interfaces; Human Factors Engineering; Environmental Systems Engineering; Role of Science in 18th and 19th Century Life |
| Gano-Overway | Lori | Health & Medicine, Education | Sport & Exercise Psychology; Coaching Education |
| Garcia | Angel | Natural Science | Caves; Ethnogeology; Community-based research |
| Gerken | Tobias | Sustainability & Environment, Natural Science | Climate Change (environment); Weather; Air Pollution |
| Goetschius | John | Health & Medicine | Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation; Knee & Ankle Joint Injuries; Blood Flow Restriction (BFR); Youth Sport Specialization |
| Goodall | Amy | Sustainability & Environment | Conservation Biogeography; Environmental Education; Gardens and Meadows for Education and Community Engagement |
| Grossman | Suzanne | Health & Medicine | Immigrant Health; Health Promotion and Equity; Health Literacy; Health Communication; Infectious Diseases |
| Guo | John | Engineering & Technology, Business | Behavioral Cybersecurity; Social Media Innovation; Cross-Cultural Technology Adoption; Gamification; Sustainable IT |
| Harvell-Bowman | Lindsey | Social Sciences | Suicide and Mental Health ; Death; Existential Psychology |
| Henry | Dayna | Health & Medicine, Social Sciences | Sexual Health; Relationship Health; Preventing Sexual Assault |
| Herrick | James | Natural Science, Health & Medicine | Environmental microbiology; Microbial genomics |
| Hilliard | Rich | Journalism & Media, Digital Media Technologies, Arts & Culture | Illustration; Animation; Pop Culture |
| Jones | David | Politics & Policy | Media and Politics |
| Kaussler | Bernd | Politics & Policy | Iran; Middle Eastern Policy; International Security; Terrorism |
| Kilby | Christina | Social Sciences, Politics & Policy | Religion and the Refugee Crisis; Buddhism; Tibet and the Dalai Lama |
| Kim | Tony | Business | Food Safety/Sanitation; Hotel and Restaurant Cleanliness; Consumer perceptions/behavior in food service industry |
| Kirkpatrick | Michael S. | Engineering & Technology | Computing Ethics; Information Security & Privacy; Women in Computing |
| Kirkpatrick | David | Politics & Policy | Religion and Politics; Global Violence in the History of American Christianity |
| Klein | Michael | Health & Medicine, Arts & Culture, Journalism & Media, Social Sciences | Medical Humanities; Technology in Popular Culture; Technical Communication; Scientific Rhetoric |
| Kondrad | Robyn | Education | Young children’s social information processing; Preschooler learning; Scholarship of teaching and learning |
| Kozak | Stephen | Business | Sales; Marketing |
| Kurtz | Jaime | Social Sciences | Happiness; Travel |
| Kush | Joseph | Social Sciences | Survey Data; Educational Assessment |
| LaPira | Tim | Politics & Policy | American Politics; Interest Groups and Lobbying |
| Leduc | Laura | Business, Law & Policy | Human Resources; Employment Law; Effect of Personal Traits on the Workplace |
| Levinovitz | Alan | Health & Medicine, Social Sciences | Religion and Medicine; Religion and Science; Classical Chinese Thought; Persuasion |
| Lukens | Bill | Natural Science | Earth systems and climate change |
| Lupo | Sarah | Education | Literacy across disciplines K-12; science of reading |
| Mason | Marianne | Social Sciences | Forensic Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Game Theoretic Pragmatics |
| Mathur | Smita | Education | Play; School Readiness for Young Migrant Children |
| May | Christine | Natural Science | Freshwater ecology; Conservation biology |
| McCarthy | Sean | Digital Media Technologies, Social Sciences | Digital Media; Humanities; English; Community Engagement |
| McKay | Cathy | Education, Social Sciences | Parasport education and awareness; Health and Physical Education Teacher Education; Contact theory and social inclusion; Changing attitudes and perceptions toward disability |
| McMullen | Conley | Natural Science | Pollination biology; Plant systematics |
| McNaught | John | Social Sciences, Education | Self-Determination; Special Education Program Improvement; Students with disabilities; Classroom/Behavior Management; Inclusive Practices |
| Merkel | Julia | Arts & Culture | Library & Museum Collections; Book Arts |
| Miles | Jonathan | Sustainability & Environment | Wind and Solar Energy |
| Nagel | Jacquelyn | Engineering & Technology | Biomimicry; Engineering Design Methods; Engineering Education; Manufacturing Automation; Sensors and Instrumentation; Mechatronics |
| Nash | Carole | Social Sciences, Natural Science | Middle Atlantic Archaeology; Human Ecology; Citizen Science |
| Nelson | Hala | Engineering & Technology | Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning; Data Science; Mathematical Modeling |
| Neveu | Andre | Politics & Policy, Business, Law & Policy | Monetary Policy; Wage Gap; Minimum Wage; Debt and GDP; Exchange Rate Forecasts; The Federal Reserve |
| Parker | Rocky | Natural Science, Health & Medicine | Chemical Ecology; Animal Behavior; Invasive Species; Endocrinology; Reptiles |
| Parker | Janna | Business | Retailing; Digital Marketing; Advertising; Nonprofit Marketing |
| Parrish | Alex | Social Sciences, Natural Science | Classical Rhetoric; Animal Studies; Rhetoric of Science |
| Pyle | Eric | Natural Science, Education | Geology; Science Education; Earth Phenomena |
| Riden | Benjamin | Education, Business | Special Education (General Curriculum); Behavior Analysis; Classroom Management; Teacher Preparation |
| Roberts | Robert | Law & Policy | State and Local Government; Legal Environment of Public Administration; Criminal Procedures |
| Rosier | Jennie | Social Sciences | Communication in Interpersonal Relationships; Parent-Child Communication; Attachment; Romance and Love; Marriage |
| Rout | Ayasakanta | Health & Medicine | Signal processing in hearing aids; Speech perception in individuals with hearing loss |
| Rutherford | Ken | Politics & Policy | International Peacekeeping; International Security; African Politics; Conventional Weapons |
| Salman | Ahmad | Engineering & Technology | Network Security; Cyber Physical Systems; Internet of Things; Post-Quantum Cryptography; Efficient Cryptographic Algorithms; Hardware Design of Cryptographic Functions; Energy and Power Analysis |
| Salvatore | Jessica | Social Sciences | Intergroup Relations; Social Stigmas |
| Saunders | Mike | Health & Medicine | Exercise Science |
| Scherpereel | John | Politics & Policy | European Union; Eastern Europe; Women in Politics |
| Schill | Dan | Politics & Policy, Journalism & Media | Media and Politics; Campaigns; Political Stagecraft |
| Selznick | Benjamin | Education | Applied Learning; Organizational Leadership in Higher education |
| Seth | Michael | Politics & Policy, Education, Business, Social Sciences | Korea; North Korea; East Asia; Comparative Education; Economic Development; World History |
| Shanahan | Maureen | Arts & Culture, Social Sciences, Civil Rights | Twentieth Century Art History; Trauma Studies (legacy of World War I); Gender; Sexuality; Race and Anti-colonial Analyses |
| Sharifian | Maryam | Education | War Zone Education; Teacher Training in Conflict Areas; Teacher Resilience and Burnout; Refugee Children Education & Wellbeing |
| Smalls | Morgan | Social Sciences, Digital Media Technologies, Arts & Culture | Communication and culture; Digital Media; African American representation in popular culture; Black female stereotypes in media; Contemporary television shows |
| Snyder | Sara | Education, Health & Medicine | Classroom Management; Individualized Behavior Interventions for Children; Students with Disabilities |
| Soenksen | Ginny | Social Sciences, Arts & Culture | Museums; Japanese art; Japanese culture |
| Sparkman-Key | Narketta | Social Sciences | Stress; Suicide; Wellness; Marginalized Populations; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion |
| Sturm | Debbie | Sustainability & Environment | Climate anxiety |
| Teel | Wayne | Natural Science, Sustainability & Environment | Soil protection and management; Biochar production; Agroforestry and ecological agriculture; Climate Change (ecology); Environmental science and ecology |
| Temple | April | Health & Medicine | Gerontology; Long-term care; U.S. health care system; Health care leadership |
| Timler | Geralyn | Health & Medicine | Social Communication Development and Disorders in Children and Adolescents; Social Communication Assessment and Intervention; Autism; ADHD; Language Disorders |
| Trocchia | Michael | Arts & Culture | Philosophy of Literature and Poetry |
| Vanhove | Adam | Health & Medicine, Business | Employee Resilience and Preventative Mental Health; Employment Discrimination; Followership and Leader and Follower Relations |
| Vaziri | Baback | Business, Education | Analytics (Business); Ranking Methods; Analytics (Sports); Analytics (Higher Education); Academic Motivation |
| Vidal | George | Health & Medicine, Education | Developmental neurobiology; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Undergraduate Research |
| Wei | Xuebin | Engineering & Technology, Natural Science, Politics & Policy, Law & Policy | Machine Learning; cloud computing; GIS; Data Mining and Modeling; transportation |
| Weniger | Jerry | Health & Medicine | Orthopedics & sports medicine; Musculoskeletal imaging; Physician assistant (PA) education and admissions; Medical malpractice |
| Wrenn | Greg | Sustainability & Environment, Natural Science, Health & Medicine, Arts & Culture | Environmental Literature and Climate Change; Coral Reefs ; Nature as a Mental Health Resource; LGBT Literature; Creative Writing (Poetry and Memoir) |
| Yanacek | Holly | Arts & Culture, Health & Medicine, Natural Science, Social Sciences | German Literature and Culture; History of Emotions; Human/Animal Studies; Robots and AI in Fiction; Historical Semantics |
| Zeman | Catherine | Natural Science, Sustainability & Environment, Health & Medicine | Environmental epidemiology and toxicology; Environment and health relationship; Complementary Alternative and Integrative Health |
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