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College of Education Welcomes New Faculty

TAMPA, Fla. (August 16, 2018) — The College of Education is proud to welcome new faculty for the 2018-19 academic year. These individuals bring with them a diverse set of research interests and experiences that demonstrate their commitment to high-impact research, student success, and innovation in the field of education.   

New Faculty

Samuel Buckner, PhD — Department of Educational & Psychological Studies

Samuel Buckner, PhD, joins the College of Education as an assistant professor of exercise science. A Florida native, Dr. Buckner earned his PhD in Health and Kinesiology from the University of Mississippi, Oxford in 2018. His research focuses on skeletal muscle adaptation, and his current work places an emphasis in enhancing the understanding of the effects of blood flow restriction on muscle size. Dr. Buckner has 60 papers published in peer-reviewed journals, and in 2012 was the the Guinness World Record holder for the most consecutive 90 degree pushups.

Maureen Chiodini â€” Department of Educational & Psychological Studies

Maureen Chiodini joins the College of Education as an Instructor in the Exercise Science program. She previously served in the program as a visiting instructor. Chiodini has a master’s degree in Public Health and a master’s degree in Exercise Science from USF, and she is currently completing a doctorate in Public Health. She has lived, worked and volunteered in the Tampa Bay area for more than 30 years, and enjoys working on getting the world to understand the value of movement.  

J. Michael Denton, PhD, – Department of Leadership, Counseling Adult, Career, and Higher Education

Michael Denton, PhD, has served in the College of Education since 2015 as a visiting instructor and has joined the College as an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs. He served previously as a student affairs educator for 15 years in the southeastern United States. Dr. Denton researches college students living with HIV/AIDS. His first research project looked specifically at how gay college men construct their identities and navigate post-secondary institutions given tremendous social stigma and discourses linking HIV/AIDS to gay men. In addition to his research interests in HIV/AIDS and art-based inquiry, Dr. Denton has a broader interest in how collegians living with chronic illness understand themselves and intersections of race, gender, ability, and sexual identity.

Jarrett Gupton, PhD — Department of Leadership, Counseling, Adult, Career and Higher Education

Jarrett Gupton, PhD, joins the College of Education as an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs. Dr. Gupton most recently served as an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. He earned his PhD at the Rosier School of Education at the University of Southern California. His research interests include educational equity and opportunity in higher education, and much of his scholarship has focused on building an evidentiary platform to study issues of access, engagement and completion for homeless students. His research has also focused on examining institutional capacity to support housing and food insecure students in postsecondary education.

Nicholas Martinez, PhD â€” Department of Educational & Psychological Studies

Nicholas Martinez joins the College of Education as an Instructor in the Exercise Science program. Dr. Martinez previously served as a visiting instructor in the program. An alumnus of USF, Dr. Martinez received a master’s degree in Physical Education in 2011 and a master’s degree in Exercise Science in 2013. He received a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÄÚÄ»ÐÅÏ¢in 2017 and his dissertation focused on worksite wellness evaluation. His research interests include sports nutrition and exercise psychology.

Laura Sabella, PhD — Department of Teaching & Learning

Laura Sabella, PhD, joins the College of Education as an Instructor of Secondary Clinical Experience. She has served as a visiting instructor and as coordinator for secondary field experiences in the College of Education since 2016. An educator with more than 25 years of experience, Dr. Sabella’s research examines the role of new and pre-service teachers as they support adolescents on the autism spectrum in the English Language Arts classroom. Her research interests also include understanding how final interns negotiate the transition from student to secondary content teacher, the role of the university supervisor in the field and partnerships in secondary schools.

Visiting Faculty

The College of Education is pleased to also welcome 13 new visiting faculty members for the 2018-19 academic year:

• Dr. Brittany Hearon — Educational & Psychological Studies
• Dr. Natalie Romer — Educational & Psychological Studies
• Dr. Wendy Dickinson — Educational & Psychological Studies
• Dr. John Mann III — Leadership, Counseling, Adult, Career and Higher Education
• Dr. Nebi Salim Bakare — Teaching & Learning
• Nicholas Catania — Teaching & Learning
• Dr. Yvonne Franco — Teaching & Learning
• Natalie Gutierrez Reiser — Teaching & Learning
• Steven Kropp — Teaching & Learning
• Dr. Lindsay Persohn — Teaching & Learning
• Dr. Christine Picot — Teaching & Learning
• Dr. Sarah Semon — Teaching & Learning
• Dr. Aimee Frier — Teaching & Learning