NSF ADVANCE ASCEND
Research Team + Steering Committee
Meet the Research Team
Learn more about the Steering Committee
Dr. Chrystal Bruce
John Carroll University • University Heights, OH • Midwest Alliance
Dr. Chrystal D. Bruce is the Associate Dean for the Sciences, Mathematics, and Health and Professor of Chemistry at John Carroll University. In her role, Bruce works to promote excellence in undergraduate and graduate education and helps to ensure faculty success in teaching, research, and service in STEM departments. Prior to her role as associate dean, Bruce taught chemistry at JCU and Erskine College. As the first female to achieve the rank of full professor of chemistry at JCU, she has taken a keen interest in the advancement of women within STEM, as well as driving systemic institutional change to reduce barriers for advancement for marginalized groups. Bruce is Principal Investigator for the $1M NSF ADVANCE ASCEND grant leading an eight-person steering committee to study, disseminate findings, and provide professional development for grant participants to reduce barriers for advancement of women in STEM. Her research interests include engaging undergraduate students in meaningful contributions in computational chemistry and the teaching and learning of chemistry at the undergraduate level. Bruce earned her Ph.D. from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and her B.S. in chemistry from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Dr. Maria (Mia) Bertagnolli
Gonzaga University • Spokane, WA • Northwest Alliance
Dr. Maria (Mia) Bertagnolli, Professor of Biology, is Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Gonzaga University. In her early career she was a Clare Boothe Luce Professor of Biochemistry, and has since chaired the Department of Biology and the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, served as Director of the Center for Teaching and Advising, and spent several years as an Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. She has worked to help departments develop clear guidelines for reappointment, promotion and tenure, developed resources and training that support faculty development and promote equitable, inclusive, antiracist pedagogy, provided leadership training for department chairs, and mentored faculty across the University.
Dr. Patricia Flatt
Western Oregon University • Monmouth, OR • Northwest Alliance
Dr. Patricia Flatt is a Professor of Chemistry at Western Oregon University. She has served as a Vertical Leader for the Chemistry Alliances in a previous NSF ADVANCE grant award (Advancing the Careers of Women in STEM at Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions through Professional Networks; ASAP #1107034) where she coordinated and led peer-group activities. At WOU, she has served as the PI on a collaborative grant with Oregon State University to develop a STEM Scholars Center for Diversity and Excellence at WOU for the advancement of women and underrepresented minority students pursuing STEM degree paths. Currently, Dr. Flatt is serving as the Coordinator for the STEM Scholar’s Center and has been working to institutionalize key programmatic elements from the pilot grant to increase student recruitment and retention within STEM.
Dr. Sarah Kirk
Hobart & William Smith Colleges • Geneva, NY • Midwest Alliance
Dr. Sarah Kirk is the Provost and Dean of Faculty and Professor of Chemistry at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS). As the chief academic officer of the Colleges, Kirk is responsible for the planning, development, and delivery of the Colleges’ educational programs and services. Prior to HWS, she served in progressive leadership roles at Willamette University including Associate Provost, Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development. Building on her prior experience, she works to enhance structures to better support faculty throughout their careers. Kirk has experience providing leadership training, coordinating faculty mentoring programs and faculty development workshops, and supporting diversity and equity initiatives for students and faculty. She did significant work re-envisioning both Shared Governance and Faculty Governance at Willamette University. Other positions have included Special Assistant to the Dean for STEM Education and Research and Director of the First-Year Experience. Kirk has also served as the STEM Administrator on an NSF-S-STEM grant. In 2019, Kirk served as the Associate Director for STEM Community Engagement HERS Executive Leadership Institute.
Dr. Elizabeth Roberts-Kirchhoff
University Detroit Mercy • Detroit, MI • Midwest Alliance
Dr. Elizabeth Roberts-Kirchhoff is an Assistant Dean for Academics and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She is co-PI of a $1.6 Million NIH URISE grant focused on diversifying the biomedical workforce. She is the Institutional Core Director on the NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) ReBUILDetroit grant, a collaboration between Wayne State University and University of Detroit Mercy to increase the number of underrepresented students in biomedical research careers.
Dr. Hala Schepmann
Southern Oregon University • Ashland, OR • Midwest Alliance
Dr. Hala Schepmann is Professor of Chemistry at Southern Oregon University. Dr. Schepmann co-founded and leads a university faculty alliance that supports the advancement of women and other underrepresented faculty groups by advocating for supportive and equitable policies. Through her leadership, this group’s efforts have resulted in the formation of a faculty ombuds office, dual-career supports for faculty and staff, tenure and evaluation clock extension policies, promotion criteria that led to an increase in associate professors standing for promotion, distinguished teaching and service faculty awards, workplace flexibility policies, a university-wide sick leave sharing policy, and a faculty mentoring program.
Dr. Victoria Turgeon
Furman University • Greenville, SC • Southeast Alliance
Dr. Victoria Turgeon, Professor of Biology & Neuroscience graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in 1993 and earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Anatomy at Wake Forest University along with the Norman Sulkin Award for Excellence in Neuroscience in 1998. In that same year, she was ihired at Furman University as an Assistant Professor of Biology and Neuroscience. During her tenure at Furman, Dr. Turgeon has been awarded the Henry and Ellen Townes Associate Professorship of Biology, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Distinguished Mentor Award, the Alester G. Furman Jr and Janie Earle Furman Meritorious Teaching Award, and the SCICU Excellence in Teaching Award. Her lab has been funded by grants received by the National Institutes of Health and the South Carolina Spinal Cord Research Fund. Dr. Turgeon also developed Furman’s Master of Science in Community Engaged Medicine and served as its director for five years before shifting to become Furman’s first Academic Director for the Prisma Health Partnership. Since 2016, Dr. Turgeon has also served as the university’s Faculty Ombuds. Outside her responsibilities to Furman University, Dr. Turgeon serves on the Board of Directors for the SC Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund.
Dr. Mary Katherine Watson
The Citadel • Charleston, SC • Southeast Alliance
Dr. Mary Katherine Watson is currently an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Citadel. She earned BS and MS degrees in Biosystems Engineering from Clemson University in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Afterward, she earned her PhD in Environmental Engineering at The Georgia Institute of Technology in 2013. Upon arriving at The Citadel in 2013, Dr. Watson was the first female faculty in the School of Engineering. She enjoys and has invested significantly in the development of her undergraduate students, serving as past faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Concrete Canoe Team, and two study abroad trips to Italy. In addition to the ASCEND project, Dr. Watson leads two active NSF grants in the area of engineering education. She is the Principal Investigator (PI) on a Scholarships in STEM grant focused on recruiting and retaining diverse, high-performing, low-income civil engineering students. Also, she serves as a Co-PI on a Research in Engineering Education grant focused on developing and assessing students’ cognitive flexibility in the domain of sustainable engineering. Dr. Watson is the proud recipient of seven teaching awards and six best paper awards awarded by regional, national, and international organizations. She was previously named the Young Civil Engineer of the Year by the South Carolina Section of ASCE (2016) and currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Civil Engineering Education.