Faculty Panel: Engaging Students in Research and Creative Activities

Join us for an insightful panel discussion featuring faculty members from different colleges across CSUF as they share their experiences and strategies for engaging students in research and creative activities. In this session, faculty will discuss innovative approaches for involving students in hands-on research projects, fostering creativity, and building meaningful collaborations. Attendees will gain valuable insights into effective ways to engage students, enrich their academic experiences, and enhance their research initiatives. Additionally, panelists will touch on the impact of securing funding and how involving students in projects can strengthen grant proposals and expand the scope of academic and creative endeavors. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from colleagues across disciplines and discover how student engagement can elevate your research and creative activities.

 

Faculty Panel: 
Engaging Students in Research and Creative Activities

Thursday, April 17, 2025

1:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. 

TSU Pavilions B and C

 

Register

Panelists

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Joe Carlin, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Geology 

Dr. Joe Carlin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Carlin’s research investigates sediments within a variety of coastal environments including wetlands and salt marshes, estuaries, and the shallow coastal ocean. His interests are in how and why sediment delivery to the coast changes over time, primarily focusing on time scales ranging from hours to centuries. These time scales allow Dr. Carlin and his students to investigate how human activities have modified sediment processes in coastal environments, and understand how coastal environments respond to natural changes such as sea level rise, extreme weather events, and climate change. 

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Guadalupe Diaz Lara, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Child & Adolescent Studies

Dr. Guadalupe Díaz Lara is an assistant professor in the Department of Child & Adolescent Studies at California State University, Fullerton. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Sciences from Oregon State University with an emphasis on early childhood development and parenting.  Dr. Díaz Lara’s mixed methods research is focused on connecting research, policy, and practice to understand, elevate, and address factors that influence the educational experiences of children and families from diverse backgrounds, especially, Latinx families and Dual Language Learners/English Learners. Additionally, her research explores the systemic barriers families experience accessing social services and community resources to support their children and empower their families.

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Yuko Okado, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Psychology

Dr. Yuko Okado is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Cal State Fullerton.   She is a clinical psychologist by training and is the 7th faculty member at CSUF to receive the National Science Foundation CAREER award. Her research areas include STEM persistence and outreach,  mentoring, and college students' adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Zia Salim, Ph.D., Professor, Geography & the Environment

Zia Salim is a professor in the Department of Geography & the Environment at California State University, Fullerton. His research examines the dynamics of cities in Southern California, Southwest Asia and North Africa, and Latin America. Dr. Salim is an urban social geographer with research interests in comparative urbanization, socioeconomic polarization, community and social networks, and cultural landscapes, particularly as they relate to globalization, migration, and residential space. His most recent scholarship focuses on urban space and cultural landscapes in Southern California, and his ongoing research examines geoscience education, geographic thought, and public art.

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Amanda Rose Villarreal, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Theater

Dr. Amanda Rose Villarreal researches consent and participant agency in the realms of performance and pedagogy. Their research utilizes  Performance as Research methodologies and critical performance ethnographies, examining the ways in which consent is negotiated in collaborative processes. They are the Editor of the Journal of Consent-Based Performance, editorial board member of PARtake: The Journal of Performance as Research, the Subject Area Coordinator for Cal State Fullerton’s Single Subject Teaching Credential in Theatre, and an Associate Faculty of Theatre in the College of the Arts.  

 

Jennifer Piazza, Professor, Public Health

Jennifer Piazza is a Professor in the Department of Public Health. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the College of Health and Human Development at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research examines short- and long-term effects of stress on mental and physical health, with an emphasis on how these associations change with age. Dr. Piazza’s research has been well-received by the scientific community (Total number of citations: 3838, H-index: 23, i10 index: 26; Editor’s Choice Paper, Developmental Psychology, featured in F1000 Prime’s list of recommended articles) and has received substantial press through outlets such as Time Magazine, Scientific American, New York Post, The Huffington Post, USA Today, and KPCC News. Since arriving at CSUF, Dr. Piazza has garnered nearly two million dollars in external funding from the National Institutes of Health (R03AG047955; Role: Principal Investigator; R25AG076390-01; Role: Principal Investigator; R01-AG04243, PI: Susan Charles, Role: Visiting Researcher), and she has been the recipient of several CSUF intramural grants.

Moderator

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Matt Englar-Carlson, Professor, Counseling

Dr. Matt Englar-Carlson is the department chair and professor of counseling at the CSUF, as well as the director of the Center for Boys and Men. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association, his scholarship focuses on men and masculinities, social justice and diversity issues in psychological training and practice, and theories of psychotherapy. As a member of the APA Task Force for Boys in School, he is committed to educating teachers and parents about healthy boyhood. He is the co-creator with of the Positive Psychology Positive Masculinities (PPPM) model- the original framework of positive and healthy masculinities. He was a core author of the  APA Guidelines for Professional Psychological Practice with Boys and Men. His books include In the Room with Men: A Casebook of Therapeutic Change, Counseling Troubled Boys: A Guidebook for Professionals,  A Counselor’s Guide to Working with Men, and the upcoming Listening to the Voices of Men in Therapy and the Therapists Who Work with Them. He is series editor of the 27-volume APA monograph series Theories of Psychotherapy (APA), and co-author of the monograph on Adlerian Psychotherapy. He is the clinical advisor for the men’s mental health app, Mental, and serves on Movember’s  Global Men’s Health Advisory Committee, and the advisory board for the Positive Masculinity Foundation.