Graduate Students
Aigul Rakisheva
Aigul Rakisheva is a Ph.D. student in the Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership Department with a concentration in Global Studies in Education. Her research focuses on Sustainability Education, Information and Communication Technologies, and Teacher Education.
Paapa Nkrumah-Ababio
Paapa Nkrumah-Ababio is an educator and researcher passionate about reshaping education systems to drive sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently a Ph.D. student in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership, Paapa specializes in Global Studies in Education and Evaluation. Paapa’s research explores culturally relevant education and evaluation frameworks, particularly in Ghana.
Armando Torres
Armando J. Torres is earning his PhD degree in Global Studies in Education (GSE) within the Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership (EPOL). Armando’s research focuses on community-based education, technology, mobilization, and sustainable transformational development in LMICs, most recently in Brazil.
Bryan Lake
Bryan Lake is a Master’s student in Global Studies in Education in the department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership. He is a National Board Certified Teacher who most recently served as an elementary instructional coach in Urbana School District 116, where he championed inquiry-based and experiential learning opportunities with students and teachers through laboratory and outdoor learning spaces. He continues to support local school gardens through Champaign-Urbana’s Solidarity Gardens Affiliate and the Farm to School Program.
Wendy Dorman
Wendy Dorman is a PhD Candidate in Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences. Her interdisciplinary research explores the mechanisms limiting the distribution of migratory birds and the potential for the scale and place of biodiversity data to influence student beliefs surrounding conservation and climate change.
Visiting Fulbright Scholar
Alejandra Vidal Ramirez
Alejandra is a professor at the EAFIT University in Colombia. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Social Sciences. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the emergence of regenerative entrepreneurship in high-biodiversity areas. Other interests include the Flourishing Business Models Canvas and education for sustainable entrepreneurship. She is a current Fulbright Scholar.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Carine Verschueren
Carine is a post-doctoral research associate in the Education Policy, Organization and Leadership Department. Her research sits at the intersection of education policy, politics of education and sustainability. More specifically, she explores environmental, sustainability and climate change education policies in education systems worldwide, with a special interest in the dynamics around subnational policies. Carine received an M.A. in Translation and an M.A. in International Politics from the University of Antwerp; she holds an Ed.M. in International Educational Development and a Ph.D. in International and Comparative Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Director
Sam Lindgren
Sam Lindgren’s work focuses on youth-oriented Sustainability Education, defined broadly to include multiple global traditions including Education for Sustainable Development and Environmental Education, and its impact on decision-making in the home, both in the United States and abroad. Her recent projects have been in Bangladesh, Namibia, and Cambodia. Domestically, she examines environmental education programming as a way to connect youth and their households more meaningfully to their local environments. Dr. Lindgren is affiliated faculty in the Center for the Study of Global Gender Equity, the Technology Entrepreneurship Center in the Grainger College of Engineering, and the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment.
Alumni
Ghaida Alrawasdeh
Assistant Professor, Oakland University