Nicole Huff
Nicole Huff is a PhD candidate in the English department at Michigan State University. She received her bachelor’s from Kalamazoo College and her master’s from DePaul University. She is the co-lead for Michigan State University’s Graphic Possibilities Research Workshop and co-host of the Graphic Possibilities Podcast. This research workshop and podcast look at comics through two intersecting lenses— critical inquiry and comics pedagogy. Overall, Nicole’s work as the Graphic Possibilities co-lead has impacted the English department’s history of pop culture studies by helping to showcase Afrofuturism in graphic narratives as it is still a growing specialty in the humanities. Further, her work in this leadership role as helped provide information on comics pedagogy for other instructors to more confidently add comics and graphic narratives to their curriculum. Nicole also works as a Graduate Assistant for the Humanities Commons and has served as a teaching assistant for courses in the Integrative Arts and Humanities department as well as she has taught her own course on hauntings in contemporary pop culture within the same department. Her current research centers on Afrofuturism, gender and sexuality, pop culture with a focus on Black women in horror and fantasy, and Digital Humanities methods.
Jax Kynn
Jax Kynn (they/them) is a third-year PhD student in Michigan State University’s school of social work, in addition to working as part of the Consortium on Sexual and Gender Minority Health administrative team and Drs. McCauley and Smith-Darden’s SPARK lab coordinator. Their work focuses on connecting subjects, theories, and ideas that are normally siloed; Jax sees their work as means to challenge traditional ways of knowing and conducting research that dominate academia. In their work, Jax’s approach emphasizes team science, lifting individuals up, building on strengths, and trying new ideas with the goal to make their research approachable and translatable. Jax is currently working on several projects to create podcasts that would help to give communities opportunities to share their lived experiences and scholars a platform to share research with wider audiences. Their background in policy evaluation informs their research which interrogates systemic oppression as it manifests through inter-institutional practices and policies to promote systems to change. Overall, their goal is to empower communities, support other scholars in their field, and work to hold institutions accountable for the harm they cause.
Ana-Maria Raicu
Ana-Maria Raicu is a PhD candidate in the Cell and Molecular Biology Program, studying mechanisms of transcriptional regulation using the fruit fly model system. As a graduate student at MSU, she was involved in a variety of ways in the lab, on campus, and at the national level. Aside from conducting research and teaching, she became a student leader within the fly community, which consists of researchers that use the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) model system to study diverse biological processes. She was selected as the Graduate Student Representative on the National FlyBoard, which is an executive board of Drosophila experts in North America that is focused on addressing issues relevant to the community. In this position, she conducted a survey of graduate student needs, improved resources for trainees that are new to the model system, served on committees to distribute awards for Drosophila training across the world, and engaged with peers at various conferences across the US. This experience was a wonderful complement to her local training of junior researchers in the lab, and made her appreciative of the wonderful community she become a part of.
Jesenia Rosales
Jesenia Rosales (she/her/hers/ella) is a PhD candidate in the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education program at Michigan State University (MSU). She is also a Chicano/Latino Studies certificate student at MSU. Jesenia received her B.A. in Psychology & Hispanic Studies and minors in Studio Art & Latin American Studies from Wheaton College. She earned a M.Ed. in Postsecondary Administration & Student Affairs at the University of Southern California. Jesenia began her professional experience in education as a secondary education teacher and later transitioned to a career in student affairs, specifically in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Jesenia’s research interests includes the professoriate, organizational equity, critical whiteness studies, computer science spaces, and arts based methods.
Briana Williams
Briana Williams is a Ph.D. Candidate in the School Psychology program at Michigan State University, studying evidence-based interventions to support young children’s social-emotional development and parental factors that influence children’s social-emotional development in early childhood. Throughout her doctoral experience, Briana is most proud of her leadership involvement at the national level, supporting graduate students as a Graduate Student Leader for the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), a member of the Convention Committee for the American Psychological Association for Graduate Students (APAGS), and a 2023 fellow for the Leadership Education to Advance Diversity (LEAD) Institute. Within the MSU community, Briana has served as the chair for MSU’s chapter of Student Affiliates in School Psychology (SASP) and the co-chair for the School Psychology Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Her passion for supporting graduate students’ needs and professional development is reflected in her leadership experience. As a leader in her discipline, Briana has enjoyed mentoring undergraduate and graduate students and collaborating with psychologists at the national level to influence programming created to support future psychologists. After obtaining her degree, Briana hopes to continue directly supporting graduate students’ professional development throughout their training and beyond.
