PSU's 2024 Research Award Recipients

Birol Yeşilada is a professor of Political Science and International Studies in the Hatfield School of Government, and is the founding director of the Oregon Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. His current research projects focus on power transition, cybersecurity/cyber defense policy, the European Union, and a world values survey.

Karen Haley is a professor in the Postsecondary, Adult, and Continuing Education (PACE) program in the Graduate School of Education. Her primary research interests are student learning within a student affairs context, graduate student development, and postdoctoral scholar and faculty career paths.

Bill Griesar, PhD, is a Teaching Assistant Professor in Psychology and co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at PSU, founder and Neuroscience Coordinator of Northwest Noggin, and Affiliate Graduate Faculty in Behavioral & Systems Neuroscience at OHSU. 

Fang Song is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at Portland State University. His research explores the intersection of cryptography, quantum computing and theoretical computer science. 

Papireddy Kancharla is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry. Dr. Kancharla’s current research focuses on discovery and development of new, safe and affordable medicines for the prevention and treatment of various human diseases from synthetic and natural sources.

Becca Lockwood is a Sponsored Projects Officer. She supports research at PSU by leading a team of Departmental Research Administrators and Grants & Agreements Analysts who assist principal investigators in several units, including the University Centers, Global Diversity & Inclusion, Academic Affairs, and College of the Arts.

Alida Cantor is an Associate Professor of Geography in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Her research applies theories of critical legal geography, political ecology, and environmental justice to applied problems of water resource  governance and how water management can be more sustainable and equitable.

Rana Yaghmaian is an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Counselor Education. Rana's research focuses on the psychosocial experiences of people with disability at the intersection of race, gender, disability, and sexuality.

Alison Heryer is an interdisciplinary artist whose work combines dress, performance, and social practice. A costume designer, Alison's research focuses on sustainable and inclusive approaches to costuming for the body for various narrative contexts in entertainment, fashion, and contemporary art.

Lindsay Benstead is Professor of Politics and Global Studies and Director of the Middle East Studies Center in the College of Urban and Public Affairs. Her research interests include identity politics, politics and gender, and public opinion and survey methodology.

Raúl Bayoán Cal is currently the Daimler Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering in the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science. His research interests include understanding fluid flow phenomena as it relates to physical systems such as turbulence.

Neal Wallace is a professor of Health Systems Management and Policy in the School of Public Health, and a health economist whose research focuses on quantitative evaluation of large-scale health and mental health policy and system interventions using state-of-the-art research designs. 

Marta's Stelmaszak Rosa is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems and Daimler Truck Professor of Analytics in the School of Business. Marta’s key research interests concern data science and analytics, and their responsible, sustainable, and ethical management in organizations.

Matthew Town is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a Two-Spirit scholar, a behavioral scientist, and an advocate for social justice in health. Town's ongoing scholarly interests include stress coping processes, resilience, prevention research, Indigenous health, HIV/STIs, health care services research, and substance use.

Amy Borden is an Associate Professor of Humanities and Film Studies. She specializes in fin-de-siecle and Gilded Age visual culture, silent film history, classical film theory, gender and cinema, and undergraduate writing practices.