Doctoral Candidates
Erika Carpenter (she/her)
Erika Carpenter is a doctoral candidate in the Sociology Department. Her research interests include sexual health education, sexual violence prevention, and qualitative methods. She is committed to community-based research, particularly with youth and youth-serving organizations, and works to that end as a research contractor and evaluator. Erika is currently conducting qualitative research for her dissertation titled, “Comprehensive Sex Ed as Violence Prevention? Oregon Public High School Students Experiences of Safety.” Erika also teaches Human Sexuality as an adjunct faculty member in the Sociology Department at Virginia Commonwealth University. She can be reached at ec24@pdx.edu.
Anne Johnson
Anne Johnson is a graduate student and graduate teaching assistant in the Sociology Ph.D. Program. She has an M.A in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research interests include medical sociology and queer theory. Anne’s current research is concerned with improving common medical spaces, most specifically the blood draw. You can reach Anne at aj36@pdx.edu.
Tasha Lane
Tasha is a doctoral candidate in the Sociology Department. Her research interests include crime, law, and deviance, sociology of law, the U.S. court system and juries. Her current research focuses on gender in the jury selection process. She is a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Sociology Department. You can reach Tasha at ltasha@pdx.edu.
Daniel Mackin Freeman
Daniel is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. His research interests include educational inequality, arts education, and quantitative methods. His current research is focused on how the relationship between fine arts education and mathematics achievement in high school varies by student socioeconomic status. Currently, Daniel works as a Graduate Research Assistant working with Dr. Dara Shifrer on investigating STEM educational disparities in the US. Daniel can be reached at dmackin@pdx.edu.
Rebeca Petean
Rebeca is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. She earned her B.A in Criminology and Criminal Justice, M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Graduate Certification in Teaching Adult Learners from Portland State University. She has served as both a Graduate Research Assistant and Online Course Facilitator for the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at Portland State University. Currently, as a Sociology Ph.D. student, her research focus includes legal, political, and social effects of drug addiction, drug policy as well as community policing across urban neighborhoods. Rebeca is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Sigma Upsilon Chapter and the Criminology and Portland State University Criminal Justice Honor Society. She can be contacted at rpetean@pdx.edu.
Kaz Seko
Kaz is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. His research interests include sociology of sex and gender, especially transgender people, and sociology of education. His current dissertation project examines the experiences of faculty, students, and committee members who taught, learned, and implemented the Race and Ethnic Studies Requirement. You can reach Kaz at kseko@pdx.edu.
Wynn Strange
Wynn Strange (they/them) attended community college in CA before they received their B.A. in Sociology from California State University Chico and their M.A. in Sociology from Dan Diego State University; they are currently a PhD candidate in Sociology. Their dissertation is titled, "Paradoxes of recognition: Implications of legal gender and name changes and the legal consciousness of nonbinary folx." Wynn uses critical theories including queer, critical race, and decolonial theories in their areas of research in gender and sexuality, law and policy, identity, and popular culture, They participated in research at SDSU on labor violations in San Diego and Imperial counties, and at PSY on the legal needs of low-income Oregonians. They are co-author on six publications from their two years working in health services research at the Portland VA. They are currently an adjunct instructor at Pacific University PSU, and Linfield University. They have prepared eleven unique courses for these universities including Gender and Sexuality in Public Health; Program Development and Evaluation; Social Foundations of Public Health; Intro to Sociology; Hate Crimes; Medicine and Culture; and Crime, Deviance and Social Control. Wynn taught Alcohol and Other Drugs and Introduction to Sociology through the PSU Higher Education in Prison program at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. Wynn was a recipient of the 2021 Department of Sociology Outstanding Graduate Student Award and received a research enhancement award from Pacific University in 2022. In addition to their research and teaching, Wynn is involved in service work with Sociologists for Trans Justice. Through S4TJ Wynn has organized several research and writing support-oriented events. You can reach Wynn at wstrange@pdx.edu.
Ned Tilbrook
Ned is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. His primary research interests are higher education, stratification, and work. Ned uses a variety of methods, and is working on the proposal for a sequential mixed-methods dissertation project examining stratification within higher education. You can reach Ned at til@pdx.edu.
Seventh Year Ph.D. Students
Nate Parsons
Nate is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. His research and teaching interests include sociology of place, suicide, and social integration. An expert in quantitative methods, Nate enjoys exploring the boundaries of computational sociological methodology and data integration. Nate’s current research focuses on the effects of place on suicide rate, examining the ephemeral social aspects that tie individuals together into communities. As well as teaching methods labs as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, Nate is a Senior Research Assistant with the Veterans Administration Evidence Synthesis Program Coordinating Center and is currently Vice President of Politics with the Graduate Employees Union at PSU. Nate can be reached at nparsons@pdx.edu.
Fifth-Year Ph.D. Students
Ahmed Almousa
Ahmed is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D program. He is a teaching assistant for the Sociology Department at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ahmed’s research and teaching interests include race, gender and class. His research focuses specifically on women in the workplace. Ahmed is a member of the American Sociology Association. You can reach Ahmed at almous2@pdx.edu.
Hannah Sean Ellefritz
Hannah Sean is a Ph.D. student and research assistant in the Department of Sociology. In the 2021-2022 school year, she served as the department’s Graduate Student Representative and received the award for PSU Sociology Department’s Most Outstanding Teaching Assistant. She also successfully defended her master’s thesis that spring, exploring differences in teachers’ job satisfaction across schools with and without instructional autonomy. For her dissertation research, Hannah Sean maintains a steadfast interest in educational inequities, specifically focusing on pedagogy and the experiences of educators. She welcomes communication and can be reached at ellef@pdx.edu.
Andrea M Garrity
Andrea is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. Andrea’s research interests are within the sociology of education and includes higher education and the connection between education and social mobility. Andrea’s current thesis focuses on the relationship between those who leave college without a degree and the student experience. She is privileged to work in the Office of Student Success within the Office of Academic Affairs at PSU and serves as the program manager for Students First which is aimed at improving student success outcomes and the student experience at PSU. Andrea is also an advocate for basic needs support for college students and is working as part of a team to study and further scale the basic needs ecosystem at PSU through the Hope Center’s Institutional Capacity Building Cohort. Please be in touch at agarrity@pdx.edu.
Rachel Springer
Rachel is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology Department. She has an M.S. in Statistics from Portland State University and works as a biostatistician in the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. She also is a Social Science Fellow with the US Forest Service. Her research interests include environmental sociology, the sociology of disasters, the sociology of risk, and medical sociology. You can reach Rachel at rs4@pdx.edu.
Dani Standridge
Dani is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology Department. She has an M.S. in Sociology from Portland State University and an MPH in Epidemiology from Oregon State University. Formerly a health insurance specialist at the Center for Medicare, she now works as a program analyst with the National Institutes of Health. Her research interests include medical sociology, health insurance policy issues, and military veterans. You can reach Dani at standrid@pdx.edu.
Kaitlin Yeomans
Kaitlin (she/her) is currently a graduate student in the Sociology department at Portland State. She is currently serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA member with a community mental health organization in Portland, OR. Her research areas of interest include environment, education, and health. Her current dissertation project focuses on the intersections of environmental justice, mental health care, and technology. Kaitlin’s teaching interests include sociological theory, the sociology of health and illness, and sociolinguistics. You can reach Kaitlin at kry@pdx.edu. Please be in contact!
Fourth-Year Ph.D. Students
Andrea Baron
Andrea is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Sociology Department and works as a Research Associate in the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. Andrea received her MPH in 2016 and conducts research on healthcare transformation and policy related to Substance Use Disorder (SUD). She has expertise in qualitative research and mixed methods and is interested in medical sociology. Some recent publications include: Effective Facilitator Strategies for Supporting Primary Care Practice Change A Mixed Methods Study, Effects of practice turnover on primary care quality improvement implementation, and Feasibility of using a community-supported agriculture program to increase access to and intake of vegetables among federally qualified health center patients. For more information see her OHSU profile. You can reach Andrea at baron2@pdx.edu.
Josiah Colbert
Josiah “Josi” Colbert is a Ph.D. student and graduate teaching assistant for the Sociology Department. Josiah’s research interests include Technology, Inequality, and Domination. Josiah’s dissertation is supervised by Dr. Jose Padin. They are currently a graduate student representative and can be reached at colber2@pdx.edu.
Third-Year Ph.D. Students
Alexis Lisandro Guizar Diaz
Alexis Lisandro Guizar Diaz is a third-year student in the Sociology Ph.D. program and a current Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Sociology Department. His research interests broadly revolve around environmental sociology, political ecology, rural & agrarian communities, water, agriculture, and Latinx populations. His most recent project explored the social and economic effects of groundwater depletion in Washington state's Columbia River basin. Alexis also serves as the interim president of the Graduate Employees Union of PSU and as the field department manager for Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), Oregon’s largest farmworker and Latinx advocacy organization. You can reach Alexis at guizar@pdx.edu.
Hima Vedantham
Hima is a graduate student and teaching assistant in the Sociology Ph.D. program. Their primary research interests straddle the borders between medical sociology, communication sociology, and public health; they are particularly focused on the sociopolitical determinants of vaccine hesitancy and distrust. Hima can be reached by e-mail at hima2@pdx.edu.
Second-Year Ph.D. Students
June Jenkins
June is currently a graduate student in the sociology Ph.D. program and a graduate teaching assistant in the sociology department. Her research interests include crime law, and deviance and their intersection with class, power and inequality. She is currently working on research looking at employment for individuals exiting prison. Her thesis advisor is Dr. Melissa Thompson. June can be reached at junj2@pdx.edu
Camila Swift
Camila is a second-year student in the Sociology Ph.D. program and a current Graduate Assistant for the DICE PLUSS Special Education Program housed in the College of Education at Portland State University. Camila’s interests are in sex, gender, sexuality, Arabian cultures, Latin American cultures, and wealth. She is a mixed methods researcher with extensive experience conducting interviews, focus groups and using SPSS and STATA for quantitative analysis. Her Thesis committee includes Dr. Amy Lubitow (Chair), Dr. Dara Shifrer, Dr. José Padín. Camila’s thesis is titled “Sex, Sexuality, Gender and Wealth in the Arabian Peninsula.” She may be reached at swiftcam@pdx.edu.
First-Year Ph.D. Students
Madi Lou Alexander
Madi Lou (they/them) is a first-year graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. Their research interests broadly include gender and sexuality studies with an emphasis on transgender joy and resiliency. Madi Lou received their B.S. in Sexuality, Gender, & Queer Studies from Portland State in 2021, and is also pursuing a Certificate in Gender, Race, & Nations. Currently, they work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Sociology department, as well as serving as Student Representative on the Race and Ethnic Studies committee for Portland State. Madi Lou can be reached at xmadi@pdx.edu.
Heather Costa
Heather is currently a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. Program. Her main research interests include social and political polarization, the effects of mass media and pop culture on the perception of transgender people in society and the effect of outside interest groups on the education system. She received her bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in political science from the University of Nevada, Reno. Heather can be reached at heathcos@pdx.edu.
Ian Gustafson
Ian is a first-year student in the Sociology Ph.D. program at PSU. His research interests include Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Education, and Disability. At the core of his research interests is Digital Accessibility. Ian has a background in Mathematics (B.S.), Statistics (GCAS), and Technical Writing (M.S.) and currently works as an Admissions and Transcript Specialist at Mount Hood Community College. Above all, Ian is an optimist and education enthusiast. You can reach Ian at igust2@pdx.edu.
Emmanuel Legarreta
Emmanuel is a first-year graduate student in the Sociology PhD program. He graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health. His main areas of interest include medical sociology, health disparities, and labor movements. He is currently a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Sociology Department and part of the Member Organizing Institute for AFT- Oregon. You can reach Emmanuel at emmalega@pdx.edu.
Gabby Mota
Gabriella Mota is a first-year student in the Sociology PhD Program at Portland State University. She currently holds a position as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Sociology Department. Her research interests include intersectionality, deviance, social mobility, and systems of oppression. Gabby graduated from the University of Portland in May 2022 with a BA in Sociology and a concentration in Criminology. She can be reached at motagab@pdx.edu.
YB Baltier-Moreno
YB (they/them/elles) is a first-year graduate student in the Sociology PhD program. Their research focuses on all types of punitive systems such as the criminal justice system and its impacts on young adults, trans and queer individuals. They have previously done research on transgender asylum seekers and the violence they experience through I.C.E detention and a capstone related to comparing art-based programs within juvenile facilities. Currently, they work with young people in the high school setting and in a “trauma-informed” alternative detention institution. They received their Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, Law, and Society with a minor in Spanish from Pacific University. Their hobbies are art, reading, analyzing films, and being a huge horror Halloween fan. YB can be reached at ybaltier@pdx.edu.
Bodhi Norton
Bodhi Norton (they/them) is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. Their research focuses on drug use, harm reduction, and deviance. Bodhi double-majored in Criminal Justice Studies and Sociology and received their bachelor’s degree from Keene State College in 2021. Bodhi is also a trained Recovery Coach and completed their training in 2019. They can be reached at bknorton@pdx.edu.
Nahal Rastegarpour
Nahal has two Bachelor’s Degrees, one in English Literature and one in sociology (PSU alumni). She is currently a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program and her research interests include Law, Criminology, and Deviance. She is seeking to explore the connection between generational incarceration and how to disrupt the systematic traumatization of BIPOC communities. Nahal hopes to pursue these interests through a mixed-methods approach by using interviewing for first-hand accounts and quantitative data, in order to provide solutions to mass incarceration. From 2022-2023, Nahal worked as a Research Assistant at PSU for the Geography department, aiding Dr. Jola Ajibade, Axcelle Campana, and Kate Gregory in exploring the effects of gentrification on Portland’s BIPOC communities and the lack of ecological equity which they face. During the summer of 2023, Nahal interned for the College to County program, working for the Department of Community Justice through the Stabilization and Readiness Program. Here she was working alongside justice-involved individuals, (probation and parole clients working through Mental Health Court) providing them with services, resources, and support. E-mail: Nahal@pdx.edu. Link to: Nahal's CV
Sri Lakshmi Vedantam
Sri is a first-year graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. Program at Portland State University, with a background in Population Studies, holding an M.Phil. and M.Sc. Her research interests include population dynamics and their implications for development, health, social networks, aging, technology, environment, and inequalities. Her goal is to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable world, harmonizing human society with our environment. Passionate about contributing valuable insights to these societal issues, she is excited to collaborate with the academic community at Portland State University. She can be reached at srilakv@pdx.edu.
Non-Thesis Master's Students
Edison Liang
Edison is currently a graduate student in the Sociology Non-Thesis Master’s program as a participant in the B+M pathway. Edison’s interests include inequality/poverty/mobility, collective behavior/social movements, and social psychology. He can be reached at dliang@pdx.edu.
Frank Stevens
Frank is a graduate student in the Sociology Non-Thesis Master’s program, utilizing the B+M pathway. Frank is interested in education inequalities and the overlap with immigration at the secondary school level. Other interests include transportation, urban studies, legal system inequalities, and immigration. His hobbies include cycling and running in the Portland area. He can be reached at fstevens@pdx.edu.