Hannah Sean is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology. Her research interests include educational equity, student success, institutional processes, and applied education research in local school districts and student-serving programs. Her dissertation, supervised by Dr. Dara Shifrer, is a mixed-methods study examining how student motivations, institutional framing, and career outcomes relate to the broader purpose of STEM doctoral education. Hannah Sean can be reached at ellef@pdx.edu.
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.
Alexis Lisandro Guizar-Díaz (he/him) is a first-generation Chicano scholar, organizer, and doctoral student in Environmental Sociology at Portland State University. He is the son of immigrants from Michoacán and Nayarit, México, and grew up in a working-class, farmworking family in Adams County, Washington.
He currently serves as a political director at Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), a farmworker union and Latinx working-families advocacy organization based in Oregon's Willamette Valley. His work focuses on electoral organizing, political campaigns, and building political power among farmworker and immigrant communities.
His research interests lie at the intersection of environmental sociology, agrarian political economy, and social movements, with particular attention to rural communities and agricultural labor in the Pacific Northwest. Broadly, his scholarship examines how political and economic power shape relationships among land, labor, and the environment, and how communities organize to challenge their conditions.
His earlier work examined the social and economic impacts of groundwater depletion in Washington State's Odessa Aquifer region. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, the project examined how declining groundwater levels affect rural households and communities, as well as the broader social and economic challenges of water scarcity.
His current research examines the historical development of agriculture and farmworker organizing in the Pacific Northwest. As a student of political ecology, he explores how land dispossession, environmental extraction, and racialized labor exploitation have shaped the region's agricultural economy and how farmworker and immigrant justice organizations build collective power to respond to these conditions.
Informed by his lived experiences and involvement in labor and immigrant justice movements, Alexis is committed to producing scholarship that bridges academic research and community organizing. You can reach Alexis at guizar@pdx.edu.
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!
Tamara C. Ogle (she/her) is a Labor and Digital Sociologist and research assistant in the Sociology Department, pursuing her PhD. Her research interests include ageism, misogynoir, immigration, social mobility, social stratification, labor, and political discourse. She holds a BA in Sociology and an MA in Social Research and Data Analysis from Montclair State University. Before academia, she worked in Learning & Development and Data Analysis across Finance and Higher Education, experiences that deepened her understanding of race, gender, and power in workplace settings. Tamara’s research explores how inequality operates across media, education, and the workplace to shape the lives of marginalized communities. She examines how representation, rhetoric, and institutional culture work together to define who belongs, who advances, and who is left behind. By connecting patterns in media discourse, professional life, and digital spaces, her work reveals how performances of inclusion can both mask and reproduce deeper forms of inequality. Tamara can be reached via email here: togle@pdx.edu.
Fourth-Year PhD Students
Madi Lou Abel
Madi Lou Abel (they/them) is Ph.D. student and graduate teaching assistant in the Sociology Department. Having earned their B.S. in Sexuality, Gender, & Queer Studies from Portland State University in 2021, their research interests broadly include gender and sexuality with an emphasis on transgender studies and finding joy while holding a marginalized identity. They completed their Master’s thesis titled "I'm strictly t4t": Trans for Trans Connections in the Contemporary in 2025, focusing on t4t (trans for trans) relationships and how trans* people engage in connection with one another. Madi Lou’s dissertation is supervised by Dr. Emily Fitzgibbons Shafer, in which they aim to continue the work of looking at t4t connections and how trans community shapes identity and emotional outcomes for trans folks. You can reach Madi Lou at xmadi@pdx.edu.
Heather Costa
Heather Costa (she/her) is a fourth-year student in the Sociology PhD Program as well as a graduate teaching assistant. 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. In 2025, she successfully defended her Master’s Thesis “Controlling the Curriculum: A Content Analysis of PragerU’s Children’s Educational Material” and earned her Master’s Degree from Portland State University. Prior to attending PSU, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology with a minor in Political Science from the University of Nevada, Reno. In the 2025-2026 academic year, she taught Chicana-Latina Experiences for the Chicanx-Latinx Studies Department at PSU. Heather can be reached at heathcos@pdx.edu.
Carla Edith Jimena
Carla is a tenured faculty at the University of the Philippines Los Banos and is currently pursuing her graduate doctoral degree in Sociology at Portland State University. She has served as an instructor, adjunct faculty and graduate mentor in University Studies at PSU. She has been actively involved in social science research in various capacities as a project leader, community organizer, social development specialist, team member in several action research in underserved communities in the Philippines. Carla is a believer of authentic learning and community-engaged scholarship. She discourses that knowledge is co-created and co-produced with the local community drawing from their authentic and lived experiences.
Her academic journey is grounded in the disciplines of sociology, human ecology, and development management. Her curiosity centers on analyzing human ecosystems and how the dynamics of power and inequality in communities, institutions and organizations as it interplay with nature, livelihoods and culture. She has led public service, extension and research projects focusing on community engagement and social justice work. She has published articles, agency reports and book chapters in various research and public service themes.
Carla sees herself as a global citizen who is ready to make a positive difference in the lives of many in the world. She has served as a Board Member/ Secretary of the Fulbright Oregon Chapter, a member /Past President of the Rotary Club of Los Banos Makiling and Rotary International. Ms. Carla Gonzales Jimena was a recipient of the Senator William J. Fulbright scholarship and is supported by the Philippine government and Portland State University. She can be reached at cjimena@pdx.edu.
Gabriella Mota
Gabriella Mota is a fourth-year student in the Sociology PhD Program at Portland State University. She currently serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Sociology Department and the 2026-2027 Graduate Student Representative on the Race and Ethnic Studies Requirement (RESR) Committee. Her research interests include Political Sociology, Intersectionality, and Race, Ethnicity, and Identity. She completed her Master’s Thesis, “The Social and Political Identities of Latine Republicans in the U.S.”, at Portland State University in 2025, supervised by Dr. José Padín. Gabby currently holds an MS in Sociology and a BA in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology. She can be reached at motagab@pdx.edu.
Sri Lakshmi Vedantam
Srilakshmi Vedantam (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology Department at Portland State University. Her research interests include medical sociology, aging and the life course, population health, social stratification, and digital inequality, with a particular focus on technological aging. Her current research examines how technological change intersects with health, socioeconomic resources, and social relationships to shape adaptation and inequality in later life. She uses quantitative, computational, and mixed-methods approaches in her research. Her academic background includes training in statistics and population studies/demography, with an M.Sc. and M.Phil. in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences in Mumbai, India. Her dissertation research is supervised by Dr. Hyeyoung Woo. She can be reached at srilakv@pdx.edu.
Third-Year PhD Students
Celeste Janssen
Celeste Janssen (she/her) is a third-year student in PSU’s Sociology program. Her research interests include youth development, youth voice and empowerment, and the role of adults in youth development programs. She works at Oregon State University Extension as the Research Coordinator for 4-H. She received her Bachelor’s from UC Berkeley. Celeste can be reached at cjanssen@pdx.edu.
Clover Javurek-Humig
Clover Javurek-Humig is a third-year student in the Ph.D in Sociology program at Portland State University. Their research interests include Crime, Law, and Deviance; Collective Behavior and Social Movements; and Inequality, Poverty, and Social Mobility. Clover’s current research focuses on the impact of encampment evictions on unhoused communities and predictors of the criminalization of homelessness in U.S. cities.
In 2026, Clover attained their M.S. in Sociology. Their Master’s Thesis considers the impact of encampment evictions on mixed-housing status mutual aid groups in Portland, OR; supervised by Dr. Melissa Thompson. They currently work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Sociology Department. Clover can be reached at javur2@pdx.edu.
Nahal Rastegarpour
Nahal Rastegarpour is currently a third-year student in the Sociology PhD program at Portland State University. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and a Master of Science in Sociology. Some of her graduate level accomplishments include being elected as the Sociology Department’s Graduate Student Representative for the 2024-2025 school year, winning the Virginia Cain Endowment Award for 2025, and being selected for membership to the academic achievement honor society Phi Kappa Phi. Her research interests include law, criminology, and deviance, with an emphasis on exploring the nature of police misconduct, along with the many factors which influence legal and social justice on behalf of victims of state violence. She is currently working on publishing iterations of her master’s thesis project entitled “‘This Revolution Been Televised’: Media as a Tool of Justice and an Apparatus of State Violence.” This mixed methods project focuses on cases of fatal encounters and explores the quantitative relationships between social advocacy and police accountability, while qualitatively analyzing the state’s media representation of victims through the framework of neutralization theory. Currently Nahal is on a temporary leave of absence where she plans to focus primarily on publishing, attending conferences, and expanding her completely original data set and codebook. You can reach Nahal at either Nahal.r1989@gmail.com OR Nahal@pdx.edu.
Eiryn Renouard
Eiryn Renouard is a policing scholar in her third year of the Sociology PhD program at Portland State University. Her research focuses on police agency culture and identifying roots of officer behavior. She received her Masters’ degree from PSU in 2026. For her thesis, she conducted a case study of Portland Police Bureau’s drone program, examining how the program’s introduction into the bureau has impacted its social and behavioral structures.
Eiryn received her bachelor's degree in 2019 from Gonzaga University where she triple-majored in Sociology, English, and Economics. She worked at the National Policing Institute in Washington D.C. from 2019-2025, where she co-authored publications on the impacts of police culture, firearms regulations, and community-police relationships. She currently holds a Teaching Assistant position in the Sociology Department and conducts data management work with PSU’s Campus Public Safety Office. Eiryn can be reached at eirynr@pdx.edu.
Second-Year PhD Students
Kate Bird
Katherine (Kate) Bird is currently a second year graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. Program. Her Bachelor of Arts is also in Sociology which she received from Oakland University in May 2025. Her research interests include the Sociology of Sex and Gender and the Sociology of Sexuality. In 2023 she won the Sociology Departmental Paper Award at Oakland University for her article Lesbian Tropes: An Analysis Through the Lens of the Sociology of Gender. Her capstone research was Lost & Found: A Qualitative Study on Queer Students’ Relationships During the Transition Out of College.
If you wish to contact her she can be reached at katebird@pdx.edu and her LinkedIn can be found at www.linkedin.com/in/katherineclairebird.
Iris S. De Lis, M.S.
Iris S. De Lis (they/them) is a second year PhD student studying the sociology of higher education at Portland State University, with a focus on postsecondary learning assessment and how it can be reimagined to be more equitable, effective, and accessible for all. Iris is an interdisciplinary scholar with a master's degree in Educational Leadership and Policy, with a focus on Postsecondary Adult and Continuing Education—the theory and practice of how adults learn. For their undergraduate work, Iris studied sexuality, gender, and queer studies, as well as the Spanish language. You can reach Iris at isd@pdx.edu.
Max Fassnacht
Max Fassnacht (he/him) is a graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program at Portland State University. His research interests are gender, sexuality, and the environment. His current research focuses on queer, clothing-optional beaches such as Rooster Rock and Collins Beach. He has a Master’s Degree in History from the University of British Columbia. His thesis on queer spiritualities in Weimar Germany can be read here. His article in Journal of Homosexuality on Back to Nature Groups in Weimar Germany’s gay rights movement can be accessed here. You can reach Max at mafass@pdx.edu.
Suzy Pappas
Photo Credit: Suzy Pappas
Suzy (she/they) is currently a second year graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. She began her educational journey in Child Development and Family Studies, spending years as a teacher and advocate within classroom environments. She returned to university and completed her BA in Sociology with a minor in Psychology at Portland State University in 2024. During this time, she worked as a Research Assistant supporting research of School-Based Health Centers across Oregon, co-authoring the publication School-Based Health Centers and Mental Health Stigma Before and During the Pandemic. Her research interests broadly focus on educational and health inequities, with emphasis on the influence and outcomes of institutional power over disabled people. When not working on research, Suzy can still be found serving her community as an educator in various capacities. She can be reached at suzy.pappas@pdx.edu.
Asif Mahmud (He/Him)
Asif Mahmud is a second-year PhD student in Sociology at Portland State University. His research interests lie at the intersection of environmental sociology with a particular focus on the environmental and social impacts of data center development in Oregon.
His current research focuses on how Oregon news media represent the environmental and social consequences of data center expansion, including energy consumption, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, land use, noise pollution, and other community impacts. More broadly, his research interests include environmental inequality, technology and society, urban development, public policy, and the social consequences of emerging technological infrastructures.
Asif is a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Sociology, where he contributes to undergraduate teaching and student learning. He is particularly interested in helping students connect sociological perspectives to contemporary environmental, technological, and social issues while fostering inclusive and engaging learning environments. During the summer of 2026, Asif served as a Graduate Research Assistant with Dr. Daniel Jaffee, contributing to faculty-led research and gaining additional experience in sociological research and analysis.
Alongside his academic and research work, Asif is deeply engaged in the Portland State University community. He has served as the Operational Director of the Organization Budget Council (OBC), where he advised student organizations and contributed to the management and allocation of student organization funding. He currently serves as an International Student Mentor through the Office of International Students and Scholars, supporting newly arriving international students as they transition to PSU and life in the United States. He also serves as a member of the Student Health Advisory Board and as a Blanchet House Lead with the Student Community Engagement Center, where he helps coordinate student volunteer engagement and community service supporting people experiencing homelessness in the Portland community.
Beyond Portland State, Asif is actively involved in civic and community leadership. In 2026, he was selected as a recipient of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA), joining a cohort of 28 emerging young leaders from across Oregon. Through RYLA, he participated in leadership development, community engagement, and collaborative service activities. He is also involved with the East Portland Rotary Club, continuing his commitment to community service and civic engagement. You can reach Asif Mahmud via asifm@pdx.edu.
Ally Tippery (she/her)
Allison (Ally) Tippery is currently a second year graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from UC Berkeley. Ally’s research interest is the sociology of mental health – more specifically, she would like to study modern and non-traditional mental health therapies that have emerged since the Covid-19 pandemic. Aside from being a graduate student, Ally is also a qualitative research manager for a public health research company. She loves moderating focus groups, conducting in-depth interviews, leading study design, and analyzing qualitative data. You can reach Ally at atippery@pdx.edu.
Delaney Ybarra
Delaney (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at Portland State University and serves as the Program Director for PSU’s ACCE Program. Her research explores the intersections of language, power, and belonging, especially within higher education. Currently, her work focuses on the societal consequences of monolingualism in the United States. Delaney also holds a Master’s degree in TESOL from Portland State University, where she was awarded the James R. Nattinger Scholarship in Applied Linguistics in 2021. She has published several works on higher education, including “Improving Student Support on a Decentralized Campus”. You can reach Delaney at delaney8@pdx.edu.
First-Year PhD Students
Brandi Cole (they/she)
Brandi is a first year graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. Program. They are also a graduate teaching assistant for the Sociology department. Brandi received their B.A. of Sociology, summa cum laude, with minors in environmental science and sustainable development from Washington State University.
Brandi’s research interests include environmental and political sociology with a focus on climate change and sustainability, land use, and food security and agriculture at the intersection of politics and policy, particularly civic engagement, social movements, and public involvement in governance and policymaking. They are interested in how systems and structures maintain inequality and unsustainability, and how education and awareness translates into social action like social movements, public involvement, and policy development to challenge and transform these systems.
You can reach Brandi at brandico@pdx.edu.
Amani Odeh
Amani Odeh is a first-year PhD student specializing in crime, law, and deviance. She holds a masters degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice and a BA in CCJ both from Portland State University. Amani's master's thesis titles "Navigating Sovereignty and Human Rights: A Legal Analysis of Palestinian Detention Under Israeli Jurisdiction in Comparison to International Law", She examined Israeli detention practices in relation to domestic legislation and international human rights standards; have a read if you're interested.
Amani's academic and research interests include criminology, criminal justice reform, international human rights, social inequality, and the relationship between law, crime, and society; broader interests also include cross-national comparisons of legal systems, human rights protections, and the social factors that influence perceptions of criminality and justice. You can reach Amani at oamani@pdx.edu.
Brie Kruger
Brie is a first-year graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program at Portland State University. She currently holds a position as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Sociology Department. Brie’s research interests include Aging, Well-being, End of Life and Religion. She is interested in exploring how larger systemic forces impact people’s well-being as they age and approach end of life. She is also interested in how religious beliefs influence health-related behavior. Brie has a background working in Palliative Care and Hospice as a board-certified clinical healthcare chaplain. Professionally, she remains involved in spiritual care research in the healthcare setting (see recent publication.) She has a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Music degree from University of the Pacific. You can reach Brie at bkruger@pdx.edu.
Nate Tatem
Nate Tatem is a first-year graduate student in the Sociology Ph.D. program at Portland State University. They earned a B.A. in Sociology and a Certificate in Social Science Data Analysis from Western Washington University (2024).
Nate’s primary academic motivation is to investigate and challenge material injustice and institutional harm. Their research interests span psychedelics and substance use; public health and health disparities; deviance, social control, social movements, and political change; quantitative methods and demography; cognition and consciousness; and epistemology and the sociology of knowledge/science.
Nate is developing a manuscript titled Tripping Hazard: Psychedelic User Typologies and Differential Risks of Health-Related Outcomes. Nate co-authored Photo Portraiture Enhances Empathy for Birds with Potential Benefits for Conservation and Sustainability (2025).
For Nate’s contact information, CV, and music/art projects >> https://natetatem.com
Pronouns: they/he/she (no preference)
Non-Thesis Master's Students
Tyler Ashby
Tyler is a first year student in Sociology Non-Thesis M.S. program. His areas of interest include urban sociology, housing and homelessness, and tenant unions. He is also an active member of DSA in Portland and volunteers as the secretary for its housing working group. You can reach Tyler at tashby@pdx.edu.
Kelly Gray
Kelly is currently a graduate student in the Sociology Non-Thesis MS program. She is a researcher at Portland State University with experience in survey research and the evaluation of human services programs throughout Oregon. She particularly enjoys doing this work with mental health and addiction treatment providers. You can reach Kelly at kellgray@pdx.edu.
B+M Students
Phoebe VanHook (she/her)
Phoebe (she/her) is enrolled in the Sociology Bachelor's Plus Master’s program at Portland State University and is entering her second year. Phoebe’s research interests include Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility; and Animals and Society. More specifically, she is interested in restorative justice, especially regarding youth populations, health equity, and human-wildlife coexistence. You can reach Phoebe at phoeb6@pdx.edu.