Impact — Summer 2023

About the Authors and Editors

Michael D. Mroz is a learning designer and graduate student in the School of Education at the University of Illinois Springfield. He taught for almost a decade as a secondary school music teacher, combining musical content with themes from ELA and STEM. For many years, he ran an organization, which used insights from the field of music psychology to teach instrumental performance. He has written on the intersection of music and science for the Oxford-based, sci-arts journal, Seisma Magazine. Additional areas of broad academic interest include biomusicology, cognitive linguistics, and philosophy of mind.

Vernon L. Scarborough is Distinguished University Research Professor and Charles Phelps Taft Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Cincinnati–and now Emeritus. His work emphasizes sustainability and global water systems. By examining past engineered landscapes, he addresses both ancient and contemporary societal issues from a comparative ecological and transdisciplinary perspective. Geographically, his published work includes studies about the U.S. Southwest, Guatemala, Belize, Indonesia, Greece, Pakistan, and Sudan. He has published nine books— including seven edited volumes (one more in press) –and over 150 book chapters and journal articles, the latter inclusive of SCIENCE, PNAS, and American Antiquity. His most recent field work has been at Tikal, Guatemala and Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

Ann Scheunemann, PhD, is a Fogarty postdoctoral fellow with the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. She received her PhD from the Department of Psychology at North Carolina State University, with a focus on applied social and community psychology. Her research interests include fostering resilience to support wellbeing in underserved populations.

C. Mike Smith is a Lecturer at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. He received his PhD in Resource Management from Virginia Tech and is also a CFP® professional. He regularly teaches classes in personal finance, investments, and leadership but has also taught courses in business strategy, organizational behavior, teamwork, conflict resolution, and risk management. He specializes in research designed to aid in the decision-making of educators and personal financial planning professionals. He is the author of the textbook, Investments: Fundamental Theory and Practice.

Scott Tulloch is an Associate Professor in the Speech, Communication, and Theatre Arts Department at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Scott earned a PhD in Rhetoric and Public Communication from Georgia State University and an M.A. in Communication Studies from The University of Maine. Scott’s current research interests include rhetorical theory and criticism, trauma-informed pedagogy, and integration of mindfulness practices into gateway courses.

Cheryl Weiner, MPH, PhD is a Girls’ studies scholar whose work focuses on Jewish girlhood studies and girls’ activism. She has spent more than twenty years working with girls in informal education contexts, developing curriculum, and working with college students to develop girls’ groups through The Girlhood Project at Lesley University.