TEDxPSU

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Charlene Gross

  Charlene Gross is an Associate Professor of Costume Design & Director of the Fashion Archive at the Pennsylvania State University's School of Theatre in the College of Arts & Architecture. As a professional costume designer with more than 200 designs to her name, Charlene is a fierce advocate of collaboration from the beginning to the end of the design process, in her research, & in the classroom. Collaboration is where creativity emerges. She believes a solid foundation in traditional design skills married with an openness to incorporate new technologies will enhance both designs and collaborations. As Director the School of Theatre's Fashion Archive, she works closely with the Center of Virtual/ Material Studies on curating a hands-on teaching archive alongside an open resource in fashion studies using new technologies to provide open, equitable access to all.

• Cyanne Loyle

  Cyanne E. Loyle is the Board of Visitors Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the Pennsylvania State University and a Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Her research is motivated by a desire to better understand and contribute to the prevention of violent conflict. To advance this end, Dr. Loyle studies the use and misuse of judicial institutions by governments and armed non-state actors to hold human rights violators to account, punish political enemies, and consolidate power. Her book, Escaping Justice: Impunity of State Crimes in the Age of Accountability, tackles big questions about how powerful nations violate human rights yet often escape punishment for those crimes. Dr. Loyle has been invited to present her work to the U.S. State Department, U.S. Department of Defense, the United Nations, and the World Bank. She co-hosts the Democracy Works podcast, a collaboration between the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and WPSU at Penn State.

• Gillian Russell

  Gillian is an assistant research professor in the Penn State Abington Criminal Justice Research Center. Gillian holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of British Columbia Okanagan, an MSc in Psychology from the University of Lethbridge, and is completing her PhD in Evolution and Behaviour at the University of Lethbridge. Her research has primarily focused on how cognitions influence addictive behaviors, with a particular focus on gambling. Through Penn State she is currently managing the Interactive Gaming Assessment, a legislated annual assessment of the impacts of legalized online gambling in Pennsylvania.

• James Doyle

  Dr. James Doyle is an archaeologist and museum professional whose curatorial practice activates objects for university teaching, scholarly research, and public education. He has conducted archaeological and conservation fieldwork, organized critically acclaimed and award-winning museum exhibitions, and published widely on the material and visual cultures of the ancient Americas. Currently the Director of the Matson Museum of Anthropology at the Pennsylvania State University, he has held former positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Dumbarton Oaks.

• Jonte Taylor

  Jonte’ C. Taylor (JT), Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Special Education at the Penn State. His research includes examining effective strategies for inclusive STEAM education for students with disabilities, evaluating innovative classroom practices, and improving school/classroom climates. His STEAM scholarship focuses on supporting inquiry-based STEAM instruction for students with disabilities and using research and evidence-based interventions and practices in formal and informal educational settings. His research on innovative classroom practices includes utilizing the Arts, especially the use of Hip-Hop culture and pedagogy, in teaching and learning. Lastly, his school climate work supports emphasizing student/classroom motivation; examining followership/leadership dynamics in K-12 schools; developing student/teacher relationships; and applying justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations through culturally inclusive pedagogies and practices across education.

• Joshua Kellogg

  Joshua Kellogg is an Assistant Professor at the Pennsylvania State University. His highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research focuses on the discovery of new therapeutics from nature, including plants and fungi, targeting both infectious disease and chronic conditions. This work integrates ethnobotanical knowledge, chemistry, biology, pharmacology, botany, and artificial intelligence and machine learning. Dr. Kellogg’s work has implications for treating debilitating infectious diseases and developing new approaches to improve gut health and treat chronic pain. He is a passionate mentor of students and enjoys sharing his love and wonder of science with the public. Kellogg holds a Ph.D. in natural products and nutrition from North Carolina State University, a M.S. in natural resources from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of California Berkeley.

• Kaleb Brownson

  Kaleb Brownson is a self-advocate who attended the Lifelink PSU program at the Penn State and graduated from Worklink PSU, a program that prepares adult students with disabilities for independent living and vocational opportunities. Kaleb is a community advisor and ambassador to the Swallow, Speech, and Language in Individuals with Down Syndrome study with the Penn State College of Health and Human Development. He's played an important role in shaping research protocols and sharing information with potential new participants, offering advice and feedback. Alongside PSU professors Krista Wilkinson and Michele Dunleavy, Kaleb co-led a workshop at the Kennedy Center’s 2024 ED@Lead Conference to advance the full inclusion of people with disabilities in arts and culture. He's a founding member of the For Good Performance Troupe, an ensemble starring individuals with Down syndrome. He has also been working with Mollynook Films founder Matt Wilkinson on filmmaking projects since 2019.

• Lynnzee Brown

  Lynnzee Brown is the first gymnast to represent Haiti in the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. She competed in the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships where her results led to her Olympic berth. Prior to Penn State, Lynnzee was a gymnast at The University of Denver where she was one of the most decorated gymnasts in school history, while obtaining both a bachelor’s degree and her Master of Arts in communication management. Brown was a national champion on the floor exercise, 2x Big 12 gymnast of the year, 2x AAI Award finalist and scored 5 perfect 10’s during her colligate career. Lynnzee is now the assistant gymnastics coach for the Penn State gymnastics team, helping them to a sweet 16 appearance in 2024 and winning the Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year award in the same year.

• Maurie Kelly

  Maurie Kelly is currently the Director of Informatics at Penn State’s Institute of Energy and the Environment, where her research focuses on big data, public access to information, and visualization. She has a particular interest in how data can support hazard and disaster mitigation, resilience, and broader societal challenges. Her longest-running project, Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA)—launched in 1995—provides free public access to geospatial data for millions of users each year. In addition to research, Maurie is deeply engaged in teaching and education. At Penn State, she is an instructor of international business in the Department of Risk Management and an adjunct instructor in the Department of Management at the Smeal College of Business. Maurie holds a Ph.D. in organizational development from Penn State, where her dissertation examined leadership during extreme natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

• Nina Lauharatanahirun

  Dr. Nina Lauharatanahirun is the William and Wendy Korb Early Career Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health at the Pennsylvania State University, where she directs the Decision Neuroscience Laboratory. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Biological Psychology from Virginia Tech and completed post-doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania and United States Army Research Laboratory. Her interdisciplinary research program is focused on understanding the mechanisms subserving decision-making under uncertainty particularly in social environments and within critical periods of development such as adolescence with the goal of improving health and performance. Her research combines the use of computational modeling, behavioral economics, and functional neuroimaging (fMRI/EEG) and has been published in high-impact scientific outlets such as Nature, PNAS, and Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

• Sofia Hoffman

  Sofia Hoffman is a fourth-year Millennium and Schreyer Scholar at the Pennsylvania State University, studying Environmental Systems Engineering. She is interested in the intersection of public health and environmental engineering and hopes to use her work to empower community relationships. Her research focuses on participatory mapping and environmental assessment of total petroleum hydrocarbons and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance exposure in Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Sofia serves as President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the largest Latino organization on campus, and mentors students through the Multicultural Engineering and Millennium Scholars Program. At her core, she believes in the power of community and connection. She approaches both her work and life with curiosity, always eager to learn from others and find ways to make a meaningful impact.