Schmidt College of Science Welcomes 31 New Faculty, Instructors, and Postdoctoral Fellows

The Charles E. Schmidt College of Science is pleased to welcome 14 new tenure-track faculty, ten new instructors and non-tenure track faculty, and seven new postdoctoral fellows for the 2023-2024 academic year. The new faculty hires are the result of a year-long, strategic hiring initiative that aims to expand three key research and academic areas — the environment, health, and computational and data science.

“I’m delighted to welcome our talented new colleagues and collaborators to the College,” said Dean of the Schmidt College of Science, Valery Forbes, Ph.D. “The three strategic areas we focused on for the hiring initiative benefit each academic department in the College and strengthen our research and educational mission. I’m looking forward to what promises to be an exciting academic year.”

The hiring of faculty who are experts in the environmental sciences also supports the newly created  FAU School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability (ECOS), a partnership between the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. The School will coordinate and elevate the University’s work on pressing environmental topics facing South Florida and the world, and stimulate transformational interdisciplinary research, teaching, and community engagement initiatives.

In alignment with University-wide efforts to strengthen health research and partnerships, the College’s health initiative aims to protect and improve human health on a local and regional scale. Health-related research in the Schmidt College of Science reflects a diverse range of interests and expertise, including interdisciplinary themes focused on neuroscience, cancer, obesity, healthy aging, and neurodegenerative diseases, among others.

Data-intensive, computational methods have emerged as a key enabler of scientific discovery in recent years. The College’s computational and data science focus leverages FAU’s dynamic scholar-educators to meet the opportunities and challenges posed by the scientific data revolution. This group of faculty and students spans multiple FAU departments, centers, institutes, and colleges, who align for stronger education and research efforts and opportunities related to data science, cryptography and information security, neuroscience, complex systems, and computational science.

New Tenure-Track Faculty (all assistant professors)

Environment

Vanessa Fernandes, Microbial Ecology
Department of Biological Sciences, Davie campus

Jacob Francis, Ecology/Landscape Ecology
Department of Biological Sciences, Davie campus

Melina Matos, Urban Planning and Environmental Design
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Boca Raton campus

Stephanie Wakefield, Urban Planning and Environmental Design
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Boca Raton campus

Oscar Alejandro Eleuy Young, Wildlife Disease Ecology
Department of Biological Sciences, Boca Raton campus

Xiaolang Zhang, Hydrogeology
Department of Geosciences, Davie campus

Yijie Zhu, Climate Science
Department of Geosciences, Boca Raton campus

Health

Ashley Artese, Health Behavioral Science
Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion, Boca Raton campus

Brandon Fico, Cardiovascular Science
Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion, Boca Raton campus

Rodrigo de Oliveira Pena, Computational Neuroscience
Department of Biological Sciences, Jupiter campus

Sam Xie, Bioinorganic Chemistry
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boca Raton campus

Computational/Data Science

Parker Edwards, Computational/Data Science
Department of Mathematical Sciences, Boca Raton campus

Han Fu, Computational Physics
Department of Physics, Boca Raton campus

Yichen Hu, Computational Physics
Department of Physics, Boca Raton campus

New Instructors & Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Matthew Edwards, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences

Donella Beckwith, Instructor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Hadi Mohammadi Gorak, Instructor, Department of Physics

Harsha Nawarathna, Instructor, Department of Mathematical Sciences

Susan Nortstrom, Visiting Instructor, Department of Psychology

Joshua Scholl, Instructor, Department of Biological Sciences

Elizabeth Starling, Instructor, Department of Physics

Paula Andrea Faria Waziry, Instructor, Department of Biological Sciences

Erin Williams, Instructor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Yin Zhijun, Instructor, Department of Mathematical Sciences

New Postdoctoral Fellows

Jorge Gonzalez
Postdoc advisor: Valery Forbes, Ph.D., Dean and Professor of Biological Sciences

Merike Lang
Postdoc advisor: Monica Roselli, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology

Youmons William
Postdoc advisor: Edoardo Persichetti, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mathematics

Juliana Marques, Jumpstart Postdoctoral Program Awardee
Postdoc advisors: Salvatore Lepore, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Associate Professors Claudia Rodrigues, Ph.D., and Bommareddy Ajay, Ph.D., Schmidt College of Medicine

Asal Nouri, Jumpstart Postdoctoral Program Awardee
Postdoc advisors: Chad Forbes, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, and Professor Susan Schneider, Ph.D., William F. Dietrich Chair in Philosophy, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, and Director, FAU Center for the Future Mind

Qiaoyin Pan, Jumpstart Postdoctoral Program Awardee
Postdoc advisors: Muxin Han, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physics, and Yang Li, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences

Laiqi Zhang, Jumpstart Postdoctoral Program Awardee
Postdoc advisors: Renjie Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Professor Xingquan Hill Zhu, Ph.D., College of Engineering and Computer Science