Department Updates
By Veronica Gonzalez Hoff
Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology
Recently,- Dr. Eric Connolly Criminology collaborated with Clinical Psychology graduate student Brandon McCormick to study the relationship between mTBI and increased risk for psychopathology in a sample of adolescent youths. Read more on Today @ Sam
- Dr. Eryn O’Neal won the New Scholar Award from Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) Spring 2019
- Dr. Ling Ren won the Outstanding Mentors Award from Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) Spring 2019
- Dr. Randy Garner was recognized for his contributions to the American Jail Association
A new faculty member joined the department Spring 2019:
Dr. Jay Coons earned his Ph.D. at Sam Houston State University in 2004. He recently retired after 36 years of service with the Harris County (Houston, TX) Sheriff’s Office. His expertise is in police leadership, management, and use of force.
Two new faculty members joined the department Fall 2018:
Dr. Andia Azimi earned her PH.D. from Georgia State University in 2018. Professor Azimi's expertise is in sexual victimization, child maltreatment, and consequences of experiencing victimization.
Dr. Jason Ingram earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 2010. Professor Ingram's research interests include police culture, use of force policy and practice, and police supervision.
Student news:
- The CJ Graduate Student Organization won the 2019 SHSU Outstanding Organization Sammy Award.
- Tri Keah Henry, 4th year Ph.D. student, was the recipient of the ASC's Division on People of Color and Crime Norman White Outstanding Student Paper Award for her solo-authored work entitled "Six Degrees of Separation: The Influence of Direct and Indirect Contacts with Law Enforcement on Perceptions of Procedural Justice."
- Alicia Jurek, 4th year Ph.D. student, was the recipient of ASC's Division on Women and Crime 2018 Graduate Student Poster Competition for her poster "Female Representation in U.S. Police Departments: 1980 – 2010."
- Joshua Shadwick, 3rd year Ph.D. student, was selected to participate in the 2019 ACJS Doctoral Student Summit in Baltimore, MD.
- Katherine Meeker, 1st year Ph.D. student, was the recipient of ASC's Division on Women and Crime 2018 Graduate Student Paper Award for her paper "Arrest and Filing Charges: An Examination of Police and Prosecutor Decision Making in Adolescent Sexual Assault Case Processing."
- Julia Gernhart (Senior CJ major and incoming MA student) won "The Honors College Award for Most Outstanding Senior." The title of Julia's presentation was "Women of Action: A Qualitative Study of the Motivational Reasons for Women to be Violent in Entertainment Media in the United States and Japan." Julia's advisor was Dr. Eryn O'Neal.
- Alondra Garza is a first-year PhD student and her MA thesis received SHSU’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) award for outstanding thesis.
- Shamika Kelley, 2nd year PhD student, won SHSU’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) People’s Choice Award.
- Makayla Mason (Junior CJ major) won the "EURECA FAST Award" for best presentation of research that was funded by a 2018 FAST Award. The title of Makayla's presentation was "An Examination of Chinese Police Cadet's Knowledge of Domestic Violence." Makayla's advisor was Dr. Brittany Hayes. Read more on her research and trip to China here: http://www.cjcenter.org/cjmandate/3-china_story.html
- Excellence in Research - Dr. Erin O’Neal
- Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching - Dr. Elisa Toman.
- Excellence in Service – Dr. Mike Vaughn
Department of Forensic Science
Recently,- Dr. Sarah Kerrigan received an NIJ grant, entitled High Resolution Mass Spectrometry Screening in Forensic Toxicology: Cost Benefit Analysis.
- Dr. Bobby LaRue and his student Ryan Gutierrez were awarded a grant from the Forensic Sciences Foundation, entitled DNA Profiling of Rootless Hair Shafts Utilizing Massively Parallel Sequencing.
- Kaitlyn Palmquist won the Best Toxicology Poster at the 2019 American Academy of Forensic Science’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Baltimore, MD
- Kaitlyn Palmquist, Madison Schackmuth and Carrie Polston received the Forensic Sciences Foundation Student Affiliate Scholarship Award.
- Carrie Polston also won the Forensic Sciences Foundation Student Travel Grant and received the prestigious 2019 Forensic Sciences Foundation Emerging Forensic Scientist Award.
- At SHSU’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT), Kaitlyn Palmquist, Christina Smith and Norris Li were finalists. Norris Li won Runner Up.
- Dr. Patrick Buzzini – College of Criminal Justice Academic Community Engagement Award
- Britni Skillman – Sparks Veasey III, MD, JD Academic Prize in Forensic Science
- Michael Truver – LTC Michael A. Lytle Academic Prize in Forensic Science
- Andra Lewis – Institute for Forensic Research, Training, and Innovation Scholarship
- Ryan Gutierrez – Institute for Forensic Research, Training, and Innovation Scholarship
Department of Security Studies
Recently, the department welcomed Dr. Zbigniew Lasocik from the University of Warsaw as a guest speaker during his extensive visit to campus. Lasocik is a professor of law and criminology at the University of Warsaw and Director of the Center of Excellence The Human Trafficking Studies Centre with extensive experience in teaching and research – nationally and internationally. He is also President of the Polish Section of the International Commission of Jurists in Poland and former member of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture in Geneva. He participated in over 60 international fact-finding and assessment missions regarding prisons, torture prevention, human rights and human trafficking. He was also a visiting professor at Columbia University in New York, Harvard University in Cambridge and John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
