Michael Steiper, Ph.D. (faculty panelist)

Professor of Anthropology, Hunter College

Michael Steiper is a physical anthropologist with research interests in primate molecular evolution.  Professor Steiper directs the Anthropological Genetics Lab at Hunter College.  His specific research interests have included the speed of the mutation rate among primates, molecular adaptation to pathogens, the phylogenetic relationships among primate species, and the correspondence between paleontological and molecular timescales for primate evolution.  Professor Steiper received his B.A. from NYU and his Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Bridgit Boulahanis

Earth & Environmental Science, Columbia University, Hunter alumna

Bridgit Boulahanis is a Ph.D. student at Columbia University, where she was awarded a Dean’s Fellowship to study Marine Geophysics at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Bridgit’s research focuses on Mid-Ocean Ridge dynamics, submarine volcanic eruptions, and seismicity at spreading centers. Bridgit is a graduate of Hunter College (2014), where she earned a B.A. in Environmental Science with a minor in Mathematics.

Rachel Falkenstern, M.A.

Philosophy, Temple University, Hunter alumna

Rachel Falkenstern teaches Philosophy here at Hunter College, and has also taught at John Jay College, LaGuardia College, and Temple University. A graduate of Hunter College, she is happy to be a part of the Hunter community once again. She received her MA from Temple University, where she is finishing a dissertation on Hegel's theory of tragedy to complete her PhD. There she was also Editorial Assistant at The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism for four years. In addition to 19^th-Century German Philosophy and tragic drama, her research includes ethics, subjectivity, and contemporary performance art and body art. Her essay "Illusions of Permanence: Tattoos and the Temporary Self" is included in Tattoos-Philosophy for Everyone: I Ink, Therefore I Am (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).

Carol Hosny

Medical School, Stony Brook University, Hunter alumna

Carol majored in Biological Sciences at Hunter College. She was very glad to be a part of the John P. McNulty Scholars Program which regularly exposed her to new and challenging leadership situations that prepared her for the future. Carol is seeking to pursue a career in medicine. She worked in Dr. Foster's Cancer Biology laboratory where she was introduced to modern techniques and equipment and learned new concepts about cancer that were helpful to her career.  She loves to study about the human body and everything related to it. To further her interest and goals in the medical field, she was accepted to The Health Career Opportunity Program at NYU Langone Medical Center where she shadowed a physician and learned more about the doctor-patient relationship. She also volunteered in the Emergency Department at Staten Island University Hospital and at a local pediatrician's clinic.

Leslie Mento

Physical Therapy, Hunter College, Hunter alumnus

Leslie Mento is currently a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student at Hunter's School of Health Sciences. His current DPT thesis is on the effects of intermittent or continuous walking on gait kinetics and kinematics of persons with multiple sclerosis. Prior to beginning his DPT studies, Leslie worked as an Administrative Assistant with SciMON at Hunter College. Before joining SciMON, he enjoyed a career in human resources management. Leslie received his Bachelor's degree in Business and Technology Management from New York University.

Mathias Mietzelfeld

English, University of Chicago, Hunter alumnus

Mathias Mietzelfeld is a second-year PhD student in the Department of English at the University of Chicago and a 2010 BA graduate from Hunter College. His current work explores the relations between literature and the history of the penitentiary system in nineteenth-century Britain and its colonies. Prior to beginning graduate study, Mathias worked variously as a bookseller, taxidermy seller, street performer, actor, gardener, and dog walker.

Lerone Savage

Geography, Hunter College, Hunter alumnus

Lerone is a graduate student in Hunter’s M.A. program in Geography. He was awarded a $25,000 Advanced Institute for Transportation Education (AITE) scholarship, which is designed to increase the knowledge and capabilities of transportation professionals. This scholarship will cover graduate tuition as well as facilitate the completion of a transportation-related research project under Dr. Hongmain Gong. Lerone aspires to teach college students GIS research methods and create GIS products that will benefit communities. Lerone graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College in the spring of 2014 with a B.A. in Geography.

Rosa Squillacote, J.D.

Political Theory and American Politics, The Graduate Center, CUNY Assistant Pre-law Advisor, Hunter College, Hunter alumna

Rosa Squillacote is the Assistant Pre Law Advisor at Hunter College, where she has been teaching as an adjunct in the Political Science Department since 2012. Previously, Rosa was the Policy Advocate of the Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP), a project of the Urban Justice Center dedicated to achieving police reform through advocacy and community organizing. Rosa is currently attending the CUNY Graduate Center, where she is studying Political Theory and American Politics. She holds her JD from UC Berkeley School of Law, where she served as a law clerk at the East Bay Community Law Center, working on reentry policy advocacy focused on employment among formerly incarcerated people, and at the Correctional Association of New York, where she conducted policy advocacy on juvenile justice and LGBTQ youth issues. She received her BA in Political Science from Hunter College.

Dixie Goss, Ph.D.

Professor of Chemistry, Hunter College

Dixie J. Goss is a biophysicist/biochemist, educated in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Nebraska, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and the University of Nebraska. Her research has focused on the role of RNA structure in regulation of protein synthesis and protein interactions. She has over 100 publications and presentations and is funded by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. Currently, she is Professor and Gertrude Elion Endowed Scholar of Chemistry at Hunter College.

Regina Miranda, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology, Hunter College

Regina Miranda is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Hunter College and member of the doctoral faculty at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.  She directs Hunter’s Experimental Psychopathology Lab, is Co-Director of the NIH-funded Blueprint Program for Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education Experiences (BP-ENDURE) at Hunter College, and is former Director of the NIMH-Career Opportunities in Research Program at Hunter College.  Dr. Miranda is also a Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Miranda completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Yale University, her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at New York University, and an NIMH T32 post-doctoral fellowship in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Miranda’s research focuses on understanding social and cognitive risk for suicide in adolescence and emerging adulthood.  Presently, she is conducting a longitudinal study of cognitive predictors of suicidal ideation and behavior among young adults.  Her work seeks to understand the role of self-focused and future-oriented ruminative thinking in the development of hopelessness-related thoughts, along with the specificity of cognitive content that most increases vulnerability to suicidal ideation and attempts.

Jessica Rothman, Ph.D.

Professor of Anthropology, Hunter College

Dr. Jessica Rothman is broadly interested in primate ecology. The major focus of her research is how primates meet their nutritional needs through interactions with their environment, and she is specifically interested in how sociality, movement and disease intersect with nutritional ecology. Her field work is conducted in the forests of Uganda, where she has been conducting research since 1997. Dr. Rothman’s program is actively embedded in conservation and training and she works closely with the wildlife authority in Uganda.