Experts by Expertise: Education (K-12)

For help reaching an expert on deadline, please contact UB's media relations team at 716-645-6969 or ub-news@buffalo.edu.

Note to members of the news media:

The correct name of the university is “University at Buffalo,” not “University of Buffalo.”

  • Head shot of Annahita Ball, University at Buffalo expert on schools and social services.
    4/12/23

    Annahita Ball

    Associate Professor of Social Work

    Expertise: family engagement in schools; educational justice and reform; school-based mental health services; school-community partnerships

    Phone: 716-645-8951

    Email: annahita@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Nathan J. Daun-Barnett, University at Buffalo expert on college access and financial aid.
    8/16/21

    Nathan J. Daun-Barnett

    Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration

    Expertise: college access, financial aid policy, college transition

    Phone: 716-645-1096

    Email: nbarnett@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Nick DiFrancesco.
    4/5/24

    Nick DiFrancesco
    Assistant Teaching Professor of Geology

    Expertise: rocks and minerals, the geology of Mars and the Moon, lava flows, science education and outreach

    Phone: 716-645-4864

    Email: ndifranc@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Stephanie Fredrick, University at Buffalo bullying and cyberbullying expert.
    11/2/23

    Stephanie Fredrick

    Associate Director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention

    Expertise: bullying, cyberbullying, youth mental health, bullying interventions

    Phone: 716-645-1141

    Email: ssfredri@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Joana Gaia, University at Buffalo digital security and privacy expert.
    8/16/21

    Joana Gaia

    Clinical Assistant Professor of Management Science and Systems

    Expertise: health information systems; business intelligence; digital security and privacy; data analytics; emergency management; girls and STEM careers

    Contact: Joana Gaia can be reached most quickly through Jackie Ghosen in the School of Management Communications Office at 716-645-2833 or mgt-pr@buffalo.edu.

  • Head shot of Sameer Honwad, University at Buffalo education access and equity expert.
    4/15/20

    Sameer Honwad

    Assistant Professor of Learning and Instruction

    Expertise: access, equity and diversity in education; cultural studies; international education; science and environmental education

    Phone: 716-645-2455

    Email: sameerho@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Mara Huber, University at Buffalo experiential learning expert.
    9/26/24

    Mara Huber

    Senior Director Instructional Innovation and Transformation

    Expertise: experiential learning, digital badges, university-community partnerships, global collaboration, sustainable development 

    Phone: 716-829-2834

    Email: mbhuber@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Tiffany Karalis Noel, University at Buffalo education expert, with expertise in multiculturalism, social inequity and belongingness in education.
    8/16/21

    Tiffany Karalis Noel

    Clinical Assistant Professor of Learning and Instruction

    Expertise: sociocultural inequity in education, teacher preparation and retention, mentoring in higher education

    Phone: 716-645-2455

    Email: tbkarali@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Erin Kearney, University at Buffalo world languages education expert.
    8/16/21

    Erin Kearney

    Associate Professor of Learning and Instruction

    Expertise: language teaching and learning, intercultural competence and language education, language teacher training and development

    Phone: 716-645-4058

    Email: ekearney@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of LaGarrett J. King, University at Buffalo Black history education expert.
    7/27/22

    LaGarrett J. King

    Director of the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education

    Expertise: Black history education, social studies, history of education, teacher education, racism and anti-Blackness

    Phone: 716-645-2455

    Email: lagarret@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Jaekyung Lee, University at Buffalo expert on educational policy and achievement gaps.
    2/20/18

    Jaekyung Lee

    Professor of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology

    Expertise: educational policy, student testing, school accountability, international and comparative education, achievement gaps, educational inequalities

    Phone: 716-645-1132

    Email: jl224@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Melinda Lemke, University at Buffalo K-12 education policy and reform expert.
    11/5/24

    Melinda Lemke

    Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy

    Expertise: critical/feminist policy studies; global displacement; gender-based violence (GBV); neoliberal reform; politics of education; public health and education

    Phone: 716-645-1090

    Email: malemke@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Mary McVee, University at Buffalo expert on literacy instruction.
    8/16/21

    Mary McVee

    Director of the Center for Literacy and Reading Instruction

    Expertise: literacy instruction; diversity and literacy; technology and literacy; narrative

    Phone: 716-645-2458

    Email: mcvee@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Amanda Nickerson.
    5/2/24

    Amanda Nickerson

    Director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention

    Expertise: school violence, bullying prevention and intervention, parent and peer relationships, assessment and treatment of emotional and behavioral disorders

    Phone: 716-645-1532

    Email: alberticenter@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Kelly Patterson, University at Buffalo housing and urban development expert.
    4/12/23

    Kelly Patterson

    Associate Professor of Social Work

    Expertise: social welfare policy; cannabis policy; residential segregation; fair housing; gentrification; homelessness; poverty and economic inequality; race and class

    Phone: 716-645-1248

    Email: klp27@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Ryan Rish, University at Buffalo expert on the literacy practices of adolescents.
    2/6/18

    Ryan M. Rish

    Assistant Professor of Learning and Instruction

    Expertise: adolescent literacy practices; culture and identity in learning; teaching social issues

    Phone: 716-645-4042

    Email: ryanrish@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Sarah Robert, University at Buffalo faculty expert on teachers, teachers' unions and school food.
    1/17/23

    Sarah A. Robert

    Associate Professor of Learning and Instruction

    Expertise: teaching as an occupation; teachers’ unions; labor issues in education; global education reform; gender and equity in education; school food

    Phone: 716-645-4046

    Email: sarah@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Ji-Won Son, University at Buffalo math education expert.
    10/4/18

    Ji-Won Son

    Associate Professor of Learning and Instruction

    Expertise: mathematics education, gender equity in STEM

    Phone: 716-645-4030

    Email: jiwonson@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Corrie Stone-Johnson, University at Buffalo faculty expert on school reform.
    11/2/23

    Corrie Stone-Johnson

    Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy

    Expertise: school leadership, school reform, schools and communities, organizational culture of schools

    Phone: 716-645-2471

    Email: corriest@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Letitia Thomas, University at Buffalo STEM education and STEM diversity expert.
    8/16/21

    Letitia Thomas

    Assistant Dean for Diversity in the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

    Expertise: STEM education and pipelines; women and students of color in STEM; sociology of education; social justice; social networks; microaggressions

    Phone: 716-645-3071

    Email: lthomas@buffalo.edu