School hires criminologists, psychologists and urban planners
Eight faculty members join the School of Social Ecology this fall. They are:
Tony Cheng
Assistant professor of criminology, law and society
Education: Ph.D. in sociology from Yale; J.D. from New York University; B.A. in political science and ethnicity, race and migration from Yale
Research interests: Crime, law, and urban inequality.
Pia Dietze
Assistant professor of psychological science
Education: Ph.D. and M.A. in psychology from New York University, B.A. in psychology from UC Berkeley
Research interests: economic inequality, social class, social cognition, and early information processing.
Şule Güney
Assistant professor of teaching in psychological science
Education: Ph.D. in psychology from University of New South Wales, B.A. in psychology from Istanbul Bilgi University
Research interests: Decision making under risk and ambiguity, and strategic decisions in interactive environments.
Nicole Iturriaga
Assistant professor of criminology, law and society
Education: Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from UCLA, B.A. in sociology from UC Berkeley
Research interests: Science and technology, political sociology, social movements, and human rights.
Mukul Kumar
Assistant professor of urban planning and public policy
Education: Ph.D. in city and regional planning from UC Berkeley, MPhil in development studies from the University of Cambridge, B.A. in history from UC Irvine
Research interests: Climate justice, energy and environment, political ecology, social movements and global urbanism.
Avipsa Roy
Assistant professor of urban planning and public policy
Education: Ph.D. in Geography from Arizona State University, M.S. in geoinformatics from University of Muenster, Germany, B.S. in computer science from University of Calcutta, India
Research interests: Developing methods in urban analytics and geospatial data science to answer overarching questions in transportation planning, public health, environmental science and social equity. Her research follows three themes: analyzing spatial-temporal patterns emerging from complex processes like human mobility patterns, monitoring changes in urban environments over time to detect anomalies in the face of extreme events and/or natural hazards, and developing data-driven analytics to assess risk, equitable access and minimize exposure in transportation networks.
Jason Schiffman
Professor of psychological science and director of clinical training
Education: Ph.D. in clinical psychology from USC
Research interests: Early identification and treatment of youth at risk for psychosis. Reduction of stigma against people with serious mental health concerns. Address issues of racial inequity and health disparities for those in the early phases of psychosis.
Carolina Valdivia
Assistant professor of criminology, law and society
Education: Ph.D. in education from Harvard University, M.A. in sociology from San Diego State University, B.A. in sociology and criminology from Cal State San Marcos.
Research interests: Immigration law, enforcement, youth and families, the sociology of education, and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.