The table below lists the defenses scheduled for the current semester. Some students defend their dissertation but graduate in the subsequent semester; thus, the graduation semester is indicated in the defense listing. The public is invited to attend. Students enrolled in Ph.D. and Ed.D. programs might find it particularly helpful to attend so that they know what to expect during a defense. Dissertation defenses may be held in person or virtually via Zoom or Teams. If a dissertation defense is held virtually, you may contact the department for link and log-in information.
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Ali Dezhkameh Bejoshin
Title: "Helping Them Move Forward”: First-Year Literacy Instructors’ Perceptions of Feedback Practices
Date: June 16, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Emily Suh
Committee: Dr. Eric Paulson, Dr. Jodi Holschuh, Dr. Darin Jensen -
Alison M. Jarzombek-Torralva
Title: Public Perceptions of Armed Non-Law Enforcement Personnel in Schools
Date: July 2, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams (Contact the department for a Teams meeting link)
Chair: Dr. Sean P. Roche
Committee: Dr. Scott W. Bowman, Dr. Amanda Graham, Dr. Kathy Martinez-Prather -
Andréia Teixeira Alves
Title: When Streams Run Dry: From Community Assembly to Ecosystem Function in Isolated Remnant Pools
Date: June 11, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Ingram Hall, Room 3102
Chair: Dr. Astrid Schwalb, Dr. Karl Cottenie
Committee: Dr. Weston Nowlin, Dr. Mar Pau Huertas, Dr. Joshuah Perkin -
Beth Smiley
Title: Using Restorative Practices in Deaf Education to Improve Teacher/Student Relationships
Date: July 6, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Rolf Straubhaar
Committee: Dr. Melissa Martinez, Dr. Rosa Peña, Tawny Holmes Hlibok, Esq -
Brandi Rygaard Gaspard
Title: Exploring the Practice-Linked Identities of Women in Calculus Lab Settings
Date: May 20, 2026
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Location: Derrick Hall, Room 120 and Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Kristen Lew
Committee: Dr. Jessica Bishop, Dr. Brittney Ellis, Dr. Anne Cawley -
Carlos Acevedo
Title: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Challenges and Assets to Persistence in the (Pre)Calculus Journeys of First-Generation STEM Students
Date: April 7, 2026
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Derrick Hall, Room 120 and Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Kate Melhuish
Committee: Dr. Cody Patterson, Dr. Brittney Ellis, Dr. Aditya Adiredja -
Christina R. Smith
Title: Perceptions of Novice Special Education Teachers: The Untold Stories of Their Preparation for the Reality of Teaching Special Education
Date: July 1, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Melissa A. Martinez
Committee: Dr. Rosa M. Peña, Dr. Glenna Billingsley, Dr. Rolf Straubhaar -
Debo Brata Paul Argha
Title: Advancing Performance-Based Design for Concrete Bridge Overlays: A Field-Scale Evaluation of Non-UHPC Mixtures
Date: July 2, 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: Roy F. Mitte Building, Room 2243
Chair: Dr. Anthony S. Torres
Committee: Dr. Federico Aguayo, Dr. Carlos Moro, Dr. Xijun Shi, Dr. Wilson F. Espinoza Chavez -
Dustin Sanchez
Title: Wine, War, and Vulnerability in the Vines: Tracing Structural Violence and Territorial Transformation of Kosovo Viticulture
Date: May 26, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Evans Liberal Arts Building, Room 142 and Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. John Tiefenbacher
Committee: Dr. Sarah Blue, Dr. Ronald Hagelman, Dr. Eric Sarmiento, Dr. Richard Marcantonio -
Edinah Casmir
Title: Beyond Biomedical Efficacy: A User-Centered Exploration of Kenyan Young Women's HIV and Unintended Pregnancy Prevention Needs
Date: June 18, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Nicole Taylor
Committee: Dr. Augustine Agwuele, Dr. Aimee Villarreal, Dr. Patrick Owuor -
Elisa Descartes
Title: The Denial of Childhood: Age Estimation as a Proxy of Adultification Bias in Juvenile Justice Outcomes for Black Girls
Date: June 22, 2026
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Shayne Jones, Dr. Angela Jones
Committee: Dr. Scott Bowman, Dr. Alexia Angton -
Elvis G. Fefey
Title: Adaptive Real-Time Heterogeneous Scheduling For Streaming Applications: The Deep Learning Inference Use Case
Date: June 12, 2026
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Comal Building, Room 212
Chair: Dr. Tanzima Islam
Committee: Dr. Apan Qasem, Dr. Jayant DeSouza, Dr. Kecheng Yang -
Gail B. Sylvester-Conrad
Title: Empowering College Readiness: A Phenomenological Examination of Latino and African American Male Students' Sense of Belonging in Secondary Mathematics Classrooms
Date: July 6, 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Emily J. Summers
Committee: Dr. Taylor W. Acee, Dr. Sharon K. Strickland, Dr. Bryan Mark Dewsbury -
Ghazal Gholami Hossein Abadi
Title: Improving the Sustainability of Performance-Based Concrete Overlay Mix Design Made with Rounded Aggregate
Date: June 22 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: Roy F. Mitte Building, Room 2242
Chair: Dr. Anthony Torres, Dr. Carlos Moro Martinez
Committee: Dr. Wilson Espinoza Chavez, Dr. Xijun Shi, Dr. Dan Huang -
Heather Kattawar-Engstrom
Title: A Mixed Methods Investigation: Examining the Impact of Texas Mentoring Policy on Principal Self-Efficacy Among Early-Career Administrators
Date: June 17, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Academic Services Building North, Room 306
Chair: Dr. Melissa A. Martinez
Committee: Dr. Carlton Fong, Dr. Rolf J. Straubhaar, Dr. Rosa M. Peña -
Heather Palma
Title: The Future of Geography Education in Saudi Arabia: A Case Study of Powerful Knowledge and Curriculum Making for Vision 2030
Date: May 19, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Michael Solem
Committee: Dr. Osvaldo Muniz, Dr. Denise Blanchard, Dr. Martin Hanus -
Jeff Scott
Title: Impact of Revised Rainfall Probabilities That Increase Flood Risk Along the Lower Colorado River Basin in Texas: Assessing Risk Communication Response and Long-Term Flood Hazard Mitigation Planning by Municipal Decision-Makers
Date: April 27, 2026
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Denise Blanchard
Committee: Dr. Richard Dixon, Dr. Alberto Giordano, Dr. Howard Balanoff -
Katherine Guckian
Title: Learning Support Professionals' Perceptions of their Roles and Responsiveness to LGBTQ+ Postsecondary Students
Date: June 18, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Emily Summers
Committee: Dr. Sonya Armstrong, Dr. Jennifer Greene-Rooks, Dr. Jon Lasser -
M M Mahabubur Rahman
Title: Scalable Approximate Nearest Neighbor Search for High-Dimensional Deep Descriptor Retrieval with Applications in Scientific Imaging and Multi-Modal Data Analysis
Date: May 12, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Education Building, Room 3070 and Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Jelena Tešić
Committee: Dr. Apan Qasem, Dr. Xiao Chen, Dr. Anandi Duta -
Mark W. Welker
Title: A Phenomenological Study of Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Experiences with Disciplinary Literacy
Date: August 10, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Emily Summers
Committee: Dr. Leslie Huling, Dr. Taylor Acee, Dr. Jodi Holschuh -
Mason Murphy
Title: Career Transitions: Understanding Adult Learning of Pastors and Clergy
Date: May 28, 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. James Koschoreck, Dr. Bhagyashree Barhate
Committee: Dr. Joellen Coryell, Dr. Jeremy Bohonos -
Mehedi Hasan Raju
Title: Toward Privacy-Preserving Gaze Interaction: Lightweight Real-Time Signal Transformation and Operational Spatial Accuracy
Date: June 22, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Comal Building, Room 212 and Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Oleg Komogortsev
Committee: Dr. Mylene Queiroz de Farias, Dr. Isayas Adhanom, Dr. Michael J. Proulx -
Minh Phu Vuong
Title: Efficient Algorithms for Constrained Graph Clustering with Applications in Epidemic Control and Fairness
Date: June 25, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Chul-Ho Lee
Committee: Dr. Anne Hee Hiong Ngu, Dr. Byron Gao, Dr. Marcelo Menezes de Carvalho, Dr. Geonhee Cho -
Mona Askari
Title: Perspectives of Community College Instructors Regarding Critical Pedagogy for English Language Teaching
Date: May 8, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Clarena Larrotta
Committee: Dr. Jan Adversario, Dr. Jeremy W. Bohonos, Dr. HeeJae Chung -
Nasim Layegh
Title: Exploring Instructors’ Perceptions of Critical Literacy in Developmental Education
Date: June 10, 2026
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Sonya Armstrong
Committee: Dr. Emily Suh, Dr. Jodi Holschuh, Dr. Jodi Lampi -
Padam Bhatt
Title: Early Chromatin Dynamics During Pseudomonas syringae Infection and Characterization of the Defense Regulator tRF31Asp2 in Arabidopsis
Date: June 25, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Supple Science Building, Room 376
Chair: Dr. Hong-Gu Kang
Committee: Dr. Nihal Dharmasiri, Dr. Sunethra Dharmasiri, Dr. Cristiana Argueso, Dr. Keiko Yoshioka -
Pingping Wang
Title: Exploring the Factors Impacting Human Mobility Patterns: A Multi-Scale Analysis
Date: May 7, 2026
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Evans Liberal Arts Building, Room 344 and Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Yihong Yuan
Committee: Dr. Rosalie Ray, Dr. T. Edwin Chow, Dr. Yuhao Kang -
Rujan Kayastha
Title: Development Of A Posture-Specific Insole Design Framework For Roofing Construction Workers Based On Plantar-Pressure Biomechanics
Date: June 26, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Roy F. Mitte Building, Room 3219A
Chair: Chair- Dr. Krishna Kisi & Co-Chair Dr. Jitendra Tate
Committee: Dr. Rachel Rolfe, Dr. Tania Betancourt, Dr. Anandi Dutta -
Scott Barrett
Title: The Advancement Of Renewable Energy Via Organic Chemistry
Date: June 19, 2026
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Chemistry Building, Room 233
Chair: Dr. William J. Brittain
Committee: Dr. Keisuke Ikehata, Dr. Christopher Rhodes, Dr. Marcus Goss, Dr. Tania Betancourt -
Shriyank Somvanshi
Title: Interpretable Tabular Deep Learning and Decision Support for SAE Automation-Level Classification in Automated-Vehicle Crash Records
Date: June 16, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Subasish Das
Committee: Dr. Damian Valles Molina, Dr. Xingan Kan, Dr. Anandi K Dutta, Dr. Md Nasim Khan -
Sushmit Sharma Bhattarai
Title: An Integrated, Uncertainty-Aware Decision Framework for Improving Pavement Asset Management Practice
Date: May 15, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Hyunhwan Kim
Committee: Dr. Eunsang Cho, Dr. Soon-jae Lee, Dr. W. James Wilde, Jishnu Subedi -
Sylvia Flores
Title: Crossing More Than Borders: Nepantla, Identity, and Educational Survivance
Date: June 30, 2026
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Miguel A. Guajardo
Committee: Dr. Pedro Reyes, Dr. Melissa A. Martinez, Dr. Rosa M. Peña, Dr. Khalid H. Arar -
Zohreh Fathi
Title: Disentangling Faculty-Student Relationships And Interactions: Associations With College Students’ Sense Of Belonging And Persistence
Date: May 13, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Education Building, Room 3070 and Zoom (Contact the department for a Zoom link)
Chair: Dr. Carlton Fong
Committee: Dr. Kevin Cokley, Dr. Taylor W. Acee, Dr. Jodi Holschuh
