A little magic must run throughout the IHLA team because each one of us is passionate about improving the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment—and we get to do it every day!
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Central Service Team
| blank | Image | Bio | More Info | ||||||
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 | Jessica Smith Schwind | Director | PhD MPH CPH | Jessica is an infectious disease epidemiologist whose work is focused at the human-animal-environment interface. Her research and service is rooted in disease surveillance, health capacity building, and risk communication for the prevention and/or early recognition of emerging health threats. | 912-478-0919 | jschwind@georgiasouthern.edu | Central Service Team | Education
She grew up on a cotton and peanut farm in south Georgia, where she is currently raising her twins. Book Adventure She goes on Hemingway treks to experience the adventures written about in his books, including to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro! Favorite Things Books, bucket list adventures, big ideas, and Bon Jovi, in no particular order. Dr. Schwind's Research Profile | |
 | Jill Johns | Project Manager | MS CHES® | Jill is a dynamic creative force, excels in diverse industries focusing on wellness, performance, and strategic initiatives. Jill focuses on Total Worker Health: implementing evidence-based interventions to develop a healthy workforce. As the IHLA Project Manager, Jill manages federal OSHA grants, ensuring Georgia businesses are prepared for future disease outbreaks. | 912-478-0918 | jjohns@georgiasouthern.edu | Central Service Team | Education
Jill and her family reside at “Space To Thrive,” their 15-acre retreat where she practices self-care daily and helps others shift from a life by default to a life by design. Adventure Jill takes monthly “Hell Yes” adventures. Her favorites include Burning Man, Asheville, and Paris. Upcoming in 2025: Bora Bora! Book She loves to read self-help books. Her favorite is ‘Emotional Intensity and Sensitivity’ by Imi Lo. | |
 | Kathryn Stewart | Business & Finance Coordinator | Kathryn provides budgetary and administrative support to the Institute while enhancing business operations. She led both rounds of the COVID-19 Mitigation project for Georgia’s Confinement Facilities, discovering a passion for serving correctional institutions throughout the state. | 912-478-0917 | kstewart@georgiasouthern.edu | Central Service Team | Education
She grew up in Marietta, Georgia, and now resides in Statesboro with her husband and dogs. Critters All the dogs! Coffee Kathryn is a coffee lover! “I can’t stop drinking the coffee. I stop drinking the coffee, I stop doing the standing and the walking and the words putting into sentence doing.” | ||
 | Michelle Tremblay | Learning Experience Designer | As the Learning Experience Designer (LXD), Michelle merges design and learning principles to create engaging and impactful tools for learners. Her work allows IHLA to provide unparalleled immersive learning experiences to the audiences we work with. | 912-478-0961 | mtremblay@georgiasouthern.edu | Central Service Team | Education
Camera, scanner, tablet, vintage books and papers, paint, fountain pens, legos, and tarot cards. Familiars and Allies Spiders, cats, bats, and medicinal plants. Color Aura #000000 | ||
 | Deborah Harvey | Marketing & Outreach Coordinator | MA | Deborah is passionate about using marketing to enhance community health and wellbeing. Her work on COVID-19 vaccine clinic campaigns ignited her dedication to health behavior change through social marketing. She enjoys being able to leverage her skills at the IHLA. | 912-478-0927 | dharvey@georgiasouthern.edu | Central Service Team | Education
Although always a Californian at heart, Deborah and her husband have happily made Georgia their home for the past 25+ years. Mud As a novice ceramic artist she is always looking forward to time spent playing in the “mud.” Outdoors When not working or creating art, she can be found exploring Georgia’s State Parks with her husband and dog Ollie. | |
 | Zach A. Pantin | Operations Manager | Zach is the glue that holds the IHLA together. He manages our office in downtown Statesboro and provides project and administrative support. As the IHLA’s Operations Manager, Zach follows his passions for community health & development, animal welfare, and environmentalism. | 912-478-0983 | zpantin@georgiasouthern.edu | Central Service Team | Education
Zach is a metaphysical agnostic who loves thought-provoking conversations about the unknowable nature of the Universe and pushing the boundaries of human imagination. Critters Zach is fortunate to call two rescue cats his children: a sweet orange boy named Moki and his little goblin sister, Freyja. Outdoors His heart set on the Blue Ridge Mountains, Zach enjoys hiking and spending time close to Nature. He also enjoys gardening and playing pickleball and soccer. | ||
 | Megan Mercer | Community Relations & Event Coordinator | MPH CHES® | Megan is thrilled to support the mission of the Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics (IHLA) as Community Relations and Event Coordinator. She has a passion for building relationships, creating sustainable collaborations with community partners, and working to achieve health equity among underserved communities. | 912-478-0922 | mmercer@georgiasouthern.edu | Central Service Team | Education
Home Megan is originally from New York but has lived in Georgia for the last ten years and is happy to call Statesboro home. Outdoors Megan loves kayaking, hiking, camping, and doing yoga outside (when her toddler allows). Critters Megan coparents a very badly behaved chihuahua named Porkchop, a sweet kitty named Bloopie and four outside cats. | |
 | Tahir Dulaney | Multimedia Coordinator | Tahir crafts dynamic multimedia content that advances the institute’s One Health mission. With a strong background in video and audio production, he is looking forward to telling IHLA’s story and raise awareness about the impactful services and initiatives the institute is driving to positively shape our communities. | 912-478-0900 | tkdulaney@georgiasouthern.edu | Central Service Team | Education
Tahir loves trying foods from different backgrounds, but is always in the mood for Chinese. Also cooks a lot and enjoys grilling! Nature Constantly looking for opportunities to be outside, from walking around the yard to chilling by the water. Sunlight is just as important as food! Art Music, movies, painting, and so on. The creative arts is a part of who I am. I have much respect and appreciation to everyone at all levels of ART! |
Project Service Team
| Image | Bio | More Info | |||||||
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 | Tanya Jules | Community Outreach Coordinator | DrPH, MPH | Tanya has expertise in technical assistance, capacity building, program development, and non-profit consulting. Her public health interests encompass community violence prevention, youth development, and community-based engagement and qualitative research strategies. Tanya’s passion for community-driven health solutions led her to the IHLA’s mission. | 912-478-0951 | tjules@georgiasouthern.edu | Project Service Team | Education
From the Bay State to the Peach State, Tanya is originally from Massachusetts. She finds a bit of home at Franklin Square in Savannah, as it honors her rich Haitian-American heritage. Adventure Tanya loves to travel, but when that isn’t an option for a mental health reset, her zen moments center around yoga and mindfulness practices. Food Where should you go to get the best type of food? Ask Tanya. She’s a foodie who loves experiencing different cultures through cuisine. | |
 | Jennifer Drey | Community Outreach Coordinator | MPH | Jennifer has expertise creating and implementing community-based programs to improve health and quality of life in underserved communities. With a background in communications and past work on IHLA’s K-12 COVID-19 Mitigation Team, Jennifer is skilled at evaluating evidence-based literature and translating it into points of action. She is passionate about innovative strategies that focus on prevention. | 912-478-0924 | jdrey@georgiasouthern.edu | Project Service Team | Education
Jennifer has called Savannah home for more than a decade but still holds a special place in her heart for her past homes in Oregon, Maryland, and New York. She takes pride in having lived in such diverse regions of the country and tries to revisit each of them as often as possible. Outdoors On warm weekends, Jennifer can often be found on the water, exploring the rivers and tiny islands that make up coastal Georgia. If it’s remotely cold out there, you can bet that she’s conjuring up her next ski trip. Adventures There have been many, but the ones she’s most proud of are climbing to the crater rim of Mount Saint Helens, skiing in the Andes Mountains, and simultaneously raising two teenagers and a ‘tween.’ | |
 | Patricia LaRose-Walthour | Community Outreach Coordinator | MPH | Patricia has expertise in wellness program coordination, program evaluation, and community engagement. Her public health interests center on promoting health and well-being, advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and fostering community-driven health solutions. Patricia’s dedication to enhancing health outcomes through evidence-based initiatives fuels her enthusiasm for contributing to IHLA’s mission. | 912-478-0966 | plarose@georgiasouthern.edu | Project Service Team | Education
Originally from South Florida, Patricia moved to Kennesaw, GA during middle school, a place she now proudly calls home. Books She enjoys attending her monthly book club meetings with her friends, where they explore a diverse selection of genres. By the end of 2024, she’s on track to complete her ambitious goal of reading 20 books and she looks forward to increasing this goal each year! Favorite Things Anything I can make with my Cricut Machine (I love a good DIY Project), Books, Pickleball, Travel, and Family. | |
 | Quentin Smith | Community Outreach Coordinator | MPH | Quentin has expertise in community outreach, program coordination, and rural health initiatives. His interests focus on raising awareness, fostering partnerships, and developing outreach strategies tailored to rural populations. With a strong commitment to addressing health disparities among minority populations in rural communities, Quentin is dedicated to enhancing health outcomes through community mobilization. His passion for community-driven health solutions aligns with IHLA’s mission to improve the health and well being of our communities. | 912-478-0902 | qsmith@georgiasouthern.edu | Project Service Team | Education
Outdoors Food Travel |
Research Team Fellows
| Image | Bio | More Info | |||||||
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 | Ed Mondor | Faculty Fellow | Associate Professor, Department of Biology | Mondor holds a PhD in entomology from Simon Fraser University, an MS in Zoology from the University of Alberta, and a BS in Psychology from Brandon University. He has almost 40 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Ethology, Functional Ecology, Global Change Biology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Journal of Insect Behavior, and PLoS One. He has had his research featured in the Editor’s Choice section of Science Magazine. | 912-478-7908 | emondor@georgiasouthern.edu | Research Team | In addition to his studies on insect behavior, ecology, and evolution, he is the only practicing Forensic Entomologist in Georgia. Over the past 12 years, he has assisted various law enforcement agencies with determining the “time of death” of human decedents, contributing to approximately 30 death investigations. As an IHLA Faculty Fellow, Mondor is eagerly looking forward to using his knowledge of biological processes and the justice system to improve the health and safety of our local communities. Dr. Mondor's Research Profile | |
 | Steven Tolman | Faculty Fellow | Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, College of Education | Tolman holds an EdD from Rutgers University, an MS from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor’s from Central Michigan University. Prior to Georgia Southern, he held previous roles, including serving as a graduate program director and 12 years as a college administrator. | 912-478-5971 | tstolman@georgiasouthern.edu | Research Team | Tolman’s research is theoretically informed and guided by the tenets of student development theory. In particular, he explores the application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Kolb’s Experiential Learning, Sanford’s Model of Challenge and Support, and Astin’s Theory of Involvement. This theoretical framework is intertwined with the two streams of his scholarly agenda: 1) The profession of student affairs and 2) The residential and co-curricular experience of college students. He is excited to be an IHLA fellow to offer his perspective as an educator to the IHLA team as they collaborate to improve the health of our communities. Dr. Tolman's Research Profile | |
 | Hayden Wimmer, PhD | Faculty Fellow | Professor, Department of Information Technology | Wimmer holds a PhD and MS from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, an MBA from Penn State, and a BS from York College of Pennsylvania. In addition, he has over 10 years of experience working in the IT industry. He directs the GS DAC-Lab, focusing on data science, AI, and cybersecurity. | 912-478-4848 | hwimmer@georgiasouthern.edu | Research Team | He has nearly $3 million in external funding from federal sources and publications in well-respected journals and conferences. Wimmer has worked in the community with students on projects and service-learning ranging from IT support, e-commerce, web development, training, and custom programming. He brings his academic and industry experience to IHLA to contribute to improving community outcomes by applying technology solutions to benefit the local community. He aims to apply data science and AI to improve health outcomes and patient education. Dr. Wimmer's Research Profile | |
 | Joana Tome | Research Assistant | Joana Tome, MPH, is an epidemiology doctoral student in the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University. | jt20902@georgiasouthern.edu | Research Graduate Assistant | Her area of expertise is epidemiological study design and statistical analysis skills. Tome’s research interests encompass survival analysis, pharmacoepidemiology, global health, health economics, and predictive analysis. Joana has authored articles published in high-impact journals and acted as a peer-reviewer. She is past-president of the One Health Organization at Georgia Southern University. As an IHLA Research Assistant, Tome has trained Georgia Southern students how to prepare and respond to natural disasters. Simultaneously, she is researched natural disaster emergency preparedness practices. Joana's Research Profile |
Research Team Affiliates
| Name | Bio | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emmanuel Balagon | Student Affiliate | An ambitious graduate student at Georgia Southern University, majoring in information technology, building on a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Management. Currently employed as a Graduate Assistant in the International Admission and Programs Office, combining administrative skills with a global perspective. Research interests focus on the intersection of computer vision and machine learning engineering. Actively enhancing machine learning skills through Google Cloud training, with a project on using machine learning for image classification in counterfeit note detection. Proficient in Python, SQL, SPSS, and Rapid Miner. | ||
| Meenalosini Cruz | Faculty Affiliate | |||
| Patrick Esmonde | Community Collaborator | Patrick Esmonde is an experienced entrepreneur and technology professional. He co-founded Vestibular First and Dizzy Care Network, focusing on developing accessible vestibular technologies and improving healthcare navigation for patients with dizziness. With a background in IT consulting, project management, and teaching, Patrick has worked across various industries to enhance systems and processes. He holds advanced degrees in technology management from The Wharton School and has a proven ability to lead diverse teams and tackle complex challenges effectively. | ||
| Stacy Fisher | Community Collaborator | Dr. Stacy Fisher currently serves as the Director of Community Standards and Title IX Coordinator at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. Stacy previously served in various roles in Residence Life at Arizona State University, the University of Connecticut, Montclair State University, and most recently served as the Director of Residential Education at Stevens before transitioning to her current role. Stacy has always been passionate about supervision. In 2022, she successfully defended her dissertation on the impact of supervision on graduate assistants in higher education and student affairs and earned her doctorate in education from Drexel University. | ||
| Tara Goodarzi | Student Affiliate | Tara holds an MD from Arak University of Medical Sciences and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Public Health while working as a graduate assistant at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health. Before her graduate studies, she worked as a family physician and served as a research assistant. Her research interests include health education, health promotion, and maternal and child health, drawing from her medical experience and passion for improving public health outcomes through community engagement and education. | ||
| Chiazam Izuchukwu | Student Affiliate | Chiazam is a Master’s student in Information Technology at Georgia Southern University. His pursuit of a graduate degree encompasses diverse IT aspects, including Data Science and Analytics, IT Project Management, IT governance and other core areas within the IT domain. He worked with KPMG as an audit intern where he formed part of the financial services audit team that conducted a statutory audit and analytical review of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). His current interests include data science, AI and machine learning. He also possesses expertise in data mining and visualization tools: Python, SQL, PowerBI and Tableau. | ||
| Ryan Lofaro | Faculty Affiliate | Ryan Lofaro is an assistant professor in the Department of Public and Nonprofit Studies at Georgia Southern University. He holds a Ph.D. in public administration from Florida Atlantic University. His research aims attention at policy responses to health crises and their associated policy debates, with a focus on the opioid crisis and COVID-19. Specifically, he examines how such policy responses impact public servants and what these policies and the attitudes and behaviors of public servants mean for the protection of marginalized groups during crises. He is excited to be a faculty affiliate at IHLA and to help improve our communities. | ||
| Casey Long | Student Affiliate | |||
| Juliann McBrayer | Faculty Affiliate | Juliann Sergi McBrayer, Ed.D. is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Research Center at Georgia Southern University. She also serves as the Program Director for the Educational Leadership master’s and educational specialist programs. She holds a Doctorate and Educational Specialist from Georgia Southern University, a Master’s degree from Ohio University, and a Bachelor’s degree from SUNY College at Buffalo. She has served 20 years as an educational leadership associate/assistant professor, educational program coordinator, instructional school leader, professional development and federal programs coordinator, classroom teacher and teacher leader. As a scholarly practitioner, her research interests include the development, implementation, and assessment of educational leadership and teacher preparation programs with a focus on purposeful, collaborative, and sustainable professional learning programming to ensure effectiveness and accountability. | ||
| Beth McGee | Faculty Affiliate | |||
| Katie Mercer | Faculty Affiliate | |||
| Emmanuela Nwaonumah | Student Affiliate | |||
| Nikheal Patel | Community Collaborator | Nikheal Patel, M.Ed., is a recent graduate of the Higher Education Administration Program at Georgia Southern University and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Currently, he serves as a Study Abroad Liaison at the Marino Institute of Education in Dublin, Ireland, where he supports the integration of American university students into Ireland’s study abroad programs. His research interests focus on student development theory, cultural competence, and international student populations in American higher education. With extensive international experience, Nikheal skillfully bridges theory and practice, fostering positive engagement and networking with diverse groups. | ||
| Chad Posick | Faculty Affiliate | Chad Posick is a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia Southern University. He is also a co-director of the National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Research Center. His research interests include victimization, biopsychosocial perspectives on behavior, and statistical methodology. He teaches in the areas of victimology, family violence, and statistics. He serves on the board of directors of Child Advocacy Services of Southeastern Georgia. | ||
| Vijayalakshmi Ramasamy | Faculty Affiliate | |||
| Erick Riner | Staff Affiliate | |||
| Hossein Taheri | Faculty Affiliate | Dr. Hossein Taheri is an associate professor in the Department of Manufacturing Engineering at Georgia Southern University and an affiliated faculty member of the Institute for Health Logistics and Analytics (IHLA). He completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Electrical Engineeringat Iowa State University’s Center for Nondestructive Evaluation (CNDE), where he specialized in Nondestructive Testing (NDT) and Advanced Manufacturing. His research focuses on nondestructive evaluation, advanced manufacturing, and material characterization, as well as smart sensing and technologies for a variety of applications including infrastructure and farming applications. Dr. Taheri’s recent projects include in-situ monitoring for additive manufacturing and intelligent structural health monitoring. His research interests also extend to developing innovative manufacturing and material processing techniques for polymers and composites, supporting robust and efficient systems in both manufacturing and health logistics applications. | ||
| Chris Trautman | Community Collaborator | Christopher Trautman is thrilled to be serving as an affiliate on the IHLA Education & workforce development interdisciplinary team. He currently serves as the Director of Student Conduct at Montclair State University, where he earned his MA in Higher Education Leadership in 2017. His previous roles include nearly ten years of Residence Life experience across public and private institutions. He previously co-authored a chapter on non-academic college spending in “Colleges at the Crossroads: Taking Sides on Contested Issues,” published by Peter Lang, and has contributed reflections on the state of Residence Life for Roompact. | ||
| Wei Tu | Faculty Affiliate | Dr. Wei Tu is a Geography and Geographic Information Science professor at the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability. His current research explores the influence of place and space on health outcomes, focusing on social determinants of maternal and child health. Dr. Tu has published nearly 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and was the mapping supervisor for the Metro Atlanta Equity Atlas project. He was named a Governor’s Teaching Fellow of the University System of Georgia in 2019 and a Social Determinants on Health & Place Fellow by the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2024. | ||
| Paul Tubig | Faculty Affiliate | Dr. Paul Tubig is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Georgia Southern University. He specializes in social and political philosophy, bioethics, neuroethics, ethics of technology, and philosophy of disability. His current research focuses on the ethics of emerging technologies and topics in health justice. His works have appeared in Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Monash Bioethics Review, and International Journal of Feminist Approaches in Bioethics. | ||
| Casey Weaver | Staff Affiliate | Hello, I’m Casey Weaver, the Special Assistant to the Provost. In addition, I am a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education Leadership Program, focusing on Higher Education Administration, at Georgia Southern University. Having been part of Georgia Southern for over a decade, I genuinely enjoy being a Georgia Southern Eagle. I am thrilled to join the Institute for Health Logistics and Analytics (IHLA) as an affiliate, as I have a strong passion for research and education. I look forward to expanding my knowledge and sharing it with others. | ||
| Jamie Workman | Community Collaborator | Jamie L. Workman, PhD is an Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership at Valdosta State University. She specializes in student affairs content areas, including student development theory, social justice and inclusion in higher education, and current issues in student affairs. Her research focuses on undergraduate student success primarily from a major and career development perspective, among other topics related to higher education and student affairs. She is an active member of ACPA: College Student Educators International and currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs. |