Our Team

PreSTAR is led by an interdisciplinary team of faculty, staff and graduate students at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with expertise in early childhood education and development, behavioral cognition, entomology, engineering, statistics and methodology.

Research Team

Soo-Young Hong, PH.D.

Principal Investigator
Associate Professor, Child, Youth & Family Studies
shong5@unl.edu

Marianna Burks, PH.D.

Assistant Professor of Practice, Biological Sciences
marianna.burks@unl.edu

Doug Golick, PH.D.

Professor, Entomology
dgolick2@unl.edu

Deepika Menon, PH.D.

Assistant Professor of Science Education, Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education
dmenon2@unl.edu

Sarah Paulos, M.Ed.

Lower School Science Teacher, Brownell Talbot College Preparatory School
sarah.paulos@brownell.edu

Lisa Poppe, M.S.

Early Childhood Extension Educator, Nebraska Extension
lpoppe2@unl.edu

LaDonna Werth, M.S.

Early Childhood Extension Educator, Nebraska Extension
lwerth2@unl.edu

Christine Wittich, PH.D.

Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
cwittich@unl.edu

HyeonJin Yoon, PH.D.

Research Assistant Professor, MAP Academy
Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools
hyoon5@unl.edu

Graduate Research Assistants

Maddie Pieper

Counseling Psychology

Pragya Pokharel

Child, Youth and Family Studies

Fotima Turdalieva

Child, Youth and Family Studies

Yao Yao

Child, Youth and Family Studies

Brazil partners

Gisela Wajskop, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo; Director, Escola do Bairro, São Paulo

Patricia Pastorello

Former Teacher, Escola do Bairro, São Paulo

Débora Maclean

Teacher, Escola do Bairro, São Paulo

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Advisory Committee members with extensive experience in science-related professional development research provide guidance on all aspects of the PreSTAR program.

Alissa A. Lange, Ph.D.

Professor, Early Childhood Education;
Director, EC STEM Lab
East Tennessee State University

Daryl Greenfield, Ph.D.

Professor, Developmental Psychology
University of Miami

Gwen Nugent, Ph.D.

Research Professor Emeritus, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Julie Thomas, Ph.D.

Research Professor Emeritus, Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education
University of Nebraska–Lincoln