Staff

Jing Zhai

Tung Scholar

Steven Anderson

Geology Prof

Outdoorsy, lots of national parks, Colorado. Married to Karen

Steve is a fisherman, scuba diver, and an 8-time Ironman finisher.

Lives half in CO half in Alaska - for the fishing

Brad Bond

Murray Chair in Journalism

Chair of the Department of Com at University of San Diego

He also extends his work into the entertainment industry, consulting for major content creators in film, television, video games, and online video.

Lydia Dambekalns

Art Education and Curriculum Studies

Born in Washington DC, grew up in Virginia,

Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya and Benin, Africa

Extensive world travel, speaks French and Swahili

Co-owner of ranch in Laramie, Wyoming, raising and training horses and raising hay commercially.

Scott Denning

Global Studies Director

A world-renowned climate scientist,

His research has included extensive field work in the great north woods of Wisconsin, the farms of Iowa, and the Amazon rainforest.

An engaging and sought-after public speaker, Denning is also an extraordinary astrophotographer.

Andrea Duffy

Global Studies Team – Faculty

Andrea Duffy, Ph.D., serves as assistant vice provost and associate professor of history at Colorado State University.

She is the author of numerous publications including the award-winning book Nomad’s Land: Pastoralism and French Environmental Policy in the Nineteenth-Century Mediterranean World (University of Nebraska Press, 2019).

John Duffy

John R. Duffy, Ph.D., is a cognitive neuroscientist whose work explores how mindfulness shapes brain connectivity and enhances mental health interventions.

His research integrates neuroimaging (MRI), connectivity analysis, and psychometrics to examine the value of mindfulness-based interventions in treating psychopathology and helping people thrive. C

Sal Genovese -Biology

Senior Lecturer in the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Boston University’s College of General Studies.

Trained as a marine biologist with research interests focused at the intersection of oceanography and subtidal benthic marine ecology, his research has examined population and community dynamics of corals and other marine invertebrates and algae in the Gulf of Maine, the Caribbean and Florida Keys, French Polynesia and Antarctica.

He previously served as faculty on the SAS Summer 2013 and Spring 2015 voyages.

Laurie Glover

Writing Center Director

In all of Laurie Glover’s work, she thinks about humans’ relationships to place: how they make themselves at home, how they treat the habitats and homelands of others. This has led her to seek out unusual teaching assignments and to write across many genres.

For example, after spending three years leading study abroad programs in Sydney, Australia, she completed a travel memoir, Travelling Alone in the Company of Others, and she is currently in the midst of finishing a book of poetry arising from a shipboard residency in the Arctic seas of Svalbard, halfway between Norway and the North Pole.

Upon return from the Fall 2023 voyage, she will be taking up a part-time position in the Environment, Spirituality and Religion graduate program at the California Institute of Integrated Studies.

Laurie has backpacked in both hemispheres and spent many summers on various boats on the waters of British Columbia’s Inside Passage.

Molly Gutilla

Epidemiology and Public Health

Dr. Molly J. Gutilla is an Associate Professor in Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health and in Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University.

Her research focuses on environmental epidemiology, social determinants of health, and public health data.

Michelle Inderbitzin

Sociology/Criminology

Michelle Inderbitzin is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University. Her work and research center around juvenile justice, prison culture, and transformative education.

Along with her on-campus classes, Professor Inderbitzin has spent her career regularly teaching and volunteering in state prisons and youth correctional facilities.

In addition, she has led more than 10 summer study abroad programs to London.

Professor Inderbitzin has received a number of awards for her teaching and engagement, including the American Society of Criminology’s lifetime Teaching Award. Being selected as a faculty member for Semester at Sea is fulfilling a bucket list goal!

Todd Kuethe

Economics

Todd H. Kuethe is a Professor and Schrader Chair in Farmland Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University.

Todd has an active research and extension program in farm real estate markets, agricultural finance, and agricultural policy. His work has been profiled in a number of major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, National Public Radio, and VICE. He has won a number of national research and teaching awards.

Todd previously worked at the University of Illinois and the USDA Economic Research Service and served as Editor of Agricultural Finance Review. Todd is also a consultant at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Stepanka Magstadtova

Modern History

An educator at several U.S. institutions of higher learning and in the Czech Republic, an interdisciplinary and an international scholar, a former director of the Center for the Study of Human Trafficking and Interpersonal Violence, and the Fall 2019 Voyage Director of Global Studies.

Areas of expertise include teaching International and Global Studies, Global Migration, Social Movements and Human Rights, and Films and the World, introductory and upper-level courses in History. A founder and a member of several nonprofit organisations in the U.S. and in the Czech Republic.

Elvira Masson

College Professor of History at New Mexico State University, where she focuses on East Asian History, specifically the cultural histories of China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. Prof.

Masson is also based in the Department of Language & Literature, where she teaches introductory Linguistics courses and is the former Head of the Chinese Language program. In the Honors College, she teaches courses on Buddhism and Chinese Literature.

Over her teaching career, she has also taught courses in Chinese theater and film, gender and sexuality studies, American History, and Chinese language.

A former study abroad student herself, Prof. Masson has developed and led numerous study abroad programs for high school, college, and lifelong learners in China. Her favorite maxim: “Begin again.”

Chris Melby

Nutrition Science and Human Metabolism

Dr. Chris Melby has served as a professor at Purdue University and Colorado State University for 43 years. He served for 12 years as Head of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at CSU in addition to his regular faculty appointment.

His research and teaching focuses on human metabolism and the role of nutrition and physical activity to reduce risk factors for hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease with an emphasis on improving health inequities.

He has published more than 100 research papers in nutrition, health science, and medical journals, and taught graduate and undergraduate classes in nutrition, exercise physiology, epidemiology, and metabolism.

Chris has lived and worked in the Middle East, Australia, and South America.

Teboho Moja

Chapman Impact Faculty Scholar

Dr. Teboho Moja is a Professor of Higher Education at New York University. She is an expert on higher education systems and in particular on African higher education systems. She was instrumental in the transformation of the higher education system in South Africa, serving as the Executive Director and being a Commissioner of the National Commission of Higher Education, appointed by the late President Nelson Mandela.

She is the recipient of several distinguished awards, including the Lifetime Achiever by the National Research Foundation and an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Pretoria in South Africa, as well as the Martin Luther King Junior Award and the James Weldon Johnson Distinguished Faculty Award in the USA.

Juliane Mora

Global Studies Team – Faculty

an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Gonzaga University teaching classes on meaning-making, power & identity; struggle & resistance; and the politics of space & place.

She has taught communication content across the curriculum to students in the humanities, sciences, engineering, and business at 5 different institutions across the U.S.

Additionally, she holds a position as Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Pedagogy in the Center for Teaching and Advising where she works to facilitate understanding and implementation of inclusive teaching practices by instructors across disciplines.

Kim Poitevin

Interdisciplinary Studies

Kimberly Poitevin is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts, where she coordinates the university’s honors program.

Dr. Poitevin’s scholarship has focused on women’s roles in the construction of racial identities in the early modern world. Her translations of the Guatemalan poet Manuel Jose Arce have been published in the North American Review. Over her teaching career, Dr. Poitevin has taught a wide range of courses, from first-year seminars to Shakespeare, world literature, medical humanities, women’s and gender studies, and research methods. She is thrilled to be joining the voyage with her partner Sal, and son Julien (16).

Jen Reinke

Human Development and Family Studies

Dr. Jennifer Reinke is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of Experiential Learning in the Department of Human Development & Family Studies (HDFS) at Colorado State University.

She has led service-learning study abroad programs in sub-Saharan Africa, including a program focused on supporting children with disabilities in South Africa and a program focused on community education and health in Zambia. Dr. Reinke teaches undergraduate courses in HDFS and oversees the HDFS practicum and internship programs.

She is a CSU Faculty Institute for Inclusive Excellence Fellow and CSU Teaching Effectiveness Fellow, and is also a Certified Family Life Educator and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She is joined on this voyage by her partner, Jonathan, and 9-year-old twins, Reece and Rowan

Lori Shemanski

Librarian

Lori currently works as the Reference Librarian/Associate Professor at Luzerne County Community College in northeastern Pennsylvania. She began her library career working at several of the Boston College Libraries. A life-long learner, Lori loves learning new skills and has obtained post-graduation certificates in Digital Public Humanities from George Mason University and Publishing from Emerson College. Lori served in the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching at colleges in Sichuan, China for two years. She also taught English in Kyoto, Japan for a year and in Singapore for three months. Lori has built houses with Habitat for Humanity Global Village and Fuller Center Global Builders which took her to Samoa, Egypt, Paraguay, South Africa, Romania, Madagascar and Portugal.

Joy Shields

Sensory Marketing & Brand Strategy

Professor Joy Shields is a marketing educator, consultant, and researcher whose work explores how sensory marketing, specifically touch and haptic engagement, influences consumer perception and decision-making in physical and digital spaces. With experience spanning Fortune 500 campaigns, CPG strategy, and international education, she brings a practice-informed perspective to the classroom. She is known for creating experiential learning environments that blend theory with application that reflect today’s evolving marketing landscape. Dr. Shields is a recipient of the 2023 George Award and the Engaged Management Scholarship Outstanding Proposal Award. Her work has been recognized by the American Academy of Advertising and the Journal of Advertising.

Aaron Stephens

Business administration and finance

Aaron Stephens is an associate professor of business and finance at Hartwick College. He received a Fulbright Specialist Grant in 2023 and was an alternate Fulbright Scholar. In addition to publishing six books and 26 peer-reviewed articles, he has earned multiple industry certifications—Six Sigma Green Belt, American Sailing (ASA) 101, 103, 104, 201, a USCG master captain’s license, and FINRA’s Series 7 (stock broker) license. His research interests focus on strategic management, supply chain management, economic policy, and marketing, with particular emphasis on emerging markets in Asia and Africa. His latest work compares cross-cultural perspectives between Eastern and Western contexts.

Shauhin Talesh

Law

Shauhin Talesh is Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine, with courtesy appointments in Sociology and Criminology, Law & Society. His research interests include the empirical study of law and business organizations, dispute resolution, consumer protection, insurance, and the relationship between law and social inequality.

Professor Talesh is considered one of the leading scholars on organizational responses to law and compliance and the relationship between insurance, regulation and inequality. Talesh’s scholarship has won multiple awards in Sociology, Political Science and Law & Society. He was voted by UCI Law Students 1L Professor of the Year in 2018-19, 2020-21 and 2021-22 and Teacher of the Year in 2022 by the Association of American Law Schools.

Nina Tannenwald

International Relations

Nina Tannenwald is Associate Teaching Professor in the Political Science Department at Brown University. Her research focuses on the role of international institutions, norms and ideas in global security issues, efforts to control weapons of mass destruction, and human rights and the laws of war. Her book, The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-use of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945 was awarded the Lepgold Prize in 2009 for best book in international relations. She has taught at Stanford and Cornell universities and served as a Franklin Fellow in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation in the U.S. State Department. In 2023 she spent six months as Fulbright Visiting Professor of International Studies at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.

Samuel Tham

Strategic Communications and Media Psychology

Samuel M. Tham is an associate professor in the department of Journalism and Media Communication at Colorado State University. As a media psychologist, Tham’s research interests lies in the domain of digital advertising, ad avoidance, and problematic media use especially in social media and video gaming.

Prior to academia, Tham worked in the advertising and public relations industry for over a decade, first as a founder of his online gaming company, then as an advertising account executive, and later in corporate communications.

His return to academia after a successful industry career was driven towards mentoring students and developing their research toward careers in academia and industry.

Diego Vega Araya

Faculty Member (Contractor)

Diego Vega is a proud citizen of Costa Rica and will be happy to share his views about the political, economic, and cultural landscape of his own country. Spanish is his first language. He has had the privilege of sailing as a faculty member with Semester at Sea in Fall 2016, Spring 2018, Fall 2019 (interport lecturer for Costa Rica), and Spring 20223. He understands culture and ethnicity through experience.
He is a Psychology professor and a holds a full-time private practice in Costa Rica.
As a practicing couples’ therapist for more than 20 years, he has work with many Costa Rican and U.S. couples living in Costa Rica. His research interests include: trust issues in romantic relationships, understanding culture and ethnicity, aging, and bilingualism.

Jennifer Crane

Administrative Assistant for Program Support

Jennifer retired in 2019 from a 30 year career as a Plant Physiologist for the USDA and within 48 hours was on her way to California to join the SP2020 voyage as a staculty companion. The challenges of that pandemic trip cemented her interest in traveling and living with younger adults and kindled her love of voyaging aboard the MV World Explorer. She particularly enjoys sojourning in ports around the world with her husband and with Field Program groups. Her current favorite quote is “Equal rights for all does not mean fewer rights for you! It’s not pie!”. Jennifer encourages you to stop by the reception desk, so she can get to know you a bit and offer her support as we travel together.

Nate Donovan

Assistant Lifelong Learner Coordinator

Nate Donovan, who will serve SAS Spring 2026 as Assistant Lifelong Learning Coordinator, hails from Fort Collins, Colorado. From a young age, Nate has been fascinated by the effects of government, politics and public policy on cultures. A retired attorney and former school board member, Nate loves mentoring students as a school bus driver in the Thompson School District in Loveland, Colorado. Nate and his spouse Jody Donovan, who serves as Asst. Executive Dean, look forward to a great voyage meeting wonderful people!

Pancho Herrera

Administrative Assistant for Program Support

Pancho Herrera is a career bicycle industry professional with experience in product development and engineering support. He spent over a decade with SRAM helping to develop their industry leading wireless shift system. His more recent endeavors include design and engineering for Rodeo Adventure Labs, a gravel bike manufacture respected for their innovative products.

His experience in adventure tourism includes guiding mountain bike tours for Gravity Bolivia and the creation of Llama Mama Mountain Bike Tours in San Crostóbal, Bolivia.

Emily Morse

Nurse Practitioner

Emily grew up in Ohio where she went to college, moved to Connecticut for graduate school and landed in Fort Collins, CO where she has lived for the past 12 years. Emily works at Colorado State University as a nurse practitioner in student health. Some of her passions include nature, animals, music and adventures of all kinds. This will be her second SAS voyage; she sailed as part of the medical team in Spring 2019 and is excited to be back!

Mary Pan

Physician

Dr. Mary Pan is a board certified family medicine physician with a background in global health and narrative medicine. She has over 15 years in clinical practice in Seattle, has worked in rural settings in Kenya and the Dominican Republic, and has also served for the past five years as chief wellness officer at Kaiser Permanente Washington.

Dr. Pan is an avid writer, has earned her Media & Medicine certification from Harvard, and teaches narrative medicine to multidisciplinary healthcare students, practicing clinicians, and the general public. She recognizes the importance of attentive listening and storytelling in the practice of medicine.

She lives in north Seattle with her three children and is thrilled to be returning to SAS as a Fall 1998 alum!

Latasha Pennant

Counselor

Latasha is a licensed mental health counselor with a passion for supporting and empowering others on their journey to well-being. As a Mental Health and Wellness Counselor at Prince George’s Community College and owner of Building Blocks Counseling and Wellness, she provides counseling and dynamic wellness programs to help individuals thrive. A lifelong learner and entrepreneur, Latasha previously owned a poke’ bowl restaurant and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Urban Educational Leadership at Morgan State University. After proudly serving 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, she is excited to return to sea—this time as a mental health counselor with Semester at Sea—supporting voyagers through this transformative experience!

Lucy Pilcher

Counselor

Lucy is a licensed clinical social worker with diverse experience working in medical and clinical mental health settings. Lucy began her career working with children and families, before moving into clinical practice with a focus on trauma, substance use, anxiety and co-occurring conditions. Lucy holds a faculty position at Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine, and teaches in the Masters of Social Work program at Boston University. Lucy is the Director of social work education at Dartmouth Health and enjoys this combination of clinical practice and teaching. Outside of work, Lucy spends as much time as possible outdoors in Vermont, with her family and golden retriever Waffles.

Doug Pilcher

Parent Caregiver Co-Op Liaison

Doug holds a Doctorate in Education from NorthEastern University and brings a lifelong passion for working with children, teens, and families in a variety of educational settings. With a background as a public and private school teacher and administrator, and extensive experience in summer camp leadership, he blends educational expertise with creativity, play and fun. Doug is known for fostering environments where learning, laughter, and connection thrive and is most excited for the relationships and connections he and his family will build during this voyage while exploring the world. In his spare time Doug loves to golf, snowboard an spend time with his three children Milo, Bellamy and Otto.

Karen Rattenborg

Global Studies Instructional Coordinator

Dr. Karen Rattenborg retired from Colorado State University in 2021 after a fulfilling 30-year career devoted to teaching, mentoring, and educational leadership. She taught more than 60 undergraduate and graduate courses in educational pedagogy, experiential learning, and grant writing, and spent her final decade leading CSU’s nationally recognized Early Childhood Center, a model for excellence in preparing early childhood professionals. Her passion for education has taken her across the globe—from earning a Fulbright Specialist Award at Kagawa University in Japan to advanced study of the Reggio Emilia approach in Italy. A Semester at Sea voyager in Fall 2018 and Fall 2022, Karen is delighted to once again join this vibrant community of learning, discovery, and exploration.

Deb Schneider

Counselor

Deb Schneider is a clinical social worker with experience working in high school and university settings as well as in private practice. She has been providing care for Bay Area queer/trans/non-binary communities for over 20 years, specifically young queer adults. Deb strongly believes that community connections and care are imperative to shifting the factors that impact queer mental health. While Deb has lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years, they identify as an East Coaster where they were raised and went to college.