Chancellor's Scholars Registry

Lorena Ballester

West Virginia University
Higher Education

I am a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education program at WVU. My dissertation studies the synergy between local and global engagement models in the land-grant university of today. I obtained a M.A. in World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics from WVU, and a B.A. in Education Sciences from the National University of Rosario, Argentina. Currently, I am a research assistant at the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and Development where I focus on optimizing processes to improve organizations in the public and private sectors. Previously, I was a teaching assistant in various programs at WVU including Higher Education, Five-Year Teacher Education, and the Basic Spanish Program.

Employment Registry and Consent Form

Susana Mazuelas Quirce

West Virginia University
Higher Education

Susana Mazuelas Quirce is a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education program at WVU. As a non-traditional and diverse scholar, she has experienced firsthand challenging circumstances in higher education and at the same time, institutional responses that intentionally promote and support student success. The aim of her graduate work is to help Appalachian tertiary institutions attract and retain more students and faculty from underrepresented populations. She believes that the design of targeted policies, programs, curricula, services, and experiences in general, can positively contribute to fosters diversity and equity and create campuses that welcome diverse groups. Susana also collaborates in data gathering and analysis efforts to enhance educational opportunities and access to the workforce for women and girls in West Virginia, the state that has been her home for the last 12 years.

Cecilia Guerrero Sierra-Bakhshi

Marshall University
Microbiology, Biomedical Research

I received a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Biological Engineering and a Master of Science (M.S.) in Biology from North Carolina A&T State University. As a master's student at NC A&T, I developed an interest in microbiology, which led me to pursue a Ph.D. Here at Marshall University, I am conducting research under the mentorship of Dr. Lydia Bogomolnaya. Our research investigates the physiological role of the bacterial drug efflux pump MacAB in Serratia marcescens. This will increase our understanding of its regulation and natural substrates, and aid in the development of novel strategies to approach bacterial infections.

Cassaundra Ahlan Song

Marshall University
Biomedical Research

Most recently I graduated from Chaminade University of Honolulu with a BS in Forensic Science. Before that I worked in clinical research at Loma Linda University and in basic science research at the University of California, San Diego where I graduated with a BA in anthropology. I also completed a Master’s degree in health and international development from Flinder’s University in Adelaide, Australia. As a Native Hawaiian woman in science, I plan to use my education and skills to help improve the health of indigenous communities.

Vivian Naa Amua Wellington

Marshall University
Biomedical Research

I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Clinical and Translational Sciences at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, under the tutelage of Dr. Umar Sundaram. I received my BSc. in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Ghana for my work examining the growth and protein expression patterns of doxycycline resistant and sensitive Vibrio Cholerae isolates. I also did further work at the West African Center for the Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) on a project assessing the prevalence of zoonotic pathogenic genes in bacterial samples obtained from livestock farms in Nigeria. My current work is in the area of intestinal nutrient/electrolyte transport, primarily focusing on changes in transporter function in inflammatory conditions including obesity. I am also very interested in and have been involved in mentorship programs focused on introducing minority groups, especially young ladies to S.T.E.M education.

Eliane Falonne Tsopmegha

Marshall University
Biomedical Research

I am Eliane Tsopmegha and I am a 3rd year PhD student and a chancellor scholar at the Marshall University School of Medicine Biomedical Research Program. I graduated as a biology major from Caldwell University in New Jersey where I was first introduced to research and have loved it ever since. During my senior year in Caldwell university, I applied and was awarded a $1000 grant that allowed me to conduct a small independent research project titled Are makeup tools safe? Can they be sources of infection? I enjoyed working on this project and was blessed to present my findings at the Independent College Fund of New Jersey (ICFNJ)’s annual symposium in March 2018 and at the Caldwell University’s research day in April 2018. My research journey is currently ongoing at Marshall University where I awarded the best academic performance by a first-year research student award and where I am working on the regulation of nutrient transporters in obesity in Dr. Uma Sundaram lab.

Oluwatoyin Adebisi

West Virginia University
Human and Community Development

Oluwatoyin Adebisi, one of the Chancellor's Scholars at West Virginia University, is currently a third-year Ph.D. Candidate in Human and community development at the University of West Virginia University, working under Dr. Doolarie Singh-Knight's supervision. She is originally from Akure North in Nigeria, second born in a family of four, and now happily married to pastor Adeniyi Adebisi with three handsome boys. I came to the United States of America 10 years ago. Before coming to the United States, she completed her first degree and a second degree with a BSc in Animal and meat science at the Federal Universities of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. In the United States, she received two MSc. in Food Nutrition in “Effect of rigor mortis at varying Postharvest Time on Fillet Quality of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Applied Statistics (2012, 2014). She is currently working on her dissertation title: "Agritourism as a catalyst for sustainable community development using cluster network." Her research is focused on the benefits of agritourism cluster to both the operators and travelers. She focuses on modeling a micro-cluster network within the agritourism operators in WV and five other states in the Appalachia region using GIS. Afterward, she will design a comprehensive educational training curriculum for the agritourism operator. She has spoken at a number of conferences and can be contacted at oadebisi@mix.wvu.edu.

Adama Warr

West Virginia University
Human and Community Development

I grew up in Mauritania. Mauritania is a country that has Arabs and Black people, where some Blacks are still being enslaved by some Arabs, despite the abolition of slavery by the Mauritanian government in the eighties. I came to the US in 2000 to learn from the American experiences and go back to Mauritania to accomplish my mission in life, which is solving the economic and social injustices that exist. I believe that everything that I have done in the US, from attending colleges, working, and volunteering at different entities, is something important in helping me accomplish my mission. Therefore, this is the main reason why I am in graduate school at West Virginia University.

Segun Olanrewaju Ajewole

West Virginia University
Occupational Safety and Health

I’m a final year PhD student and a research assistant at the college of engineering with research on “Effects of air exhaled from wearers of different respiratory masks on the sterile field in Operating rooms”. This is my 7th year in Morgantown, WV and within this time frame, I can say I have acquired a lot of knowledge and valuable skills that will undoubtedly help me to work well with others as well provides excellent service needed to survive in the work environment. I enjoy the diversity in West Virginia University community which has enabled me to learn about other cultures and made friends with people outside my ethnicity and background. My goal is give back to my community and the world entirely through the knowledge and information I have acquired over time in the area of continuous improvement wherever I found myself through researching and consulting on a better and improved way of working safely in any organization I may found myself. I enjoy working in the lab and plays soccer, volleyball and watches movies in my spare time.

Employment Registry and Consent Form

Bruce E. Mitchell II

West Virginia University
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Bruce E. Mitchell II is from Cleveland, Ohio and is a full time Ph.D. candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at West Virginia University. He studies curricular reform interventions and their impact on campus racial climate, institutional reform, and organizational change through the perceptions of students and faculty/administrators, following Black students’ demands stemming from racial campus unrest. Fraternally, Mitchell is the former Midwestern Regional Chairman and Dean for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated’s Leadership Development Institute and District Executive Director of the District of West Virginia. He has been a Higher Education Administrator for 10 years, working at various levels between Kent State University and West Virginia University. Mitchell is a Former Asst. Director of WVU’s Center for Black Culture and Research and a direct report to the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, where he led WVU’s Diversity Initiatives Department by developing several university level signature programs, services, and initiatives for students of color to aid them more intentionally in their collegiate development. For the last 17 years, Mitchell has dedicated his life to mentoring and helping to develop young leaders in both high school—through TRiO Upward Bound—and at the collegiate level and beyond. Upon completion of his doctoral program, Mitchell plans to return to his career in higher education as a student affairs/diversity, equity and inclusion administrator and a part time faculty member; his ultimate goal is to become a university president.

Maxwell NimakoI

West Virginia University
Political Science

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at West Virginia University. My research straddles both Comparative Politics and Public Policy with a regional focus on Africa. I am generally interested in how religion shapes voting behavior, but I also work on other research areas including cabinets and decision-making, ethnic politics in Africa, elections and democratization. I am from Ghana and obtained my BA in Political Science and Psychology at the University of Ghana. I hold two master’s degree in International Affairs and Political Science from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Prior to coming to Ohio, I worked as a data processing officer at the Ghana Statistical Service and a National Service Personnel at the Ministry of Defense in Ghana, specifically the education directorate.