Jennifer Boeckel is exploring family factors related to the reduction of risk behaviors in Asian youth. Exploring the parenting experiences of gay and lesbian Latinos/as, and understanding the barriers and facilitators of parenting in rural places are also areas of research for her. She has previously looked at grandparent caregiver's use of resources and services, level of burden and factors that mediate their relationship.
Erin Boyce is investigating social work practices related to direct, indirect and secondary trauma among those exposed to childhood sexual abuse disclosures.
Hagit Brandes is investigating the efficacy of animal-assisted intervention use in aggression reduction.
Lindsey Breslin's research interests include HIV/AIDS risk and virtual social networks, sexual and
reproductive health among youth and young adults, social network analysis and comprehensive
sex education.
Michael Chifalo is currently researching lesbian and gay parenting and family systems, gay male fathers'
identity formation and dynamics, parenting experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual
Latino/as, adoption professionals' attitudes toward placing children with LGBT (lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender) families, and the Every Child Deserves a Family HR 3827
policy and practice implications.
Lacey Clark's current research interest is the qualitative exploration of microaggression perpetuated in the university classroom perpetuated against sexual minorities.
Eric DesMarais is interested in international social work with a focus on the development of transnational networks and their effects on human security, human trafficking, migration and development.
Jennifer Dickman Portz's primary research focuses on older adults and health. She notes that this type of research will be essential for creating innovative, cost-effective and evidence-based practices, policies and environments to support our rapidly expanding population of older adults.
Jordan Farrar's research focuses on the international community, specifically Africa. Her primary
research investigates the effect of armed conflict on youth and the utilization of
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration strategies when intervening at the individual
level. Other research interests focus on the effect of armed conflict on community
and the family as well as the use of a resilience perspective when analyzing and proposing
community-based interventions.
Jie Feng's research focuses on multicultural-community practice, particularly women’s issues and
empowerment, as well as international program development and management and social
work administration.
Badiah Haffejee's research interest is in the intersection of immigration policy, particularly as it relates to refugee women in the U.S. Other interests include community development-specifically towards the empowerment of refugee women and youth in urban communities. Her current research investigates African refugee student outcomes in an after-school program, specifically looking at culturally responsive social work practices as it applies to a collectivist-oriented culture.
Lin Jiang's research interest is gerontology, especially comparing Chinese and American older adults' online activities/computer based communication (e.g., voice chat, IM, 3D online games, emails, Facebook, YouTube and blogs), for example, online social support and communication among senior citizens, civic engagement and older adults seeking online health information.
Songmin Kim is investigating how evidence-based social work interventions can include spirituality, particularly in community social work practice.
Chris Knoepke's research interests include quality of life issues in cardiac care, particularly interventions that reduce anxiety provoked by health interventions.
Lisa Langenderfer's research focuses on intimate partner violence, including partner violence among high-risk youth and perpetrator intervention.
Angela Lavery Benson's interests include intervention research involving older adults, specifically in the areas of end-of-life care and the use of animal-assisted interventions, social work interventions with incarcerated older adults, and the salutary effects of empathic relationships between companion animals and older adults.
Amy Lopez focuses her research on child welfare, especially the child welfare workforce, evidence-based practice and mental health in child welfare.
Maureen MacNamara's research interests include the dynamics of animal-assisted interactions, and the selection of animals incorporated in animal-assisted interactions, especially for trauma survivors. Her research interests also include the development and treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children and the incidence of medical life threat among clients with chronic or life-threatening illness.
Jennifer Martin's research interests include establishing best practices for training geriatric social workers, developing new leaders in the field of gerontology, promoting professional ethics in management, and fostering organizational change in non-profit agencies.
Shelby McDonald is investigating the etiology of aggressive and nonaggressive antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. Her research interests also include the application of a risk and resiliency approach to prevention and intervention strategies aimed at promoting physical and mental health outcomes among children exposed to intimate partner violence.
Ashley Michel is investigating the intersection of social work and various immigration issues. Her present research interests include 1) the effects of anti-immigrant policies and practices on the well-being of unauthorized immigrants, persons in mixed-status families, and the larger Latino community, 2) the effect of stigmatization on unauthorized immigrants and their families 3) the stress experienced by mixed-status Latino families due to the constant threat of detainment and/or deportation of unauthorized family members.
Sarah Nickels' research focuses on risk and resilience among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Her dissertation involves a mixed methods study of the social environment of non-suicidal self-injury among LGBTQ youth. She has also engaged in research projects focusing on cisgender (non-transgender) privilege in social work education, creating inclusive campus environments for transgender people, and civic leadership. Sarah remains engaged in social work practice at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment where she manages a federal demonstration grant aimed at improving school-based health care for youth receiving Medicaid and CHP+.
Jennifer Pearson's research interests include ethical standards for animal-assisted interventions,
psychopathologies of the human-animal bond, and the intersection of animal welfare,
human health and the environment.
Jamie Pease's research interests include depression in young adults attending college, and the
relationship between depression and transitioning/emerging adulthood. He is also involved
in suicidology research, including the Military Suicide Research Consortium, a three-year
grant from the Department of Defense aimed at suicide prevention among active duty
military and veterans. His other research interests include self-harm and suicidal
intent among adolescents.
Granger Petersen's research interests include communities communicating and acting in virtual spaces,
social work practice and internet mediated communication, changes in risk and protective
factors associated with internet mediated communication, and use of technology as
a tool for communities to self organize.
Kristie Seelman researches how social welfare and higher education systems marginalize, exclude, and
discriminate against transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. Her dissertation
uses mixed methods to examine this problem. Kristie also studies school engagement
among LGBTQ youth, modern forms of heterosexism, and how awareness of cisgender (non-transgender)
privilege impacts social work practice.
Chris Veeh's primary research area is the community reintegration and desistance process of both juvenile and adult incarcerated populations. He is also interested in transdiscplinary approaches to social work research, especially those involving neuroscience and biomarker data.
Darin Wallis researches adolescent substance abuse treatment, family/systemic intervention strategies and clinical social work supervision.
Jamie Yoder's primary research focuses on understanding the impact of family involvement in the treatment of sexually abusive youth. Isolating family as a factor associated with successful outcomes can inform intervention initiatives and make a substantial contribution to the field.
