LSI in March's Faculty and Staff Briefs

April 3, 2026

Olivia Cook, Ph.D. was named the 2026 National Postdoc of the Year by the National Postdoc Association.

HONORS AND AWARDS

Olivia Cook, Ph.D. (Department of Psychology/Learning Systems Institute) was named the 2026 National Postdoc of the Year by the National Postdoc Association.

NOTABLE

Vilma Fuentes, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) was part of a delegation who met with the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. The delegation was supported by FSU’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy and promoted American excellence in education and reinforced U.S. leadership in research, innovation and people-to-people engagement.

Celia Reddick, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) chaired the business meeting for the Language Issues SIG at the 2026 CIES Conference in San Francisco.

BYLINES

Stephanie Zuilkowski, Ed.D. and Ana Marty, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) authored “Examining the Teaching Practicum in Zambia: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities” in the Global Education Review.

Anna Romanova, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) had two peer-reviewed articles published. “Psycho-emotional climate and state of participants in the educational process amidst crisis in Ukraine” was published in Clinical and Preventive Medicine and “Model for managing psychological safety and resilience in educational institutions during war” was published in University Scientific Notes.

Graphic featuring Dr. Anna Romanova sitting in a chair. Text highlights her roles as an Eastern Europe Researcher, Project Consultant, and LSI Researcher. It mentions new publications on clinical and preventive medicine and university scientific notes. The image includes logos for the Learning Systems Institute and Florida State University. — **Anna Romanova**, **Ph.D.** (Learning Systems Institute) had two peer-reviewed articles published.

Photo of Amanda Tazaz after presenting "Engaging the Next Generation of Geoscientists: Summer Camp Partnership for Hands-On Ocean Science Education" — **Amanda Tazaz, Ph.D.** (Learning Systems Institute) presented "Engaging the Next Generation of Geoscientists: Summer Camp Partnership for Hands-On Ocean Science Education"

PRESENTATIONS

Amanda Tazaz, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented "Engaging the Next Generation of Geoscientists: Summer Camp Partnership for Hands-On Ocean Science Education" at the 2026 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

Flavia Ramos-Mattousi, Ed.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Reimagining Visual Dialogue in Community Health and Education: Integrating Hand-Drawn and Ai-Generated Images in the Fotodialogo Method” and “Re-Imagining Visual Dialogue: Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Arts-Based Research Through the Fotodialogo Method” at the INTED 2026 conference in Valencia, Spain.

Subhasree Sengupta, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Analyzing the Interconnections Between the Multi-level Activity Systems of Deepfake-Infused Co-creation" at the 28th Annual SAIS Conference in Asheville, N.C.

Stephanie Zuilkowski, Ed.D. (Learning Systems Institute) chaired “Transforming Teacher Education: From Colonial Legacies to Compassionate Pedagogies” and presented “Leveraging pre-service teacher education to improve foundational learning: Evidence from the Zambia Pre-service Teacher Education Study” at the 2026 CIES Conference in San Francisco.

Celia Reddick, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Concerted Community Engagement: Refugee Education and Parents’ Daily Acts of Resistance” " at the 2026 CIES Conference in San Francisco.

Kate Schell, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) chaired “Teachers' and Families' Perspectives on Language-in-Education Policies” and presented “’Dancing to the Music’ in the Philippines: Local Enactment of Shifting, Ambiguous Language-in-Education Policies” at the 2026 CIES Conference in San Francisco.

Brenda Wawire, Ph.D., Kate Schell, Ph.D., Celia Reddick, Ph.D., and Adrienne-Barnes-Story, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Multilingual Realities, Monolingual Policies: Translanguaging in Malawi’s Classrooms” at the 2026 CIES Conference in San Francisco.

Brenda Wawire, Ph.D., Celia Reddick, Ph.D., Adrienne-Barnes-Story, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) and Sana Tibi, Ph.D. (Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders) presented “Refugee resettlement amid anti-refugee rhetoric: How refugee families navigate school in a southeastern US city” and “Refugee trajectories, mobility, aspirations, and political constraints” at the 2026 CIES Conference in San Francisco.

Brenda Wawire, Ph.D. and Adrienne-Barnes-Story, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented “Observing overcrowded Malawian classrooms through the Teaching Through Interactions Framework (TTIF) lens” at the 2026 CIES Conference in San Francisco.

Melba Marin-Velasquez, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute), Anairis de la Cruz Benito, Ph.D. (FSU Fellows Society), Ayesha Khurshid, Ph.D., Lama Jaber, Ph.D., and Katherine Yaun (FSU Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) presented “Maya Muslim Women as Vulnerable Agents: Teaching & Learning of Maya Medicine in Chiapas, Mexico” at the 2026 CIES Conference in San Francisco.