Elyzabeth Engle, Stephanie Bettis Homan, Nicholas Kahn, Holly Martinson and Matthew Mongiello have joined the McDaniel faculty

McDaniel College announces that five new full-time faculty members have recently joined the college. Elyzabeth Engle and Stephanie Bettis Homan join McDaniel as assistant professors while Nicholas Kahn, Holly Martinson and Matthew Mongiello have been promoted to their positions.

Elyzabeth Engle of Westminster, Md., is a new assistant professor of environmental studies at McDaniel. Her interests include community food systems, environmental justice and sustainable development. She has and will continue to engage students in service learning and community-based research opportunities to promote both student professional development and fulfillment of community needs related to sustainable agriculture, food justice and campus sustainability. Her future research will examine the socio-environmental opportunities and barriers in pursuing subsistence activities — gardening, foraging, hunting—as sustainable community and economic development strategies in distressed rural areas.

Engle earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and politics from Juniata College and both a master’s degree and Ph.D. in rural sociology from The Pennsylvania State University, with a dual-title in human dimensions of natural resources and the environment.

Stephanie Bettis Homan of Kenosha, Wis., joins McDaniel as assistant professor of chemistry. She teaches general, physical and inorganic chemistry, as well as interdisciplinary courses in inorganic photophysics and materials for energy conversion. Her research interests are centered on the interface of inorganic, physical and materials chemistry, studying the photophysical properties of inorganic nanocrystal materials used for biomedical imaging and solar energy.

Homan holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Berry College and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, where her dissertation was titled “Photophysical Investigation of energy and electron transfer of Ru(II) functionalized peptide scaffolds.”

Nicholas Kahn of Baltimore (21212) is a former visiting assistant professor who has been promoted to assistant professor of economics and business administration. His research interests are focused on applied microeconomics, labor economics and social policy, and he has published and presented studies on child welfare services, adoption policy and foster care placement. He has taught micro and macroeconomics, econometrics, statistics, labor economics and development economics.

Kahn received a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from the College of Charleston, studied mathematics at Towson University and received a Ph.D. in economics from American University. For his dissertation, he researched racial disparities in various aspects of the child welfare system in the United States.

Holly Martinson of Rockville, Md., has been promoted from visiting assistant professor to assistant professor of biology. An ecologist with expertise in insect-plant interactions, food web ecology and global change ecology, she focuses her research on current problems of global environmental change, such as habitat fragmentation, urbanization and invasive species. She has taught ecology, botany, insects and society, introductory biology and related courses.

Martinson has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University and a Ph.D. in behavior, ecology, evolution and systematics (BEES) program from the University of Maryland.

Matthew Mongiello of Westminster, Md., has been promoted from visiting professor to assistant professor of political science. He also serves as the pre-law advisor. His diverse research interests include public law, political behavior, American social movements, disability studies, animal and environmental studies and food politics. He teaches topics including American politics, constitutional law, civil rights and liberties, social movements, race and gender politics, ethics and public policy, the presidency and interest groups.

Mongiello received a bachelor’s degree in political science, philosophy and psychology from Vanderbilt University, master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in political science from University of Pennsylvania, where he did his dissertation, “Powerless in Movement: How Social Movements Influence, and Fail to Influence American Politics and Policy.”

McDaniel College, founded in 1867 and nationally recognized as one of 40 “Colleges That Change Lives,” is a four-year, independent college of the liberal arts and sciences offering more than 70 undergraduate programs of study, including dual and student-designed majors, plus more than 20 highly regarded graduate programs. Its personalized, interdisciplinary, global curriculum and student-faculty collaboration develop the unique potential in every student. A diverse, student-centered community of 1,600 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students, McDaniel offers access to the resources of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and is the only American college with a European campus in Budapest, Hungary. www.mcdaniel.edu