Declan Abernethy
History and Sociology of Technology and Science
dabernethy3@gatech.edu
Declan is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in the History and Sociology of Technology and Science (HSOC). Declan’s research focuses on the interaction of sport and society and his dissertation is a socio-historical examination of the United States Women’s National Soccer team. Teaching sport is a strong passion of Declan’s and he has served as the primary Teaching Assistant across a range of HSOC’s sport courses. Declan joined CTL as a Teaching Assistant and GTF in the Summer of 2022. Declan helps administer the CTL Tech to Teaching (T2T) Graduate Certificate and facilitates CTL workshops.
Declan also holds the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning's (CIRTL) Associate, Practitioner, and Scholar certificates. For his Teaching as Research CIRTL project, Declan merged his interests in student goal setting and reflective teaching with youth soccer players. When Declan is not researching and teaching, he coaches youth soccer.
Arpit Narechania
Interactive Computing
arpitnarechania@gatech.edu
Arpit is a 5th year Computer Science PhD candidate in the School of Interactive Computing, advised by Dr. Alex Endert. Arpit builds interactive tools and techniques that provide guidance during visual data analysis; this guidance can be for humans, e.g., to minimize biases while exploring data, or even for systems, e.g., to better understand the user’s intent and accordingly respond. As part of his doctoral journey, Arpit has led multi-disciplinary projects with automobile engineers, database administrators, data scientists, and most recently cartographers and geographic information system experts. Arpit has served as Head TA for CS 4460 (Introduction to Information Visualization) for two semesters. After receiving his Tech to Teaching (T2T) Certificate from CTL in Spring 2023, Arpit joined CTL as a Graduate Teaching Fellow (GTF) in the Summer of 2023 to help facilitate the T2T program and other TA and future faculty initiatives. When not researching and teaching, Arpit plays chess, ping pong, and the keyboard. Also, Arpit looks somewhat like the person in the adjacent photo!
Maugan Lloyd
Psychology
mlloyd32@gatech.edu
Meet Maugan, a seasoned 5th Year Ph.D. Candidate in the Psychology Department, who is passionate about teaching and learning. His research focus is broadly on maintaining cognitive abilities and aging, Maugan brings extensive experience as a TA and lab instructor in various branches of psychology, and is an instructor of record for Introduction to Psychology this year. As a Graduate Teaching Fellow, Maugan presents and facilitates GTA preparation classes on the TA experience, student motivation, and conflict resolution. He is an ardent advocate of The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), and is working on a project to design classes that effectively combat student procrastination, a challenge faced by most students in higher education.
Becky Rafter
Public Policy
brafter3@gatech.edu
Becky D. Rafter is a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Graduate Teaching Fellow for the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at GA Tech. In Spring 2023, she received her Tech to Teaching and CIRTL certificates, and she began working at the Center in Summer 2023, supporting the Tech to Teaching Capstone course and other TA Development and Future Faculty Initiatives. She’s a 4th year Ph.D. student in the School of Public Policy, studying energy and environmental policy. As a researcher, she uses a mixed methodological approach, works with cross-disciplinary teams, and follows the lead of communities directly affected by systemic and historic policy discrimination. As a graduate student instructor, she follows evidence-based practices of learner-centered teaching to help students develop their own analyses and move quickly to mastery. Becky is affiliated with several labs and projects across the Institute, including the Data Science and Policy Lab, under Dr. Omar I. Asensio; the Social Equity and Environmental Engineering Lab, under Dr. Joe F. Bozeman III; Older Graduate Students of GA Tech (The OGs), a Community of Connection under GA Tech Human Resources; and the Provost’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, under the Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Steve McLaughlin. Becky is a seasoned nonprofit leader with demonstrated success in advancing equity, co-designing community-based programming, working across political divides, and amassing and mobilizing resources. She has an MPA in International Policy and Nonprofit Management from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, a Master of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Management (MSEEM) from GA Tech, and a BA in International Relations and Spanish from Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA. Her forthcoming article in Nature Sustainability features primary data from research she conducted in Albany, GA. She’s also conducted research in Ghana, West Africa, on the effects of Structural Adjustment Programs on women’s health and education, as part of Agnes Scott’s Global Awareness Program; and held meetings with a series of women- and youth-led environmental and natural resource organizations in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, as part of the U.S. Department of State’s YSEALI executive leadership program.
Anastasia Schauer
Mechanical Engineering
aschauer7@gatech.edu
Ana is a fifth-year PhD candidate in mechanical engineering with a focus on design research. Her research consists of understanding how cognitive biases and heuristics can impact how designers interface with the design process, influencing the novelty, creativity, and equity of their designs. Ana first became interested in teaching during her undergraduate career at the University of Cincinnati, where she was a teaching assistant for an introductory programming course. At Georgia Tech, she has held instructor positions for GT1000, an undergraduate first-year transition seminar course, and ME2110, an undergraduate course in design, mechatronics, and programming. Ana joined CTL as a GTF in the summer of 2023, and is also a leader in her home department through her position as the president of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Association. Outside of her research and teaching, Ana enjoys playing volleyball, hiking, running, and cats.
Alisha Vira
Physics
avira@gatech.edu
Alisha is a 4th year PhD candidate in the School of Physics, advised by Professor Phillip First and Professor Zhigang Jiang. Alisha does research in condensed matter physics, specifically working on radiation effects on materials from both a simulation and experimental perspective. As part of Alisha’s doctoral journey, they have led different research projects ranging from the design of astronaut radiation protection to studying boron vacancies in 2D materials. As part of the T2T certificate, Alisha is currently co-teaching computational physics for graduate students with Professor John Wise. When not researching or teaching, Alisha gardens and dances tango and hangs out with their wife and two cats.