The SCSU faculty that teaches within the Honors College boasts an impressive array of talents and skills. Each of our professors are talented and/or awarded teachers and educators, and all Honors College classes are purposefully small to ensure comfortable skill building.
On top of that, our professors excel in research and creative activities. From peer-reviewed research articles to managing state-of-the-art laboratories to publishing books to curating educational events and music ensembles, our professors are true professionals.
Additionally, our professors are active participants in their academic communities. From collaborative field research to organizing and hosting international conferences, to mentoring graduate students, to chairing governing boards of societies and journals, our professors are in the mix! This professional know-how is a part of the educational experience in the SCSU Honors College.
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Our Staff
Dr. Sarah Roe
Honors College Director
Fall Office Hours
Tuesdays: 4:00-6:00 p.m. (Zoom)
Wednesdays: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. in BU438
Friday: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (Zoom)
In-person (BU 438) and virtual (Zoom) meetings are available. Contact roes1@southernct.edu to schedule an appointment.
Dr. Roe shines both inside and outside the classroom. In 2023, Dr. Roe received the CSCU Board of Regents System-wide Teaching Award! In 2025, Dr. Roe (with Provost Irwin and Dr. Broadbridge) received a prestigious NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) award to bridge the gap between science and humanities education at SCSU. Congratulations Dr. Roe!
Most Recent Publication:
Roe, Sarah M. & Elyse Zavar. “Understanding the Role of Wrongdoing in Technological Disasters: utilizing ecofeminist philosophy to examine commemoration”. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Volume 87: 158-167.
Most Recent Conference Presentation:
North American Congress for Conservation Biology. University of British Columbia, Canada June 2024. Presentation: “In Defense of a Defense of Deep Ecology: what values, policy, and shifting worldviews can do for conservation science”
Dr. Steven Brady
University Honors Thesis Coordinator
Fall Office Hours
Monday: 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. (Zoom)
Tuesday: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
In-person (JE 123) and virtual (Zoom) meetings are available. Contact ugthesis@southernct.edu to schedule an appointment.
Steven Brady and his students study how wild populations respond to rapid environmental change, using wood frogs living along roads and in forests throughout New England. Recent work from the lab explores local adaptation and maladaptation to human-altered environments, including the discovery of striking edema in roadside frogs and its consequences for locomotor performance. Students play central roles in this research, developing independent projects and disseminating their work through conferences and publications.
As University Honors Thesis Coordinator, Steve works with Honors students and faculty advisors across disciplines to develop ambitious thesis projects and carry them from prospectus through defense.
Recent pub:
Brady, S. P., S. J. Kang, Z. S. Wang, C. D. Layne and R. Calsbeek. 2025. Freshwater salinization leads to sluggish, bloated frogs and small, cramped embryos but adaptive countergradient variation in eggs. Integrative and Comparative Biology. DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaf008. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaf008
Recent activity:
The Brady Lab is currently preparing several manuscripts examining local adaptation, maladaptation, edema, morphology, and locomotor performance in wood frogs responding to human-altered environments, and is excited to contribute this emerging work at the Gordon Research Conference in February 2027.
Dr. Miranda Dunbar
Honors College Assistant Director and Professor of Biology
Fall Office Hours
Dr. Dunbar is on sabbatical leave for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Interesting Fact/Current Event:
I love being in nature and have nearly 20 years of experience researching wildlife around the globe. One of my personal goals is to visit 50 different countries before I turn 50 years of age!
Recent Publication to Highlight:
Kotecki, K., Wilkinson, G., and M. Dunbar. In prep. Evidence of heterothermy in vampire bats; Ingala, M., N. B. Simmons, M. Dunbar, C. Wultsch, K. Krampis and S. L. Perkins. 2021. You are more than what you eat: Differential enrichment of microbiome functions across bat dietary guilds. Animal Microbiome 3:1-17.
Recent Activity or Conference Presentation to Highlight:
Annual trips to the jungles of Central America where I do my research.
Kotecki, K. and M. Dunbar. Vampire bats: Hot or not? 2024. North American Society for Bat Research. Guadalajara, MX.
Dr. Jessica Kenty-Drane
Honors College Assistant Director and Professor of Sociology
Fall Office Hours
Mondays: 7:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. (WebEx)
Tuesdays: 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Thursdays: 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
In-person (ENG C030C) and virtual (WebEx) meetings are available. To schedule an appointment use Navigate or contact kentydranej1@southernct.edu.
Interesting Fact/Current Event:
When I’m not on campus or watching my kids play sports, I love an easy hike, a great novel, a mug of tea, and a cozy spot to snuggle up with my animals. I am passionate about children’s rights and educational equity.
Recent Publication to Highlight:
Hart, Sara Jaye, Amy Rock, Jessica Kenty-Drane, Loren Collins, Sheila Grigsby, and Julia Heinen. “Humility, Equity, and Resilience: Service Learning’s Unspoken Outcomes” Under Review at Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship.
Recent Activity or Conference Presentation to Highlight:
Dr. Kenty-Drane just received an Undergraduate Research Grant award to fund one research assistant to support her latest project, "Improving Volunteer Engagement in Greater New Haven Nonprofit Organizations."
Kenty-Drane, Jessica L., 2020. “The Yoke of Childhood: Misgivings about Children's Relationship to Technology in Contemporary Science Fiction” Session 66, Annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Philadelphia, PA.
Dr. Thomas Radice
Honors College Assistant Director and Professor of History
Fall Office Hours
Tuesday: 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (4th floor, Buley)
Wednesday: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. (EN C 215 B)
Thursday: 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (EN C 215 B)
In-person (EN C 215 B) and online meetings are available. Contact radicet1@southernct.edu to schedule an appointment.
Jorge Melendez
University Assistant to the Honors College
Fall Office Hours
Monday: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
In-person meetings are located at BU 442. Contact melendezj16@southernct.edu to schedule an appointment.
Adira DeMatteo
Graduate Assistant to the Honors College
Fall Office Hours
Monday: 9:00 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Tuesday: 12:15 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 12:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday: 12:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday: 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. (TEAMS by appointment only)
In-person meetings are located at BU 442. Contact dematteoa5@southernct.edu to schedule an appointment.
Presentation
DeMatteo, A., & Rutledge, K. (2026, May 2). Map the Gap: Visualizing Health and Social Service Access. Poster presentation at the Southern Connecticut State University 2026 Undergraduate Student Research and Creativity Conference, New Haven, CT. https://sites.google.com/view/mapthegap2026/home