Faculty Experts
From the discovery of new planets to the work of noted criminologists, SF State offers a wide variety of scholars who are the most distinguished in their fields. This directory identifies academics who possess insight and knowledge of diverse subjects and who are willing to work with journalists whenever possible. The faculty experts directory is compiled by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications.
If you need immediate assistance finding an expert, please call (415) 338-1665 or email pubcom@sfsu.edu.
Jason T. Cantley
Assistant Professor of Biology
Office Phone:
Email: cantley@sfsu.edu
Jason considers himself a botanist, evolutionary scientist, island biogeographer and biodiversity scientist. He is interested in the evolution of adaptive radiations and what generates novel biodiversity. His research is geographically focused on many plant lineages from the Hawaiian Islands, Australia and the California Floristic Province.
Areas of Expertise:
Botany
Evolution
Biogeography
Highest Degree: Ph.D., Botany & Plant Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Kimberly Tanner
Professor of Biology
Office Phone: (415) 728-1062
Email: kdtanner@sfsu.edu
Kimberly's research group Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory (SEPAL) is interested in how people learn science, especially biology, and how teachers and scientists can collaborate to make science teaching and learning in classrooms — whether it's K-12 or higher education.
Areas of Expertise:
Science education
Faculty professional development in teaching
Biology education research
Highest Degree: Ph.D, Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco
Tony Sparks
Associate Professor of Public Affairs and Civic Engagement
Office Phone:
Email: tsparks@sfsu.edu
Tony's research and teaching interests fall at the intersection of poverty, law, and social policy with a particular emphasis on homelessness and housing informality. He has published several articles on the implications and complications of life in a homeless encampment in Seattle. His current research focuses on the everyday legal regulation of the bodies, spaces and habitations of the informally housed in San Francisco.
Areas of Expertise:
San Francisco and national homelessness
Homelessness policies
Highest Degree: Ph.D, Urban Geography, University of Washington
Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi
Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies/Race and Resistance Studies, and Senior Scholar in the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies
Office Phone: (415) 405-2668
Email: ria55@sfsu.edu
Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi is an expert on the Middle East. She is also very involved in the new Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative (AMED) minor program. Abdulhadi is originally from Nablus, Palestine.
Areas of Expertise:
Palestine, Israel and the Middle East
Arab and Muslim communities transnationally, race and ethnic relations, gender and sexuality and feminist movements (in general and in global south in particular)
Arab Americans and Muslim Americans
Highest Degree: Ph.D., Sociology, Yale University
Fred Astren
Professor of Jewish Studies
Office Phone: (415) 338-3152
Email: fastren@sfsu.edu
Fred Astren is an expert on Judaism, Jewish history and Israel-Palestine issues.
Areas of Expertise:
Israel-Palestine issues
Islam and Islamic history
Jewish history
Highest Degree: Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Nathan Avani
Professor Emeritus of Secondary Education
Office Phone: (415) 338-6442
Email: natalio@sfsu.edu
Nathan Avani is an expert on mentoring middle and high-school age youth and adults, and on the benefits of intentionally small schools for improved student learning.
Areas of Expertise:
Mentoring for youth and adults
Public school reform
Teacher preparation for secondary education
Highest Degree: Ph.D., Educational Psychology and Instructional Systems Development, Michigan State University
Bruce Avery
Professor of Theatre and Dance
Office Phone: (415) 338-3100
Email: bravery@sfsu.edu
Bruce Avery's expertise is in Shakespeare's life and work and teaching Shakespeare.
Areas of Expertise:
East Indian writers
Shakespeare
Teaching Shakespeare
Highest Degree: Ph.D., English Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz
JoAnn Aviel
Professor Emerita of International Relations
Office Phone: (415) 338-1448
Email: javiel@sfsu.edu
JoAnn Aviel is an expert on foreign policy analysis and Latin American foreign relations.
Areas of Expertise:
U.S. foreign policy
Latin American foreign policy
International organizations including the United Nations
Highest Degree: Ph.D., Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University