Preparing Future Faculty – Faculty Diversity Postdoctoral Program
2021 Call for Applications
Applications for 2021: due November 2, 2020
The Preparing Future Faculty – Faculty Diversity (PFFFD) Postdoctoral Program is designed to promote and develop scholars for tenure-track faculty positions at the University of Missouri or elsewhere, in any discipline. The fellowships are for two years, during which time the scholars focus on scholarship and participate in professional development activities that integrate and expose them to the faculty experience, including the opportunity to teach in their discipline during the second year.
Click here to view the 2021 call for applications.
The call for applications indicates the research areas accepting applications at this time, as well as provides further details about the program and application process.
Requirements & Eligibility
Applicants should demonstrate how they can contribute to faculty diversity, such as through membership in a group that is historically underrepresented in a particular discipline, or through other training or experience. Applicants who have their doctoral degree conferred, or who anticipate successfully completing their doctoral degree by July 1 of the year in which they would start the PFFFD program, are eligible to apply.
Submit An Application
Click here to submit an application
To submit an application, you will create an account and submit application materials for the PFFFD program through the SLATE system. Please note that this portal is the same portal used for graduate admissions, and you will need to create an account as a first-time user to begin the application process. After you create an account, you will be able to select and complete the 2021 Preparing Future Faculty postdoctoral application.
Email Dr. Behm-Morawitz (Associate Dean of the Graduate School) at postdoc@missouri.edu if you have any questions about the PFFFD postdoctoral program.
Meet our PFF Faculty Diversity Postdocs!
Loren Bauerband
Health Sciences
Loren Bauerband
Health Sciences
PFFFD 2017-2019
Ph.D., University of Rhode Island
Assistant Professor, Health Sciences, University of Missouri
Loren’s research investigates healthcare disparities among LGBT individuals as well as the impact of minority stress on health behaviors and lifestyle patterns of transgender and sexual minorities.
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Ruchi Bhattacharya
Natural Resources
Ruchi Bhattacharya
Natural Resources
PFFFD 2017-2019
Ph.D., University of Arkansas
Postdoctoral Fellow, Legacies of Agricultural Pollutants, University of Waterloo
Ruchi’s research is developing an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to understand aquatic biochemical processes relevant for water quality and quantity issues influenced by anthropogenic modifications and climate causes.
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Fiorella Carlos Chavez
Human Development & Family Science
Fiorella Carlos Chavez
Human Development & Family Science
PFFFD 2018-2021
Ph.D., Florida State University
Fiorella’s research examines the health impact of stressors among Latinx individuals and families as well as the acculturative stress on Latinx college students’ psychosocial outcomes. Her dissertation work studied Latinx migrant farmworkers and contributes to understanding of how family decisions and relationships help Latinx youth manage life challenges.
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Merve Fezjula
History
Merve Fezjula
History
PFFFD 2019-2021
Ph.D., Cambridge University
Merve’s research is situated at the crossroads of scholarship on African intellectual history, black Atlantic studies, and black internationalism, and adopts an interdisciplinary methodology drawn from anthropology, politics, and literary studies. Merve examines the unknown intellectual history of the Anglophone dissemination of negritude, the movement for race consciousness long associated with the Francophone world. Merve studies the way in which racial belonging was given meaning among African and diasporic subjects during the height of decolonization and desegregation.
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Rasha Gargees
Computer Science
Rasha Gargees
Computer Science
PFFFD 2020-2022
Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia
Rasha’s research interests include leveraging cloud computing and high-performance parallel distributed systems for multi-stage big data analytics utilizing intelligent agents and deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN). To this end, she has developed a scalable, dynamic, and secure framework, which can be employed in smart cities. Rasha’s research explores data from various heterogeneous independent sources, accommodating both stream data and batch workloads, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) sensor data and Big Geospatial data.
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Johana Goyes Vallejos
Biological Sciences
Johana Goyes Vallejos
Biological Sciences
PFFFD 2019-2022
Ph.D., University of Connecticut
Johana’s research interests include sexual selection and mating systems, with a particular interest in species that exhibit parental care behavior. In her research, Johana has used frogs as her study system. For her dissertation work, she focused on elucidating the parental care behavior of the smooth guardian frog of Borneo (Limnonectes palavanensis), an unusual species about which very little was known when she began her work. She is interested in understanding this species’ mating system and what behavioral and ecological factors shaped its evolution.
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Les Gray
Theatre
Les Gray
Theatre
PFFFD 2020-2022
Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park
Les Gray’s research focuses on Black cultural production and its relationship to trauma and terror with examples ranging from blues dancing to police brutality videos. They are interested in performances of spectacular Black pain as well as the potential for joy, healing, and solidarity.
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Rachael Hernandez
Communication and Public Health
Rachael Hernandez
Communication and Public Health
PFFFD 2019-2021
Ph.D., Indiana University Purdue University – Indianapolis
Rachael’s research explores communication about sensitive health-related topics. Currently, her research focuses primarily on 1) interpersonal communication surrounding sexual health, and 2) how implicit biases against social groups (e.g. along the lines of race, gender, and age) have the potential to shape physician-patient communication.
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Sarah Jacquet
Geological Sciences
Sarah Jacquet
Geological Sciences
PFFFD 2017-2019
PhD., Macquarie University
Assistant Professor, Geological Sciences, University of Missouri
Sarah’s research interests reside in palaeobiology, systematics, and sedimentology. She uses high-powered imaging, field, petrographic, and geochemical techniques to examine the emergence and diversification of complex animal body plan through the Palaeozoic.
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Gaurav Kandlikar
Biological Science
Gaurav Kandlikar
Biological Science
PFFFD 2020-2022
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Gaurav uses mathematical modeling, field studies, and greenhouse experiments to study the processes that influence species diversity and dynamics in plant communities. In his dissertation, Gaurav studied how species diversity in southern California grasslands is influenced by the abiotic environment and by soil microorganisms. His research will continue to build towards a more mechanistic and general understanding of how plant-microbe interactions scale up and interact with other processes to influence plant communities.
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Hector Lamadrid
Geological Sciences
Hector Lamadrid
Geological Sciences
PFFFD 2018-2020
Ph.D., Virginia Tech
Hector’s research examines fluid-rock interactions in natural systems. He has made methodological advancements in fluid inclusion analysis techniques, specifically in relation to Roman spectroscopy as a way to determine fluid inclusion in minderals. Hector’s research advances understanding of the roles of fluids in chemical reactions in Earth’s deep interior.
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Kaleea Lewis
Public Health; Women’s & Gender Studies
Kaleea Lewis
Public Health; Women’s & Gender Studies
PFFFD 2018-2020
Ph.D., University of South Carolina
Kaleea’s research intersects with public health, sociology, and psychology. She examines racism within the institution of higher education, specifically the challenges faced by Black students and faculty as well as the psychosocial well-being of minority students. Her research takes an intersectional approach to studying experiences and perceptions of practices within higher education.
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Yang Li
Nursing
Yang Li
Nursing
PFFFD 2018-2020
Ph.D., University of Michigan
Yang researches the impact of maternal childhood maltreatment and trauma-related psychopathology on perinatal outcomes. Specifically, her work has examined the concept of Allostatic Load as a physiologic manifestation of multiple systems among the mothers and how they relate to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and childbearing outcomes.
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Terrell Morton
Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum
Terrell Morton
Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum
PFFFD 2017-2019
Ph.D., UNC Chapel-Hill
Assistant Professor, Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum, University of Missouri
Terrell’s research focuses on student retention and matriculation in postsecondary education. He examines STEM retention for Black females in undergraduate research experiences and the influence of identity development and expression on student engagement.
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Martha (Sofia) Ortega Obando
Animal Sciences
Martha (Sofia) Ortega Obando
Animal Sciences
PFFFD 2017-2019
Ph.D., University of Florida
Assistant Professor, Animal Sciences, University of Missouri
Sofia researches bovine reproductive physiology. She is particularly interested in the underlying genomics of fertility regulation, which are players driving maternal-embryo interactions, and how to regulate them to improve reproductive performance in mammals.
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