Faculty and Staff Highlights: Assner-Alvey, Belo, Chase, Chaudhuri, Christeson, Corrigan, Hayes, Martin, Pichaske, Turaeva

Webster University faculty and staff highlights offer a roundup of recent Webster faculty and staff activity and achievements. 

Assner-Alvey Named Top Photographer to Watch in Analog Forever Magazine

Robin Assner-Alvey, professor of Art and interim chair of the Department of Art, Design, & Art History (DADAH) at the Webster Groves campus, was included in “20 Women Analog Photographers you need to know in 2025” Analog Forever Magazine in March. 

Belo Co-Authors Policy Piece with Student 

Dani Belo, assistant professor in the History, Politics and International Relations Department and director of the Global Policy Horizons Research Lab at the Webster Groves campus, co-authored a policy analysis piece with a student, Joshua Hayes. The piece was for the Triple Helix Project at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. 

Belo is also a Fellow in both the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI) and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, both located in Ottawa, Canada. 

Chase Presents at Language Conference 

Adelia Chace, an adjunct full professor for the English as a Second Language program (ESL) at the Webster Groves campus, presented on how instructors can help students find a sense of belonging by dedicating the first 10 minutes of class to creating community and building connections in March.  
  
Chase’s program was titled, “Creating Pathways to Participation: Building a Classroom Community with Tech Tools.” She mentioned how consistent community-building practices using popular free tech tools can create safe, comfortable environments where non-native English speakers can actively participate alongside their peers. Attendees left with a toolkit of practical activities and free tech resources they can implement immediately to create more inclusive and engaging learning environments. 
  
The event, The Midwest Association for Language Learning Technology (MWALLT) 2025 Virtual Conference, was hosted by members from three institutions (University of Minnesota, The Ohio State University, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee). 

Chaudhuri Elected VP of the MMA 

Nisha Ray Chaudhuri, assistant professor in the Management Department in the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology, was elected as Vice President for Marketing at the Marketing Management Association. She will serve in this role starting June 2025. Chaudhuri will serve in this role for a year before moving onto the role of President-elect, and a year after that, to the role of President of Marketing Management Association. 

This role signals Chaudhuri's continued commitment to marketing research and education. "It is my hope that I will be able to both represent Webster to the larger marketing research community and also to bring back new research into my classroom for the benefit of my students." 

Christeson to Present at Professional Development Conference

Con Christeson, an adjunct professor in the School of Communications at the Webster Groves campus, will present “Artist: Connect to Your Creative Voices” for professional development at the Artists Thrive Conference in Kansas City May 6-9. She is a trainer/mentor locally and nationally for the MidAmerica Arts Alliance. 

In her Webster courses and curricula, Christeson focuses on personal development and self-awareness for students. As practitioner faculty, she models this in her work in the arts and the community. 

In this upcoming workshop, attendees will experience multi-dimensional creative selves as after responding to carefully crafted verbal and visual prompts, using pen and pencil, to reflect on and raise awareness of personal preferences and perspectives.  

Corrigan Wins Best Pop Culture Book Award

Don Corrigan, professor emeritus in the School of Communications, published a book in 2024 titled, "In Search of Manhood: American Men’s Movements Past and Present." The book has been selected as top pop culture book among those published in 2024. Award recognition is slated for April 18 at the New Orleans convention of the Popular Culture Association. 

Martin Receives President’s Award for Counseling 

Last month at the American Counseling Association conference, Claire Martin, an assistant professor in Webster University’s Professional Counseling program at the Webster Groves campus, received the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) 2024–2025 President’s Award in recognition of her extraordinary service.  

As co-chair of ASGW’s Special Initiatives Committee, Martin and her colleague, Jennifer Culver, developed innovative programming to advance the organization’s mission of supporting community well-being through effective, culturally responsive group counseling practices. 

Pichaske Participates in Ceramics Conference in Salt Lake City 

Lindsay Pichaske, a visiting assistant professor of ceramics in the Department of Art, Design and Art History, was part of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) True and Real opening reception in March in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“My ceramic sculpture, Souvenir, is featured in one of the most prestigious NCECA exhibits, True and Real. Attending the conference and exhibit allowed me to present my work to an international audience of peers and students, learn about contemporary approaches to ceramics and teaching pedagogy, and expose students to the breadth of knowledge about ceramic art. NCECA has 4000 members from over 20 countries and presented a broad range of diverse approaches to the field, and brought wide exposure to my work,” she said. “I also brought three students to the conference. They saw lectures and demonstrations, networked with professionals, and gained first-hand experience about how to build a career in the arts. I am also excited to share that my piece is featured in the promotional advertising for the entire conference in the March issue of Ceramics Monthly.” 

The event took place at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in conjunction with the annual NCECA conference.

Turaeva Published in Chemistry Journal 

Nigora Turaeva, a visiting researcher and research fellow in the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the Webster Groves campus, recently published a new article titled, “Fermi-Based Kinetic Model for the Sabatier Reaction: Sabatier Principle and Beyond It” in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C.

Along with two co-authors, Turaeva’s article explores the CO2 methanation reaction, also known as the Sabatier reaction, which is an important route to convert waste carbon into greater value.