The University of South Florida offers a variety of faculty experts to discuss key issues relevant to the 2022 midterm elections.
Listed below are some of USF’s experts by topic. If there is interest in a topic not listed, USF’s Experts Guide is another resource to quickly locate faculty members by keywords, expertise or college. Members of the media interested in an interview are asked to contact Kevin Watler at kevinwatler@usf.edu or 407-267-8402.
GENERAL POLITICS
Susan MacManus (Professor Emeritus)
- Florida politics
- Elections
- Political issues
Darryl Paulson (Professor Emeritus)
- Local and state government/politics
- American government
Rob Mellen Jr. (Assistant Professor)
- Presidential activities
- Legislative branch
- Conflict between branches
Janna Merrick (Professor)
- Public policy
- American national government
Jianing Li (Assistant Professor)
- Mis/disinformation
- Contentious politics
- Social inequality
POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
Josh Scacco (Associate Professor)
- Political communication
- Media content and effects
Monica Ancu (Associate Professor)
- Social media and politics
- Campaign advertising and media
COVID-19/PUBLIC HEALTH
Jay Wolfson (Distinguished Professor)
- COVID-19
- Health policy and ethics
- Health law
Jill Roberts (Associate Professor)
- COVID-19
- Public health guidelines and implementation
- Broad perspective on infectious diseases
Katherine Drabiak (Associate Professor)
- Health policy
- Health law
- Bioethics/clinical ethics
CLIMATE CHANGE/ENVIRONMENT
Chris Meindl (Associate Professor)
- Regional geography
- Water management
- Environmental policy
Christian Wells (Professor)
- Environmental justice
- Anthropological approaches to human-environmental health
Feng Hao (Associate Professor)
- Human causes of climate change
- Renewable energy deployment
- Public opinion on environmental issues
Richard Mbatu (Associate Professor)
- Political ecology
- Global conservation
- Sustainable development
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
Edelyn Verona (Professor)
- Criminal behavior
- Psychopathy
- Substance use and violence
Jessica Grosholz (Associate Professor)
- Recidivism
- Prisoner education
- Prisoner reentry
CYBERSECURITY
George W. Burruss (Professor)
- Policing
- Homeland security
- Victimization in cyberspace
Giti Javidi (Professor)
- Cybersecurity governance and policies
- Cyber threat intelligence
- Cybersecurity risk management
Thomas Hyslip (Assistant Professor)
- Computer hacking
- Cybercrime
- Digital forensics
ECONOMY
Michael Snipes (Associate Professor)
- General economics and policy
- Inflation
- Housing and cost of living
Huijian Dong (Associate Professor)
- Stocks and bonds
- Investments and wealth management
- Firms and businesses
Richard Smith (Associate Professor)
- Health care economics
EDUCATION
David Rosengrant (Instructor)
- STEM education
- Educational technologies
Karla Davis-Salazar (Associate Professor)
- Anthropology of higher education
- Educational policy and practice
FOREIGN POLICY
Mohsen Milani (Professor)
- Comparative politics
- Comparative revolutions
- Modern Iran
Golfo Alexopoulos (Professor)
- Russia and the Soviet Union
- Stalinism and authoritarianism
- Political violence and human rights
Steven Roach (Professor)
- Global governance
- Critical international theory
- International criminal court
Thomas Smith (Professor)
- International humanitarian law
- Middle East
- Laws of war
GENDER RIGHTS
David Rubin (Associate Professor)
- Transgender studies
- Queer theory
- History of gender, race and sexuality
Jennifer Ellerman-Queen (Instructor)
- Women’s health
- Reproductive justice
- Fat studies
Michelle Hughes-Miller (Professor)
- Politics of motherhood
- Women and social justice
- Gender, crime and justice
Navita James (Associate Professor)
- Ethnic and gender diversity
- Teaching and intervention in diversity issues
IMMIGRATION
Elizabeth Aranda (Professor)
- Undocumented young adults in Florida
- Immigration policies
- Inclusion/exclusion
Heidi Castañeda (Professor)
- Critical border studies
- Migration
- Migrant health
Jody McBrien (Professor)
- Refugee resettlement
- Families affected by war
- International migration
NATIONAL SECURITY
Gen. (Ret) Frank McKenzie (Director)
- Global and national security
- National security policy
- Countering violent extremism
Murat Haner (Associate Professor)
- Countering violent extremism
- Radicalization
- International security
Randy Borum (Professor)
- Criminal psychology
- Terrorism
- Intelligence concepts and analysis
Zacharias P. Pieri (Associate Professor)
- Terrorism
- Extremism
- Boko Haram
RACE RELATIONS
Dasha Rhodes (Assistant Professor)
- Police and community relations
- Psychological distress among Black/African Americans
- Racial disparities
David Ponton (Assistant Professor)
- Afro-America and the 20th century United States
- Racial residential segregation
- Segregation in postwar America
Ray Arsenault (Professor Emeritus)
- Civil rights
- African-American history
- History of the American South/Florida culture and politics