Meet the PhD Students
Natalie R Artman
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Natalie Artman is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She holds a Master's degree in Forensic Psychology from Tiffin University and previously worked as an outpatient therapist, primarily providing mental health and substance use counseling to individuals with current and prior involvement in the criminal justice system. Her research interests are focused on reentry experiences and barriers to desistance, with particular attention to health and well-being, access to resources, shifts in family dynamics, and community connection. Her current projects are centered around county reentry offices, public opinion on reentry support, and the effects of the prison experience. Natalie aims to pursue a research-driven industry role where she can apply research to enhance program effectiveness and support systemic reform. She is committed to bridging evidence and practice to advocate for equitable reentry policies and community-based solutions.
Brandon N Bledsoe
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Brandon received his B.A. in criminal justice and psychology in 2021 from the University of Washington - Tacoma. He continued his education at Seattle University where he received his M.A. in criminal justice in 2023. He has been the recipent of several awards for his scholarship and community engagement including Seattle University's 2023 Arts & Sciences Leadership & Professional Engagement Award, 2023 Norm Maleng Academic Excellence & Citizenship Award, and the University of Cincinnati's 2023 - 2026 Provost Graduate Fellowship. Brandon's research interests include community-police relations, public safety, crime and place, crime control strategies, and interrogation reform.
Kaylin Aubrey Coe
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
I am a fourth-year PhD student in Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati, specializing in the Criminology track with an emphasis on Crime Prevention. My dissertation, titled “A Comparison of Reporting Suspicious or Concerning Behaviors by the Public and College Undergraduates: ‘See Something, Say Something’ …But what am I seeing, and who do I tell?”, examines public and student responses to reporting concerning behaviors of potential mass shooters, a critical aspect of proactive crime prevention.
My research interests are broad, encompassing public opinion on crime, police responses to school shootings, online extremism, and mass shootings. I have worked on diverse projects, including studies on violent crime, the opioid crisis, domestic terrorism, mass public shootings, K-12 school shootings, and police de-escalation training programs. I have both quantitative and qualitative projects, with my dissertation also using a mixed methods approach to include a national survey, college student survey, and interviews. My goal is to leverage this expertise to become a professor after completing my dissertation.
In my role as an instructor, I teach a variety of criminal justice courses at the undergraduate level, including Introduction to Criminology, Race & Crime, Psychology of Criminal Behavior, Drugs & Crime, Criminal Law, and Intro to Courts. I am passionate about engaging undergraduates in research opportunities and building community connections to help them prepare for their careers post-graduation.
My research interests are broad, encompassing public opinion on crime, police responses to school shootings, online extremism, and mass shootings. I have worked on diverse projects, including studies on violent crime, the opioid crisis, domestic terrorism, mass public shootings, K-12 school shootings, and police de-escalation training programs. I have both quantitative and qualitative projects, with my dissertation also using a mixed methods approach to include a national survey, college student survey, and interviews. My goal is to leverage this expertise to become a professor after completing my dissertation.
In my role as an instructor, I teach a variety of criminal justice courses at the undergraduate level, including Introduction to Criminology, Race & Crime, Psychology of Criminal Behavior, Drugs & Crime, Criminal Law, and Intro to Courts. I am passionate about engaging undergraduates in research opportunities and building community connections to help them prepare for their careers post-graduation.
Jordan L Crawley
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Jordan is a second year doctoral student in criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests are centered on contemporary risk behaviors and victimization experiences with an emphasis on young adult populations. Her work focuses on problem gambling, particularly sports betting behaviors, experiences with violence and victimization, and how deviance and extremism proliferate in online spaces. She is also interested in criminal justice system decision-making processes and procedural justice concerns.
Clay Driscoll
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
I'm a Ph.D. student at the University of Cincinnati with interests in policing and crime prevention. I also have a special interest in emerging technologies within the criminal justice system, including body-worn cameras and virtual reality training devices. My skills span a wide range of topics within the research world, including project management, crime mapping, and survey design. My specializations include large data management, grant writing, and the distribution of information to a wide range of audiences.
Click here to go to my personal website for more information.
Click here for an up-to-date version of my CV.
Click here to go to my personal website for more information.
Click here for an up-to-date version of my CV.
Tim Austin Engle
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Timothy A. Engle is a fifth-year PhD candidate in Criminal Justice with an anticipated completion date of May 2026. Timothy received his B.A. in Criminal Justice from Bellarmine University and his M.S. in Criminal Justice and M.S. in Information Technology from the University of Cincinnati. Timothy's research interests include cybercrime and cyber-victimization, macro-level cybercrime trends, and cryptocurrency-related offending. Timothy is an instructor for several classes, such as Cybercrime, Introduction to Criminal Justice, Introduction to Criminology, and Research Methods. He has also served as a graduate assistant for several other courses, such as Criminal Justice Statistics, Drugs and Crime, Criminal Investigations, and Introduction to Loss Prevention. Timothy is also the Associate Director of the Cybercrime and Behaviors Online Research Group (CYBORG) and a Research Affiliate at the Kautz-Ubile Cryptoeconomics Lab at the University of Cincinnati.
Dani Rose Gerving
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Dani is a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati's School of Criminal Justice. She comes from a practitioner background where she worked with people experiencing homelessness and individuals living with substance use disorders.
Rebekkah Lauren Gross
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Rebekkah Gross is a Doctoral Candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on victimology, with particular attention to the victimization of college students and the role of consent education in preventing sexual victimization. She is currently investigating how individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities acquire and interpret the concept of consent, with broader research interests in developing age-appropriate consent education curricula to reduce sexual victimization and promote safety within diverse populations.
Jordan I Harrison
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Jordan is a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Criminal Justice. Jordan's current research interests include institutional corrections, correctional policy and implementation, public opinion and corrections, and the intersection of cybercrime and the correctional system.
Lindsey Marie Insco
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Lindsey Insco received her Bachelor's in chemistry from Xavier University in 2022 and her Master's in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2023. Lindsey is currently a doctoral student of criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include life course criminology, drug overdoses, and, more generally, terrorism.
Lauren M Jaeger
Student Associate, CECH Impact Accelerator
Lauren Jaeger is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She received her bachelor' degree in criminal justice and interdicsiplinary studies (psychology and sociology) in 2022, followed by a masters in criminal justice in 2024, both at the University of Cincinnati. Lauren has worked for the CECH Impact Accelerator as an undergraduate and graduate research assistant for three years alongside her schooling. In addittion to her academic work, she is an adjunct faculty member at Sinclair College, where she teaches incarcerated induviduals at Warren Correctional Institution.
Sarah C Light
Research Associate, CECH Criminal Justice
Teachers College
Kristin Jeniece Lurie
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Kristin J. Lurie is a third-year Ph.D. student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include disability liberation, the school-prison nexus, and participatory research methods. Kristin is currently working with Dr. Brittany Hayes on an investigation of sexual health education for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and Drs. Emily Lenning, Sara Brightman, and Christina DeJong on how violent rhetoric and policies contribute to interpersonal violence against transgender people.
Her independent research includes a policy analysis of restraint and seclusion in schools, an experimental vignette survey gauging the effects of colorism and transphobia on public opinion about punitiveness for violent offenders, and an upcoming interview study with disabled college students about their experiences in the school-prison nexus.
Starting in the fall of 2024, Kristin will be the managing editor of Security Journal. In the Fall 2024 semester, she will be teaching CJ 4074: Victimology.
.
Her independent research includes a policy analysis of restraint and seclusion in schools, an experimental vignette survey gauging the effects of colorism and transphobia on public opinion about punitiveness for violent offenders, and an upcoming interview study with disabled college students about their experiences in the school-prison nexus.
Starting in the fall of 2024, Kristin will be the managing editor of Security Journal. In the Fall 2024 semester, she will be teaching CJ 4074: Victimology.
.
Jane Meriwhether Mahon
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Jane Mahon received her bachelors in Criminal Justice and Psychology at the George Washington University in 2023. Her research centers on sexual victimization, including human trafficking, intimate partner cyber abuse and childhood victimization.
Max Thomas Manz
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Max Manz is a fourth year PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. Max received his B.A. in Criminal Justice and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and his M.S. in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University. Max's work has been produced for such institutions such as the Michigan Public Health Institute. Max's research interest are in fear of crime, white-collar crime, and cybercrime, with an emphasis on growing our understanding of how people perceive both cyber and white-collar crime.
Martha Ellen McCullough
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Martha McCullough is a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati's School of Criminal Justice. Her research interests include qualitative methods, victimization, wrongful conviction, public perceptions, reentry services, and gender-based violence. She received her BA and BS from the University of Florida in 2022 and her MA from the University of South Florida in 2024.
Matt Mcgrath
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Matt was born and raised in Middletown, New Jersey. He received his Master of Science in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2023, where he was honored with the Robert B. Mills Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Criminal Justice, recognizing him as the top master's student in the program. Prior to this, he earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in law and justice studies and economics from Rowan University in 2021, graduating as the Law and Justice Studies Senior of Distinction, awarded annually to the top graduate in each major.
Matt's research primarily focuses on crime and place, police effectiveness, cybercrime, and the economics of crime.
In his free time, Matt enjoys playing chess, collecting vinyl records, trying new craft beers, and, unfortunately, supporting Everton Football Club.
Matt's research primarily focuses on crime and place, police effectiveness, cybercrime, and the economics of crime.
In his free time, Matt enjoys playing chess, collecting vinyl records, trying new craft beers, and, unfortunately, supporting Everton Football Club.
Grace Katherine Meyer
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Grace is a doctoral student at University of Cincinnati's School of Criminal Justice.
Catherine Marliese Moeller
Catherine is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology (2016) and a Master’s in Applied Behavioral Science with a concentration in criminal justice (2020) from Wright State University. Her research interests lie in corrections specifically focusing on offender rehabilitation, prisoner reentry, in-prison programming, and specialty courts.
Jonathan Morgan
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Jonathan J. Morgan is an influencer in the justice reform space and a frequent speaker at national conferences. He is a current PhD student in Criminal Justice and Dean's Fellow at University of Cincinnati. As a formerly incarcerated leader, Jonathan uses his experience to help people, inform his research, and create change.
As Founder and Executive Director of Florida Justice Center, the state's only legal aid organization dedicated to helping justice-involved people overcome legal barriers to success, Jonathan positively impacted over 12,000 lives.
Jonathan's research interests include mental effects of incarceration, collateral consequences, reentry best practices, restorative justice, and sentencing disparities.
As Founder and Executive Director of Florida Justice Center, the state's only legal aid organization dedicated to helping justice-involved people overcome legal barriers to success, Jonathan positively impacted over 12,000 lives.
Jonathan's research interests include mental effects of incarceration, collateral consequences, reentry best practices, restorative justice, and sentencing disparities.
Laura Sophia Nolterieke
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Laura Nolterieke is a fourth year PhD student in the University of Cincinnati's Criminal Justice program. Presently, she is specializing in criminology and corrections, with research focused on court actor decision making and reentry outcomes of those with long sentences.
Roderick L Pearson
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Roderick Peason received his Master’s degree in Sociology from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.
His research agenda broadly encompasses studying 1) the sources of racial disparities in policing, 2) health consequences of victimization, 3) environmental and genetic risk factors for criminal behavior, and 4) using innovative causal inference techniques to study offending and victimization. To that end, he has published in a wide range of outlets, including the Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, and Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and the City.
His research agenda broadly encompasses studying 1) the sources of racial disparities in policing, 2) health consequences of victimization, 3) environmental and genetic risk factors for criminal behavior, and 4) using innovative causal inference techniques to study offending and victimization. To that end, he has published in a wide range of outlets, including the Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, and Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and the City.
Calvin Lee Proffit
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Calvin Proffit is a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati's School of Criminal Justice. His research interests include criminological theory, race and crime, crime and place, macro-analysis, and technology in policing. He received his BA, BS, and MA from the University of Cincinnati.
Kristonn A Stubbs
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Kristonn was born and raised on the islands of The Bahamas. He has a strong academic background in biology, receiving a bachelors of biology from the University of The Bahamas, and a master's degree in forensic science (molecular biology) from the University of The West Indies. He has also obtained a masters in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati and is now currently pursuing a PhD in criminal justice.
Rachel Ellen Van Etten
Graduate Assistant, CECH Criminal Justice
Rachel Van Etten is a first year Ph.D. in Criminal Justice student at the University of Cincinnati. Rachel received her B.A. in Communications and Culture from the City University of New York, her M.B.A. in Marketing from Pepperdine University, and her M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati.
Rachel's current research interests include criminal career pathways, juvenile engagement in cyberextortion and ransomware, corporate cybervictimization and data protection and privacy. Her current research is focused on intersectional differences in desistance experinces and on the relationships between mental and social health measures and criminal careers.
Previously, Rachel worked with the Aleph Institute, providing advocacy for individuals in or facing custody and developing new programs to meet the complex needs of incarcerated people and their families. She also worked with the Center for Justice and Human Dignity on alternative sentencing initiatives, and she has produced multi-day practitioner-focused educational conferences and online seminars under both organizations. Her work has also included foundation and non-profit grant solicitations, awards, and management.
Rachel's current research interests include criminal career pathways, juvenile engagement in cyberextortion and ransomware, corporate cybervictimization and data protection and privacy. Her current research is focused on intersectional differences in desistance experinces and on the relationships between mental and social health measures and criminal careers.
Previously, Rachel worked with the Aleph Institute, providing advocacy for individuals in or facing custody and developing new programs to meet the complex needs of incarcerated people and their families. She also worked with the Center for Justice and Human Dignity on alternative sentencing initiatives, and she has produced multi-day practitioner-focused educational conferences and online seminars under both organizations. Her work has also included foundation and non-profit grant solicitations, awards, and management.