WELCOME TO UH LEARNING LAB

Dr. Justin T. Burris taught elementary students and teachers for 17 years as a classroom teacher and mathematics coach before joining the University of Houston as a clinical assistant professor of mathematics education. He currently teaches math content courses, elementary math methods courses and supervises teacher candidates in their year-long elementary field placements.

Claire Mummert is currently working on her Master of Theology in Old Testament with hopes for future study. Alongside her studies, Claire writes curriculum for multiple entities including a study on James, Church History, Ecclesiastes, Advent, 1&2 Samuel, Acts, Galatians, and many more. She does extensive copy-editing work, layout, and design within the world of publishing for entities such as Baylor University Press.

She is a multicultural dance artist, educator, choreographer, journalist, and filmmaker committed to promoting diversity, equity, and belonging. Estrada holds a BA and an MFA in Dance from the University of California, Irvine, and a Ph.D. in Flamenco Interdisciplinary Studies from the Department of Sociocultural Anthropology and Philology at the University of Seville, Spain. Her creative and pedagogical experience embraces western theatrical dance forms, musical theatre, and flamenco, as well as Spanish and Latin American dance.

Professor Koontz’s research focuses on the public sculpture of Ancient Mesoamerica and includes articles, book chapters and the books, Lightning Gods and Feathered Serpents (University of Texas Press, 2009) and Organized Violence in the Art and Architecture of Mesoamerica (with Heather Orr, UCLA, 2009). His more general interests include design and communicative function in non-Western art. His review article “Visual Culture Studies in Mesoamerica” appeared recently in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica, and in 2011 he was one of three North Americans chosen to contribute to Mexico’s bicentenary exhibition catalog at the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico City (Seis Ciudades Antiguas de Mesoamérica).

Dr. Susie Gronseth has been on the faculty at UH since 2012. She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Learning, Design, and Technology program area in the College of Education. She specializes in learning technologies, teaching strategies, instructional design, health sciences education, and applications of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to address diverse learner needs in online, face-to-face, and blended contexts. She completed her Ph.D. in instructional systems technology at Indiana University, honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award. She has current federally-funded research projects through NSF and NIH relating to mentorship, program evaluation, and inclusive design of biomedical training. 

Dr. Oomman Varghese’s Nanomaterials and Devices Laboratory has its research activities focused on materials and devices for the welfare of society and environment. The group develops nanostructured materials, investigates unique properties, reveals scientific truth behind the exceptional behavior, and tailors the properties to develop devices/processes primarily for energy and clinical applications.

Dr. Stokes’ scientific research focuses on understanding the structural and optical properties of semiconductor materials for the development of novel detectors and lasers for infrared applications. She utilizes research tools such as FTIR spectroscopy and X-Ray diffraction to understand the relationship of the nanostructure of materials to its optical response.

Dr. Rebecca Forrest uses X-ray Diffraction to analyze the structure of materials and understand their relationships to fundamental physical and electrical properties. Forrest’s present research focuses on epitaxial opto-electronic materials.

She also does Physics Education research. Current research is on teaching methods that improve student learning and on developing inquiry-based physics education materials.