Faculty and Community Partners

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee consists of faculty in both the School of Education’s Early Childhood Education program faculty with expertise in early childhood education and the School of Social Work’s Child & Family Studies program. faculty with expertise in child development. The faculty are actively engaged in both the academic preparation of teacher educators and care providers (birth to age eight) and a robust research program in early childhood education and child development.

Name	Title	Institution	Department	Email
Cynthia DiCarlo	Executive Director	LSU	Education	cdicar2@lsu.edu
Gene Geist	Member-at-large	LSU	Education	genegeist@lsu.edu
Jennifer Baumgartner	Member-at-large	LSU	Education	jbaum@lsu.edu
Carrie Ota	Member-at-large	Weber State University	Child & Family Studies	carrieota@weber.edu

Louisiana Members

The Louisiana Members consists of faculty from multiple disciplines across the state who work with young children. These faculty have research and academic focus on the early childhood population.

Name	Institution	Department	Email
Alica Benton	LSU	Education	abento9@lsu.edu
Michelle Fazio Brunson	Northwestern State University	Early Childhood Education	faziom@nsula.edu
Katie Cherry	LSU	Psychology	pskatie@lsu.edu
Chien-Jen Chiang	LSU	Human Sciences & Education	chiang@lsu.edu
Michelle DeMeulaneare	Louisiana Department of Education	Early Childhood Ancillary Certificate Program	michelle.demeulaneare@la.gov
Eileen Haebig	LSU	Communication Sciences & Disorders	ehaebig1@lsu.edu
Ryan M. Hulteen	LSU	Kinesiology	rhulteen@lsu.edu
Dan Isbell	LSU	Music	disbell1@lsu.edu
Kamile Geist	LSU	Music	kgeist@lsu.edu
Emily C. Marcinowski	LSU	Kinesiology	emilym@lsu.edu
Judy Myhand	LSU Agriculture	Nutrition & Food Sciences	jmyhand@agcenter.lsu.edu
Kenyetta Nelson-Smith	Southern University and A&M	Family and Consumer Sciences	kenyetta_nelson@subr.edu
Laura Piestryznski	LSU	Education	lpiestrzynski@lsu.edu
Amanda Staiano	LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center	Pediatric Obesity and Health Behavior	amanda.staiano@pbrc.edu
Ann Marie Stanley	LSU	Music	astanley1@lsu.edu
Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell	LSU	Literacy Leadership & Urban Education	sdowell@lsu.edu
Derrick Toups	Agenda for Children	Center for Early Childhood Advancement	dtoups@agendaforchildren.org
Julie Schneider	LSU	Communication Sciences and Disorders	juschnei@lsu.edu
Linda Aidong Zhang	LSUS	Education & Human Development	aidong.zhang@lsus.edu
Nicholas Fears	LSU	Kinesiology	nfears@lsu.edu
Leanne Redman	LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center	Reproductive Endocrinology & Women’s Health	Leanne.Redman@pbrc.edu

External Members

External membership is available to faculty outside of Louisiana from a variety of disciplines whose work focuses on young children. External Affiliated members must be nominated by LSU faculty.

Name	Institution	Department	Email
Elizabeth Beavers	University of Houston-Clear Lake	Education	BeaversEA@UHCL.edu
Aaron Deris	Minnesota State University	Education	aaron.deris@mnsu.edu
Erin Harmeyer	Rutgers University	National Institute for Early Education Research	eharmeyer@nieer.org
Lena Lee	Miami University, OH	Teacher Education	leel@miamioh.edu
Megan Purcell	Purdue University	Human Development & Family Studies	meganpurcell@purdue.edu
Marcella Terrusi	University of Bologna	Life Quality Studies	marcellaterrusi@hotmail.com
Brittany Whittenberg	Phoenix Children's Hospital	Adaptive Care Team Program	bmwitt@gmail.com

Are you an early childhood researcher looking for community and collaboration?

Thank you for your interest in becoming an affiliated member of the Early Childhood Education Institute at Louisiana State University. The ECE Institute is an umbrella organization created to promote research and dissemination of recommended practices in early childhood care and education.

We hope you will consider joining us. If you are a researcher who is interested in being involved in the ECE Institute, please send your CV to eceinstitute@lsu.edu.

Are you a doctoral student looking for a research mentor?

We strive to offer collaborative opportunities for doctoral students by connecting them with highly-regarded researchers in their field. If you are a student who is interested, please reach out to eceinstitute@lsu.edu.