Thirteen faculty and campus members at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been named Morgridge Fellows.
The fellows were selected through a juried process to participate in the year-long learning community designed to further institutionalize and support Community-engaged Scholarship.
Community-engaged scholarship is defined as: teaching, research and scholarly activities that are performed in equitable, mutually beneficial collaboration with communities to fulfill campus and community objectives. The program is led by Morgridge Center academic staff and guest speakers from campus and community perspectives.
The upcoming year will include sessions focused on developing and sustaining mutually beneficial community-university partnerships for Community-based Learning courses and research. In addition to receiving support for their classrooms, research and other community-engaged projects, fellows will have the opportunity to build a unique interdisciplinary team of mentors and peers from the UW community.
The following instructors have been named Morgridge Fellows:
Angela Waupochick, she/her
PhD Candidate, Forest and Wildlife Ecology, CALS, Trowbridge Lab
Angela Waupochick has a mixed forestry and water resources background, largely serving tribal communities across the Southwestern United States and northern Wisconsin. Managers in the tribal sector are often responsible for planning and implementing natural resource efforts, community education, outreach and everything in between. She established herself as a leader in her field, earning a National Wetland Award in 2019 for State, Tribal and Local Program Management. Waupochick returned to graduate school to improve her ability to effectively manage tribal resources. She currently studies Emerald ash borer-induced hydrological changes in tribal black ash forests. Her forested wetland research incorporates forestry internships for tribal youth, and partnership with tribal communities to advance monitoring strategies and response to forest health issues. Waupochick is from Keshena, WI.
Brenda González, she/ella
UW–Madison Community Relations Director, Government Affairs and Strategic Partnerships
As director of community relations, Brenda González serves as UW–Madison’s primary point of contact with local community and nonprofit organizations. She is responsible for developing strategies to ensure the university is engaged with these organizations and the broader community. This includes overseeing the UW South Madison Partnership initiative designed to work with the community and the university to co-create meaningful, long-lasting partnerships that address the opportunities and challenges of the Madison and Dane County area. Prior to joining UW–Madison, González worked as the diversity manager for Agrace Hospice & Palliative Care and as a community marketing and health equity manager for Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin. On campus, she served as the health equity career development program manager with the Collaborative Center for Health Equity at the School of Medicine and Public Health.
Brenna Swift, she/her
PhD Candidate in English, Composition and Rhetoric
Brenna Swift is a PhD candidate in the composition and rhetoric program at UW–Madison. Hailing from Colorado, she earned her BA in English and creative writing at Colorado College and her master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. After working as a journalist covering public education reform, she became a literacy educator and program administrator in a variety of college and community-based settings. Her research focuses on the stories, literacy practices and insights of writers with disabilities who are multiply marginalized, sharing how their knowledge can transform literacy education. Her work is dedicated to the disability justice movement, antiracist pedagogy, trauma-informed teaching and education for social justice.
CJ Greer, he/him/his
PhD student, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
Carl “CJ” Greer is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW–Madison. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, Greer earned his BA in psychology from the UW–Milwaukee and a dual-master of educational leadership and policy and social work at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. Greer’s youth worker and educator background within Milwaukee and Detroit contexts inspired him to pursue doctoral training in becoming a community-based tenure track faculty member that examines how the relationship between schools and community-based education spaces can holistically develop Black youth. His current work examines the attempt to erase racially minoritized communities’ narratives by censoring Critical Race Theory and other social justice frameworks (e.g., equity, ethnic studies, multiculturalism) in schools.
Jessica LeClair, she/her
Clinical Instructor & PhD Candidate, School of Nursing
Jessica LeClair is a clinical faculty member and PhD candidate at UW–Madison School of Nursing, with affiliated appointments at the Global Health Institute, the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the School of Medicine and Public Health. LeClair’s past experiences include working as a public health nurse for Public Health Madison and Dane County, and as a community health nurse for the Ho-Chunk Nation. She joined UW–Madison in 2018 to empower future nurses to address climate justice and other planetary health issues. Her long-term goal is to build a program of research that identifies and facilitates effective public health practices that advance climate justice and population health.
Kao Lee Yang, she/her/hers
Neuroscience & Public Policy Program, a joint program between the Neuroscience Training Program and the La Follette School of Public Affairs
Kao Lee Yang is a PhD/MPA candidate in the neuroscience and public policy program at UW–Madison. She studies Alzheimer’s disease, a disease that primarily affects people 65 years or older and is the number one cause of Dementia. Yang uses brain imaging and fluid biomarkers to study early biological changes that may indicate eventual development of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, Yang is passionate about identifying new ways in which the scientific community can equitably engage members from underrepresented groups as science trainees and research participants. In January 2022, Yang launched @HmongInBioSci on Twitter and uses it to build an online community that supports Hmong-identifying scientists and trainees in the biological sciences, and encourages networking for professional development.
Kat Phelps, she/her
Research Equity and Engagement Consultant for the Wisconsin Network for Research Support (WINRS), UW–Madison School of Nursing
Kat Phelps earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from UW–Madison and PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Several of Phelps’ favorite projects have involved collaborating with academic and community partners to create youth arts programs focused on social justice, establish a regional human services information and volunteer center to increase community-university partnerships, and work at the national level in the area of elder abuse prevention. She is passionate about community engagement and deeply values the role that WINRS plays in connecting health science researchers with the wisdom and expertise that exists outside of academic settings.
Khrysta A. Evans, she/her/hers
PhD Candidate, Educational Policy Studies
Khrysta A. Evans is a PhD candidate in educational policy studies in the social sciences concentration at UW–Madison. Originally from Bronx, NY, she earned her BA in sociology from the University of Maryland and her MA in educational studies from the University of Michigan. Before returning to the academy for her PhD, Evans spent several years working in student support roles in schools and non-profit organizations. As a doctoral student, Evans is excited to learn about Black girls’ knowledge production and the various spatial and relational strategies they employ to navigate their schooling experiences. She is passionate about centering Black girls’ voices in her scholarship and ensuring that the lenses we use to understand their lives are not limited to racial oppression and violence.
Marquel Norton, they/any
PhD Student, Counseling Psychology
Marquel Norton is a second-year doctoral student in the Department of Counseling Psychology at UW–Madison. Norton was a licensed school psychologist in Massachusetts, earning their BA in clinical psychology and child development and MA/EdS in school psychology from Tufts University. They draw upon Black trans and nonbinary place-based leadership, across age-ranges, to think critically about how communities navigate and disrupt racialized and gendered geographical and structural limitations in building healthy communities. As a Black and queer researcher and therapist in training, they prioritize community-engaged scholarship to understand the need for mental health providers and liberatory therapeutic practices in trans and queer communities of color.
Morgan Jerald, she/her
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Morgan Jerald is an assistant professor of psychology at UW–Madison. Originally from Atlanta, GA, she received her BA from Spelman College and PhD from the University of Michigan. Her research examines sociocultural factors, such as the media and stereotypes, that influence Black women’s gender beliefs, sexual well-being and experiences of sexualization. Prior to joining UW–Madison, she was an assistant professor at Macalester College.
Nidia Bañuelos, she/her
Assistant Professor, Division of Continuing Studies
Nidia Bañuelos is an assistant professor of adult, continuing, and higher education in the Division of Continuing Studies. She studies the design and implementation of new postsecondary programs for working adults, as well as the assets that low-income students with caregiving responsibilities bring to their education. She also teaches for the UW Odyssey Project — a program that aims to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by offering humanities and social sciences courses for adults facing economic barriers to college.
Sandra Newbury, she/her
Director, UW Shelter Medicine Program; Clinical Associate Professor, UW–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Sandra Newbury focuses on partnerships between animal shelters, veterinarians and the community to support the human-animal bond, increase equity in services and animal law enforcement, reduce barriers to accessing veterinary care, decrease shelter intake and improve health, welfare and positive outcomes for animals and their people. Newbury travels through the year working with shelters and communities of all kinds across the US, and in Canada, Europe and Australia. Newbury feels grateful to be included in and is continually learning from the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee of the Association of Animal Welfare Administrators. The UW Shelter Medicine Program offers a discussion-based elective course for veterinary students entitled Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Animal Welfare as well as a clinical student experience making house calls in Milwaukee and Madison. She also served six years on the Board of Directors of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians and was the Chair of the Shelter Standards Task Force.
Sarah Hohl, she/her
Lead Research Scientist, Office of Community Health
Dr. Sarah Hohl is a mixed-methods team scientist and health disparities researcher with training in health behavior, community-engaged research, health services evaluation and implementation science. Her research interests center on integrating community priorities in research to remove barriers to health among populations that have been systematically marginalized. As the lead research scientist in Office of Community Health in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, she leads research and evaluation of projects that aim to enhance health equity, anti-racism and community engagement in Family Medicine. Hohl received her MPH in global health and her PhD in health services with an emphasis on social determinants of health and health behavior from the University of Washington. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in implementation science in primary care as part of the Biobehavioral Cancer Prevention Training Program at the University of Washington Health Promotion Research Center. Prior to entering the field of U.S.-based disease prevention and control research, Hohl spent 10 years managing programs to address social and structural determinants of health in Africa, Asia and Latin America.