In his own words: I’m the Senior Vice President of Development Operations at Health and Wellness Partners (HWP), a global medical communications agency focused on strategy, science, and outcomes. I lead the technical development side of our work, helping to bring client-facing digital platforms and custom solutions to life. I started my career at Hybrid Healthcare Communications while I was still a student at Monmouth, and over the years moved up into leadership roles: first as VP in 2020, then SVP in 2023. That same year, HWP acquired Hybrid and our team officially became part of the larger agency.

What keeps me excited about this work is just how fast everything moves. We’re always adapting, solving new problems, and finding creative ways to meet client needs. No two days are the same. I’m constantly exploring new tools and technologies, and being an early adopter helps me stay ahead of the curve. It’s a space where curiosity, speed, and execution all matter. That combination keeps me sharp and energized.

My experience at Monmouth gave me a strong foundation, not only in technical skills but also in the soft skills that are essential for leadership and collaboration. I double majored in Software Engineering and Mathematics, which shaped the way I think and approach problems. Outside the classroom, I served as president of the IEEE/ACM student chapter, helped new School of Science students adapt to life at Monmouth as a peer mentor coordinator, and was an active member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity, where I learned the value of brotherhood, responsibility, and community involvement. Those experiences helped me build leadership, teamwork, and communication skills that have been essential throughout my career.If I could go back, I’d challenge myself to take even more initiative. Jump into more side projects, collaborate outside my comfort zone, and get more comfortable with being uncomfortable. Monmouth opened a lot of doors for me, and the people and experiences I found there played a huge role in getting me to where I am today.

Monmouth University was awarded a grant for climate education through the Expanding Access to Climate Change and NJ Student Learning Through Climate Change Learning Collaborative Grant. This $300,000 award will fund professional development activities for NJ teachers and students. The Monmouth University CCLC aims to prepare NJ K-12 teachers to teach climate change in developmentally appropriate ways across all grade levels and subject areas. Monmouth Conservation Foundation, NJ Sea Grant Consortium, and the Urban Coast Institute will offer place-based curriculum and experiential learning opportunities while Monmouth University will offer professional development related to climate science, interdisciplinary instruction, and special interest topics related to climate change.

The Learning Collaborative is lead by Dr. Michelle Schpakow of the School of Education with Dr. Catherine Duckett of the School of Science and Dr. Peter Jacques of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences as Co-PI’s. The grant provides for a comprehensive program of professional development opportunities to teacher in NJ schools. The Climate Change Learning Collaborative website advertises these opportunities and has a repository of climate change teaching resources. The Climate Change Learning Collaborative also cooperates with partner school systems to deliver content at their schools and to host a symposium where teachers and students can showcase the learning and projects undertaken in the last year. A photo gallery of last year’s symposium is below. The grant runs through March 31, 2026. For more information and for video on the program see the Monmouth Climate Change Learning Collaborative website.

The School of Science Peer Mentor program has not only recruited a new cohort of students for the fall semester, see above, but a new faculty coordinator. Dr. Weihao Qu (below far left) from the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering has taken over the faculty direction of the program from Associate Dean Catherine Duckett, below far right. The program will continue to provide support to new and continuing students, professional development programing and an occasional social function.

In her own words: I’m a biotech development consultant with a background that bridges biotech and finance. As an undergrad at Monmouth University, I spent four years researching harmful algal blooms under Dr. Jason Adolf. After earning my B.S. in Biology, I began consulting in pharmaceutical financing strategy and micro-cap IPO preparation for oncology biotech companies. Over time, I expanded into other sectors and industries; controlled environment agriculture, energy, security and defense, and environmental goods and services. ESG investing has been a priority throughout my career. While I gained valuable experience with financial institutions, I eventually shifted toward startups to pursue my passion for developing monetization pathways for climate-focused technologies. My work centers on translating science into compelling narratives for investors while ensuring compliance and connecting business with academia. I also support private investors by analyzing data through a scientific lens to guide decisions.

By coincidence, a client in my network was interested in seaweed aquaculture and climate-resilient infrastructure; a serendipitous intersection of my academic experience and professional niche. Without my research foundation, I wouldn’t have been able to step in and help move that business from concept to execution. That kind of work, diverse, meaningful, and self-directed, is what I find most rewarding. And yes, the travel and scuba diving in our quarry acquisitions are a big bonus.

Monmouth shaped who I am. My first-year seminar introduced me to climate science, and my research taught me how to communicate complex work, a crucial skill in investment settings where years of scientific discovery and innovation often comes down to a 15-minute pitch. My time at Cape Eleuthera Institute also strengthened my connections with the Ocean Research Education Foundation and other international collaborators I still value today.

To me, success is about finding happiness. I entered Monmouth as a pre-med student; a noble pursuit, but I felt disenchanted because I truthfully was not as passionate about that career objective as other students were. I wanted a career that made me feel like it was my purpose.  I was worried about financial stability too, but my professors helped me figure out what I was willing to work hard for. Once I leaned into my curiosity and found alignment with my path, the monetary rewards followed. In a sense, it was by accident that I cultivated my dream job. Every factor that led me towards it really traces back to Monmouth University. If I could do it all over again, I’d tell myself that fulfillment is the priority so I could savor that journey again. 

Three professors receive equity and inclusion teaching awards

At the November School of Science faculty meeting Drs. Torrey Gallagher, Weihao Qu and Laura Turner received awards for their innovations in teaching that promote equity and inclusion. The awards were made in two categories innovations to Assessment and for innovations involving the entire syllabus. Innovations that stemmed from published strategies that promote equity and inclusion of persons underrepresented in each field or with evidence of success in the classroom were required.

Dr. Qu’s project entitled “Secure Database Design – ensuring student interest” won in the category of Assessment. Dr. Qu states “The key renovation is to provide students opportunities to pick up what they are most interested (or comfortable) into the assessment of their performance of the courses. This is inspired by the concept of Universal Design for Learning(UDL) and Classroom Assessment Techniques(CATs)[ from the inclusive STEM online course.” Instead of giving students in CS/SE 450 a standard examinations Dr. Qu asked students to designed their own database in a competition that satisfied the course requirements. Dr. Qu reported high student learning as assessed by the database design and a later quiz, as well as higher student participation and satisfaction.

In the category of Improvements to Entire Syllabi, Drs. Gallagher and Turner were both recognized.

Dr. Gallagher’s submission “Skeletal Outlines for Better Outcomes in Math 117” provided skeletal outlines of course content for every class meeting of Math 117 (quantitative Analysis for Business I) in the Spring semester 2024. These skeletal outlines included a review exercise to begin each class meeting, theoretical sections with few blanks for student work and all crucial theoretical points typed out at least once, carefully scaffolded examples, building from mostly typed out to mostly blank, when applicable, problem-solving strategies for word problems were also scaffolded. The rationale for these outlines was the combination of poor student note taking and the reliance of the course on algorithms, the combination did not make for strong student outcomes. After using the outlines, Dr. Gallagher observed that both the average and median grades rose in his class from the prior year where no outlines were provided and that students found the outlines “very helpful”.

Dr. Laura Turner’s “Course Curriculum Revisions: exposing students to diverse voices in MA 325 (History of Mathematics)” Dr. Turner chose to focus on the importance of representation in Mathematics and to assign a scaffolded series of assignments beginning with picture a mathematician” and proceeding through a series of assignments, including written and graphic works where students not only highlighted mathematicians from historically underrepresented groups but critiqued the works of others for completeness and biases. The rationale for this revision is “while many view mathematics as apolitical and objective, research on the history of the subject contains many examples to the contrary. Moreover, MA 325 is largely populated by students who will become mathematics teachers, and their exposure to these subjects is critical not only to their own growth and development but also those of their future students. An understanding of the state of the discipline and how we find our places within it is also vital to anyone who seeks to practice mathematics within academia, industry, business, or government.” Selected graphic works are reproduced below.

Q:  Please introduce yourself.

A:  I am currently in my 20th year as a computer science and software engineering faculty member at Monmouth University. I hold a PhD in computer engineering from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China. I have been married for 34 years and have one daughter.

Q:  What do you like about being in the school of science?  What brought you here?

A:  I am grateful for the research support from the School of Science and the chance to collaborate with a distinguished community of scholars. I also highly value the opportunity to work and publish along­­side our undergraduate and graduate student research colleagues.

Q:  Tell us about your research.  What inspired you to be in a role that includes doing research?

A:  My research areas include artificial intelligence, software engineering, formal methods, discrete event systems, and service computing. The first research project I participated in was for my bachelors’ degree thesis design. During that period, I spent most of my time in the lab conducting experiments on an automatic control system to figure out its dynamics. The findings were presented at a national academic conference that same year. This minor success significantly heightened my interest in scientific research. I pursued my master’s and PhD degrees in China and taught classes there for six years. In 1997, I joined Florida International University in Miami as a research associate, where my research interests shifted to software engineering and computer science. Over the years, my research has resulted in the publication of four books and over 200 papers in international journals and conference proceedings.

Q:  Do you include collaborators including students?

A:  Yes. Since joining Monmouth in 2004, I have consistently involved students in my research efforts. This includes supervising master’s degree students in their thesis projects, hiring graduate research assistants, offering and advising the School of Science summer research projects, and hiring student employees. One thing I would like to emphasize is that I have greatly benefited from collaborating with students. They are often quicker at learning the latest software tools and AI technologies. Most of my publications include student co-authors. It is also immensely rewarding to see some of my student researchers advance to PhD studies after they graduated from Monmouth with master’s degree, or employed by world renown companies.

Q:  What are your research plans for the near future?

A:  In recent years, AI research has become a rapidly evolving field, exploring the development and application of artificial intelligence technologies to solve complex problems and enhance various aspects of human life. I have been working with my student assistants on AI topics, such as using deep reinforcement learning to find optimal evacuation routes in teaching buildings during emergencies and employing ensemble machine learning to predict patient hospital stay durations. In the near future, I plan to focus on AI applications in healthcare and emergency management.

Q:  Do you have any advice for students that are interested in doing research?

A: Participating in professors’ research can greatly benefit students in several ways: (1) Gaining hands-on experience in their field, which enhances their understanding of theoretical concepts; (2) Developing critical skills such as problem-solving, data analysis, technical writing, and time management; (3) Being exposed to cutting-edge topics and methodologies beyond standard coursework; and (4) Having opportunities to co-author papers and present work at conferences, thereby boosting their professional portfolio. Students are encouraged reach out to me or any faculty member at the School of Science to discuss their research interests and the available research opportunities at the school.

We are delighted to celebrate the graduation of eighty- eight undergraduates and 11 masters students on May 16th. Biology led with thirty-six, Chemistry with fifteen, Mathematics with twelve and Computer Science and Software Engineering graduated seventeen and eight respectively. Six students earned M.S. degrees in C.S. and two in S.E. We also graduated three students with Data Science M.S. degrees. Congratulations to all our graduates. Below please find a selection of photos of the ceremony.

As the spring semester comes to an end, we take the time to acknowledge the contributions and commitment of our colleagues who are retiring.  They will all be dearly missed and we wish them the best. Their names are presented in order of years of service to the university.

Dennis Rhoads joined Monmouth University as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology in 1995.  He was promoted to Professor in 2009.

He served as Chair of the Biology Department for 15 consecutive years and Chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee for 7 years.  Dennis was active in transforming the curriculum in the Department of Biology, playing a leading role in establishing the Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy major and introducing the Molecular Cell Physiology concentration to the Biology major.

Dr. Rhoads excelled in scholarship and mentoring of undergraduate research students, having over 65 students working in the laboratory, winning numerous external awards for their presentations, and having 24 students as co-authors on peer-reviewed publications.  Dr. Rhoads transformed research in the Biology Department by mentoring faculty to receive the first two major grants from the National Institutes of Health, establishing the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and representing Monmouth University at the New Jersey Marine Science Consortium for 9 years.

Daniela Rosca joined the Monmouth University faculty in 1998 as an Assistant Professor, later earning tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2004.  During her time here she has served as Department Chair (2018 – 2024) and was actively involved in  supervising Masters theses and undergraduate practicum projects, many of which have earned awards of excellence.  Rosca published nearly 40 papers in prominent international and national journals and conferences. She received the Best Paper Award at the 2016 International Conference in Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering (SEKE 2016) and the Best Paper Award at the same conference in 2001.

In addition, Dr. Rosca has led two major curriculum restructurings for both the Computer Science and the Software Engineering accredited programs, and led the preparation of the successful ABET re-accreditation visits for the BSSE and BSCS Programs in 2022-2023. 

Biyue (Betty) Liu joined the Monmouth University faculty as an Associate Professor of

Mathematics in 2000, received tenure in 2004 and was promoted to full Professor in 2007.  Dr. Liu is an internationally recognized scholar with expertise in numerical

solutions of partial differential equations and has developed mathematical models to simulate and study the blood flows in human arteries with stenosis, publishing over 40 journal articles, and received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Association for Women in Mathematics, and the Simons Foundation. 

Dr. Liu has provided exemplary service to her department, school, and university, serving as co-chair of the Mathematics Department, a Peer Observer, as well as Faculty Council, the School Personnel Committee, the University Qualifications Committee and the General Education Oversight Committee.

William Schreiber jointed the Monmouth University faculty as a Lecturer in 2006 after nearly 30 years as an industrial chemist.  Dr. Schreiber served as Department Chair from January 2014 through June 2022 led two American Chemical Society recertification reports and helped to introduce many new courses for non-science majors, among them Climate Science, Science of Food and Cooking, Forensic Science, Geology, Drug Discovery and Medicinal Chemistry for majors.  Dr. Schreiber has excelled in his service as chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee and most recently representing the School of Science on Faculty Council, serving as Governance Secretary and on its Executive Committee for the last two years.

Gil Eckert joined the Monmouth University faculty as an Instructor in 2014 and later became a Specialist Professor in 2017. Gil was actively involved in curriculum development and assessment.  Gil is most noted for his work with students, mentoring several Summer Research Projects and creating several introductory courses in Computer Science and Problem Solving.