Dr. Angela C. Incollingo Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor of Psychological & Cognitive Sciences who runs WPI’s Stigma, Eating, & Endocrinology Dynamics (SEED) Lab. Her current ongoing research projects investigate ethnic minority stress and cellular aging, 3D food printing applications, and intergenerational consequences of pregnancy-related weight stigma.
Looking for an advisor for a research project? Have a burning question about SSPS? Our faculty are here to help! From political science and psychology to systems thinking and international development, our faculty comprise a broad range of disciplines and are dedicated to bridging the gap between STEM and society. For more information, check out their individual profiles!
Angela C. Incollingo Rodriguez
Gbetonmasse Somasse
Dr. Gbetonmasse Somasse is an economist and Associate Teaching Professor interested in public policy for the future of work and technology. He is currently working on a WPI signature project through the Public Interest Technology University Network to build a curriculum that prepares engineering students for engagement with policymakers.
Oleg Pavlov
Dr. Oleg Pavlov is an Associate Professor with research interests in economics and system dynamics. Recent topics of research for Dr. Pavlov include game-based pedagogical frameworks for promoting systems thinking skills, structural debriefing, and higher education as a complex service system.
Mahamadou Lamine Sagna
Dr. Lamine Sagna is an Associate Professor interested in the “symbolism of money” and the cultural and social values that underpin monetary exchange. In his book, Money and Society, he explores how poor people in France—often from sub-Saharan and North Africa, the French Caribbean, and other European countries—navigate financial uncertainties through cultural and social capital.
Department Head
Robert Krueger
Professor & Department Head of Social Science and Policy Studies
Robert Krueger is a human geographer whose scholarship and teaching focus on creating sustainable, socially just, improvements to development projects in the global north and south. His work has taken him around the world. He has worked in countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, on issues of economic development and institutional change. His scholarship and teaching challenge conventional notions of economic development, economy-environment relationships, and social change. ... View Profile
Our Faculty
Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah
Distinguished Statesman in Residence
Navneet Magon Anand
Adjunct Instructor/Lecturer
Navneet Magon Anand is a design strategist, consultant and researcher with a background in Architecture and Sustainability. She is the founder of Design Veritas, a design strategy consultancy and creative studio advocating for human and environmental sustainability and wellbeing. Her research, which focuses on intentional culture design, has a human centered approach beyond the four walls and is built on a core foundation of innovation, sustainability and wellbeing. She is a graduate of McGill University’s School of Architecture and has her MBA in Green Building and Sustainability. ... View Profile
Crystal Brown
Assistant Professor-Social Science
Crystal H. Brown earned her Ph.D. in Political Science with a focus in the subfields of Comparative Politics, International Relations, and U.S. Foreign Policy at the University of Oregon. She also has a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Pennsylvania State University. Her areas of interest include comparative immigration and integration policies, human rights, refugees, race/ethnicity and politics, and international security studies. ... View Profile
Jim Doyle
Associate Professor
I am a social psychologist trained in the interdisciplinary field of judgment and decision making. I am particularly interested in how people develop an understanding of complex environmental and societal problems and how their "mental models" of complex systems can best be studied and improved to aid both personal and public decision making. I firmly believe that environmental and social problems can't be solved without understanding how they are represented in the mind and identifying what cognitive processes people bring to bear upon them. ... View Profile
Laureen Elgert
Department Head
I joined WPI in 2011 as a scholar and teacher with training in public health, environmental policy, and international development studies. My research and teaching interests focused on the environment-development nexus, where tensions between sustainability and livelihoods often lead to contentious policy debates. ... View Profile
Angela C Incollingo Rodriguez
Assistant Professor
Angela Incollingo Rodriguez is an assistant professor of Psychological & Cognitive Sciences and Neuroscience. In addition to collaborating on interdisciplinary research teams across campus - including the Chronic Pain Research Group - she also directs her own lab - the WPI Stigma Eating & Endocrinology Dynamics (SEED) Lab.
Her research program uses a biopsychosocial approach to study health and health behaviors. ... View Profile
Richard Lopez
Assistant Professor
Richard Lopez is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies at WPI. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in psychology, social neuroscience, and Open Science practices applied to functional neuroimaging. He also directs the Social Neuroscience of Affective Processes (SNAP) Lab. ... View Profile
Trent Masiki
Assistant Professor
Trent Masiki is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies. His research interests focus on the social, historical, and intercultural ties that bind African Americans to other communities of African descent in the US, Africa, and the African diaspora. His research and teaching have been funded by the Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Amherst College, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Kilachand Honors College at Boston University, and the Fulbright Scholar program. ... View Profile
Erin R Ottmar
Associate Professor
Erin Ottmar is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Learning Sciences at WPI. She received her BA in psychology and elementary education from the University of Richmond. After college, she spent several years teaching in Ecuador and Japan. In 2011, she received her PhD in Educational Psychology: Applied Developmental Science from the University of Virginia. After graduate school, spent 3 years as a post-doctoral research scientist at the University of Richmond. ... View Profile
Oleg V Pavlov
Associate Professor
Professor Pavlov earned a BS degree in Physics/Computer Science and a PhD in Economics from University of Southern California and an MBA from Cornell University. He has taught at WPI since 2002. He has been to many universities in the US, Russia and Western Europe, but he thinks WPI is like no other university. The project-based approach at WPI allows him to involve students in research projects. He values the opportunity to include students in his research through IQPs and MQPs. ... View Profile
Michael J. Radzicki
Associate Professor
Professor Radzicki is an economist, creator of WPI’s program in system dynamics, and co-creator of WPI’s program in trading and investment system development. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Notre Dame and his training in system dynamics computer simulation modeling from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition, he is a certified Rapid-I Predictive Analytics Analyst. Professor Radzicki’s research focuses on predictive analytics, simulation science, and the application of techniques from these areas to problems in economics, finance, and management. ... View Profile
Derren Rosbach
Associate Professor of Teaching
The overarching goal of my teaching and research is to contribute to an interdisciplinary understanding of environmental governance and policy. More specifically, I focus on the building of individual, organizational and institutional capacities to participate in collaborative efforts to address complex social and environmental sustainability problems through the application of science and technology. ... View Profile
Khalid Saeed
Professor
Khalid Saeed is widely recognized for his work on the interface of economics and system dynamics. He has published two books and numerous articles on a variety of methodological, developmental and management agendas including sustainable agriculture, poverty alleviation, political instability, supply chain management and system dynamics modeling. His current focus is on operationalization of economic policy so it can be implemented through available managerial roles.
Professor Saeed served as the head of social Science and Policy Studies department from 1997-2007. ... View Profile
Mahamadou Sagna
Associate Professor
Stacy Shaw
Assistant Professor-Social Science
Stacy Shaw's research focuses on understanding creative thinking in mathematics, how anxiety and other threat experiences affect mathematical cognition and reasoning, as well as how classroom experiences can affect performance and learning in STEM. Recently she has become interested in the role of rest for academic achievement, burnout, and student wellbeing. She graduated with her Ph.D. ... View Profile
Jeanine LM Skorinko
Professor- Social Science
Jeanine Skorinko is a professor of psychology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies. She also is the director of the Psychological & Cognitive Science program. She received her PhD in social psychology at the University of Virginia.
Her research program attempts to understand how factors in our social environment, especially those factors we are unaware of, influence decisions and interpersonal interactions. ... View Profile
Alexander D. Smith
Associate Professor
Alexander Smith’s research focuses on altruism, trust, cooperation and honesty. In particular, he is interested in learning how behavior relates to beliefs about the actions of others and how psychology can be used for promoting pro-social behavior. These areas of research provide a better understanding of the factors underlying real-world pro-social behaviors such as volunteering and charitable giving. In essence, they provide insight into how to make the world a better place. ... View Profile
Gbetonmasse B. Somasse
Associate Professor of Teaching
Dr. Gbetonmasse Somasse is an economist and applied econometrician with field experience as a development practitioner. He is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies. Prior to joining WPI, he was an instructor at Clark University. He also served as senior economist statistician at the Central Bank of West African States and a consultant for the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Development Program. ... View Profile
Elisabeth Anne Stoddard
Associate Professor of Teaching
Prof Stoddard is a human-environment geographer who is interested in the intersection of nature, society, and justice, particularly in the context of climate change. She looks at the ways in which we can design for climate resilience, in terms of infrastructure, location specific practices, and through community resilience. Stoddard also looks at the vulnerability and resilience of food systems to disasters (climate, disease outbreaks, etc.), and the impacts for humans, animals, and ecosystems. ... View Profile
Hermine Vedogbeton
Assistant Research Professor
Hermine Vedogbeton completed her Ph.D. in Economics with a focus in Environment and Development at Clark University. She also earned a Master of International Development and Social Change at Clark University. Her current work examines how historically disadvantaged communities can find sustainable solutions to address social and environmental disparities. Her research interests include social justice, environmental justice, ecosystem services, sustainable communities, and gender and health in the developing world.
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Our Affiliates
Stuart Hilger
Affiliate Research Scientist
Stuart Hilger is a senior marketing and business development executive with broad experience in financial service firms including Fidelity Investments and Fleet Bank (now Bank of America). In addition, Stuart has been the founder or senior team member in several successful startups in financial services and consumer tech including Route401k, CardStar and RememberIn. Stuart is author of patent US 8881251B1 Electronic Authentication Using Pictures and Images November 2014. ... View Profile
Eric Keys
Affiliate Research Associate
Eric Keys is the monitoring and evaluation advisor for the Center for Digital Development at the United States Agency for International Development. He is an environmental geographer with backgrounds in natural resource conservation and economic development, and global environmental change. During his career Eric has carried out research on commercial agriculture and tropical deforestation, wildlife friendly development policies, land use and land cover change, and field methods and techniques. Dr. ... View Profile
Kwabena Kyei-Aboagye
Affiliate Research Scientist
An environmental professional with over 20 years of government and academic experience, Kwabena specializes in planning, law, public policy, environmental justice, community engagement, and multi-disciplinary projects. With a deep understanding of the local, state, federal and international government policies, Kwabena works with stakeholders in formulating and implementing effective technical and environmental strategies. ... View Profile
Our Staff
Cynthia Allegrezza
Executive Assistant