Ten researchers selected as part of the 2025-2026 STARS Program cohort
The CFAES Office for Research & Graduate Education is pleased to announce the 2025-2026 CFAES STARS Program (Strategic Alignment for Reaching Success) cohort. STARS is an initiative to identify and develop the next generation of research leaders among early and mid-career tenure track faculty within the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The goal of the STARS Program is to propel emerging research leaders – those individuals with the interest, vision, and motivation – to take their research programs to a higher and more collaborative level.
2025-2026 Cohort
Dr. Amanda Bowling
Associate Professor
Dr. Amanda Bowling is an associate professor of Agricultural Education in the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on enhancing youth development and learning through motivation, metacognition, and reflection. She strives to intersect research findings, teaching, and learning to support the incorporation of effective teaching strategies to support secondary, post-secondary, and graduate education. As such her previous research has explored the support of secondary agricultural student’s psychological needs and motivation, preservice teacher in-action reflective practices, and student teacher metacognition, procrastination, and stress during their senior capstone field experience. Additionally, she continues to explore innovative ways to incorporate metacognitive practices into classrooms through reflective journaling and artificial intelligence. Dr. Bowling earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in agricultural education from the University of Missouri.
Shannon Carter
Assistant Professor
Shannon Carter is an Assistant Professor and Area Leader with The Ohio State University. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ohio State University in Family Relations and Human Development. A third-generation Extension educator in family and consumer sciences, Shannon is passionate about helping others live smart by using research-based information to better their lives, families, and communities. As an Area Leader, Shannon enjoys helping staff achieve their aspirations and goals. Her greatest impact in Extension has been bringing out the best in others. Her greatest impact in life has been, along with her husband, raising two amazing children into even more wonderful young adults. She is proud to be part of the nationwide network of Extension professionals that bring the best of themselves, so their audiences have the knowledge and resources they need to actively engage in creating conditions in which they thrive.
Dr. Kellie Clafin
Assistant Professor
Kellie Claflin is an assistant professor of agriscience education at The Ohio State University in the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership. Her teaching and research centers on the preparation and support of future and current agriscience educators, as well as increasing literacy and career interest in agriculture. Kellie taught middle and high school agriculture for five years in Wisconsin and earned her master’s and Ph.D. in agricultural education from Oregon State University.
Dr. Yu Ma
assistant professor
Dr. Yu Ma began her role as Director of the Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center (OPGC) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at The Ohio State University (OSU) in August 2023. She earned her Ph.D. in Horticultural Sciences from Washington State University in 2016. Prior to joining OSU, she was an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Horticulture at Washington State University. The goal of her program at OSU closely aligns with the mission of OPGC, which is to conserve genetically-diverse herbaceous plant germplasm and associated information, conduct germplasm-related research, and encourage the use of germplasm and associated information for research, crop improvement and product development. Her research is centered on genetics, genomics and breeding on ornamental crops. Through implementing multi-omics technologies, she aims to develop genetics and genomics resources and tools to enable the development of aesthetics-enhanced, disease-resistant, and climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable ornamental plants, as well as enhancing the scientific knowledge of germplasm collections at OPGC.
Dr. Kayla Perry
Assistant professor
Dr. Kayla I. Perry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology at the Ohio State University and is based at the Wooster campus. Her research program aims to understand how disturbances influence the structure and function of insect communities in natural and urban forests. Ongoing research projects are focused on disturbances caused by invasive forest insects (emerald ash borer, elongate hemlock scale, elm zigzag sawfly), windstorms, forest management practices, and urbanization. Kayla’s extension program focuses on the biology, ecology, and management of invasive forest insects in Ohio. In this capacity, she serves diverse groups of forest health professionals, including resource and land managers, state and private foresters, arborists and landscapers, regulatory officials and the public. Kayla’s taxonomic expertise includes ground- and soil- dwelling arthropod communities, particularly ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Her teaching responsibilities include insect ecology, entomological techniques and data analysis, and the nature and practice of science. Kayla also occasionally hosts a ground beetle identification and ecology workshop.
Dr. Andres Sanabria-Velazquez
assistant professor
Dr. Andres Sanabria-Velazquez is currently the Vegetable Pathologist and Extension State Specialist for The Ohio State University. Dr. Sanabria-Velazquez specializes in sustainable disease management strategies for horticultural crops. He has been involved in studies related to anaerobic soil disinfestation and the use of biological control agents to manage plant diseases. Sanabria-Velazquez received his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from North Carolina State University, where he contributed to research on disease management in various crops, including Stevia. He has also been recognized for his work in cultural disease management of Stevia [Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni] in North Carolina, USA, Mexico, and Paraguay. His expertise includes studying microbial communities in the soil and their impact on plant health, as well as developing ecological disease management practices.
Dr. Florence Sessoms
Assistant professor
Dr. Florence Sessoms is an Assistant Professor in Roots, Rhizosphere, and Resilience in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at Ohio State University. She joined Ohio State in the summer of 2023 and is based in Wooster, Ohio, where her research focuses on the interaction between plant roots and the microbial communi5es in the rhizosphere. Her work aims to promote plant health, increase yield, enhance resilience against environmental stressors, and stabilize nitrogen levels in soils. Previously, Dr. Sessoms conducted research at the University of Minnesota, where she studied turfgrass species and their ability to naturally suppress weeds, and be tolerant to drought and heat. Her work has contributed to improve sustainable turfgrass management while maintaining healthy turf ecosystems. Dr. Sessoms earned her Ph.D. in Mycorrhizal Establishment in Petunia Roots from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. She is originally from France, where she received her M.S. in Plant Biology and Ecology from the University Pierre and Marie Curie.
Dr. Sarah Short
associate professor
Sarah Short is an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology. She earned a Ph.D. in Genetics and Development in 2012 from Cornell University, after which she was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University before coming to OSU in 2018. Her research is broadly focused on arthropod-microbe interactions, especially in mosquitoes. She studies how mosquitoes interact with harmful and helpful microbes, the formation of microbial communities within mosquitoes and ticks, the impacts of commensal microbes on pathogen susceptibility and transmission, and the ecological and evolutionary forces shaping mosquito immune defense. She teaches courses on Vector Biology and Insect Pathology, and she also leads an extension program focused on protecting Ohioans from mosquito and tick bites and increasing awareness about biting arthropods and the diseases they transmit.
Dr. Annie Specht
associate professor
A graduate of The Ohio State University and Texas A&M University, Dr. Annie Specht serves as an associate professor in the agricultural communication program in the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership. Her research interests include media portrayals of agriculture, visual communication, agricultural literacy, and public perceptions of food, agricultural and environmental issues. Her teaching areas of expertise include multimedia production, publication design, news and feature writing and editing, and data visualization.
Dr. Alex Villacis
Assistant professor
Dr. Alexis Villacis is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University's Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics. He received his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Tech in 2020. Dr. Villacis’ is an applied microeconomist studying the social welfare implications of agricultural production, with a particular interest in behavioral economics, climate change and food security. He is a Fulbright Scholar and currently serve as a Senior Advisor for The Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute. Dr. Villacis has extensive experience in and has conducted research studies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, collaborating with international organizations including the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and USAID.