Scholars

Primary Investigators:

   Dr. Lisa Stoneman is a social scientist whose specialty is English pedagogy. Her interests also include democratic educational practices and folklore, particularly that of the Celtic and Appalachian regions. She is currently involved in several interdisciplinary research projects that bridge her education and folklore interests with science. Dr. Stoneman teaches secondary methods and general education courses as well as supervising students in the field for the Education Department at Roanoke College.

   Dr. DorothyBelle Poli is an evolutionary biologist who specializes in the plant physiology of plant hormones but she also has a research focus on carboniferous fossil plants. Evolutionary biology is about putting together data into a hypothesis that can be experimented on; Dr. Poli’s interests in the living world are enhanced by the fossil work. Currently, Dr. Poli is an Associate Professor of Biology at Roanoke College where she teaches cell biology, evolution, and plant diversity. She also is a Research Assistant Curator at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville VA where she curates the Commonwealth’s paleobotany collection.

Secondary:

Angela Allen is a lecturer in psychology at Roanoke College. Dr. Allen has helped the DRC by investigating “chasing the dragon” terminology. Her work is featured in the DRC exhibit.

   Melanie Almeder is an associate professor at Roanoke College in the English department. Her specialties include poetry and contemporary literature. Dr. Almeder writes poetry for the DRC and mentors literary students. Find out more about her here.

   Lisa Bevevino is an Assistant Professor of French and Latin at the University of Minnesota, Morris. She collaborates with the DRC on French folklore depictions of medieval dragons.

   Joe Blaha is a retired associate professor of fine arts at Roanoke College. Dr. Blaha composed original music for the DRC and mentored students interested in musical composition.

Frances Bosch is a lecturer of Biology at Roanoke College with an interest in 3-D printing and ToysLikeMe. She studied human evolution and assists the DRC with disability awareness, original art, and general creativity.

Christina Byrd is a paleontology collections manager currently at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. Christina continues to provide paleontology and geology expertise to the DRC projects. She has worked with students on concepts in museum exhibit design and fossil identification.

    Karen Casebier is an Assistant Professor of French and Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dr. Casebier is sharing her expertise on dragons in medieval romance with the DRC.

Alton Dooley is the Executive Director of the Western Science Center. Dr. Dooley’s paleontology expertise brings a level of friendly skepticism to the project that keeps us on task.

Andy Fraser is an artist currently working on the Dragons of Wales book series. He is collaborating with the DRC for the 2020 exhibit.

Janelle Gornick is an assistant professor of psychology at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington VA.  Dr. Gornick continues to support the DRC in many ways. Her knitted dragon artwork is part of the DRC exhibit.

   Tina Hanlon is a professor of English at Ferrum College in Ferrum VA. Tina specializes in Appalachian literature and folktales and dragons in children’s literature.

   Alexander Hastings is a paleontologist who helped students on a multitude of projects while he was at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Dr. Hastings specializes in ancient giant reptiles and is currently the head of paleontology of the Science Museum of Minnesota.

  Kyra Hinton is the owner of Kyra Hinton Fine Arts Studio. Kyra is working with the DRC to produce maps for the 2020 exhibit.

David Husser is a computer graphic artist. David works to produce large-scale dragons for the DRC exhibit.

     Kal Ivanov is the assistant curator of invertebrates at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Dr. Ivanov specializes in ants, but has helped the DRC with the “dragon” insects such as dragonflies.

    Joe Keiper is the Executive Director of the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville VA. Dr. Keiper has provided students with museum studies help through the development of the DRC plant fossil-folklore exhibit.

    Martha Kuchar is a Professor of English and Communications Studies. Dr. Kuchar is sharing her knowledge of Slavic dragons.

   J. Leigh is a multimedia sculptor who works to produce realistic large-scale dragons for the DRC exhibit. She is the owner of The Color of Mud.

   Talia Logan is the Director of the Roanoke College Olin Gallery. Talia continues to aid the DRC with museum exhibit/art instillation expertise.

    David Matheny is a physicist. David is also a photographer who has contributed photos of Crail, Scotland to the DRC’s dragons natural history-art crossover exhibit. David produced a Fossil gallery that you can see here.

 Sandee McGlaun is an Associate Professor in the English Department and Director of the Roanoke College Writing Center. Dr. McGlaun’s specialty is non-fiction writing with an interest in nature. She has presented her writing with the DRC.

    Bernard Means is the Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Means works with the DRC to scan fossils that are integral to our project.

    Nancy Moncrief is the curator of mammalogy at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Dr. Moncrief is helping develop a “fantastical beasts of Virginia” component to our festivals.

    Andrew Moore is an Associate Professor of Geology at Earlham College with a specialty in tsunamis. Dr. Moore has guided the group in earth science endeavors and has written a chapter for an upcoming DRC book.

    Elizabeth Moore is the State Archeologist for the Virginia Commonwealth! She worked with us while she was the curator of archeology at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Dr. Moore has provided insight into Native American folklore and artifacts that involve dragons. We continue to collaborate with her in her new position.

David Mulford currently is in the Director of Educational Technologies and Media Center at James Madison University. He was the Media Technology Director and a Lecturer at Roanoke College. He worked with students in the media lab, helping us produce audio-visual interviews of senior members.

Jim Ogier is a retired Associate Professor of German in the Modern Languages. Dr. Ogier mentors students seeking advanced language work and has also produced audio media for the museum exhibit.

  Jeffrey Rigdon is an expert about Viking culture and provides a sense of history to a large portion of our work. He brings a Viking flair to all of our outings by just being who he is!

David Scaer is an Associate Professor of French in the Modern Languages Department, specializing in Rabelais. Dr. Scaer is also an artist, working with the DRC to create artwork for the museum exhibit. He also created a unique font for the project.

   Ray Vodden is a paleontology technician at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Ray teaches DRC members how to mold and cast fossils, build stands to showcase fossils, and discusses museum exhibit design.

 Stella Xu is an Associate Professor of History. Her specialties are the history of China, Korea, and Japan. Dr. Xu shares her knowledge on Chinese folklore and dragons and participates in the Dragon Festivals as well as the museum exhibits.