1. Public Engagement & Impact Interview With 2019 Michigan Road Scholar Line van Nieuwstadt

    Mark Rivett posted April 26, 2019

    Read full interview at U-M Public Engagement and Impact

    One of this year’s Road Scholars is Line van Nieuwstadt, professor of engineering practice at UM-Dearborn’s College of Engineering and Computer Science. She has done extensive work with NASA, including on the Sojourner Mars Rover, and is helping to develop the best methods for teaching the next generation of engineers.

    Line Van Nieuwstad

    Line Van Nieuwstadt Ph.D., Associate Professor of Engineering Practice

    What interested you in the Road Scholar tour?

    I envision the Road Scholar tour will show me parts of Michigan still unknown to me. I would like to meet Michiganders from all walks of life, learn about their daily ecosystem, about their stressors and successes. I am also looking forward to learn about my fellow Road Scholars to exchange ideas and experiences with them.
    – Van Nieuwstadt

    The Michigan Road Scholars Tour — an annual five-day traveling seminar that takes U-M faculty through the state — increases mutual knowledge and understanding between the university and the people and communities of Michigan.

    You can keep up with the happenings on the tour May 6–10 by following #MIRoadScholars on Twitter.

    Read full interview at U-M Public Engagement and Impact


  2. Public Engagement & Impact Interview With 2019 Michigan Road Scholar Kamran Diba

    Mark Rivett posted April 25, 2019

    Read full interview at U-M Public Engagement and Impact

    One of this year’s Road Scholars is Kamran Diba, associate professor of anesthesiology and principal investigator of the Neural Circuits and Memory Lab. Diba studies neural activity in the brain related to learning, memory, and sleep. His research also has implications for aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

    In this Q&A, Kattari reveals her motivation for joining the Road Scholars, and what she hopes to learn.

    Kamran Diba

    Principal investigator of the Neural Circuits and Memory Lab at the Department of Anesthesiology in the University of Michigan Medical School

    What interested you in the Road Scholar tour?

    I first heard about Road Scholars when I was doing a Wolverine Express trip (run by the Center for Educational Outreach). One of the other participants had been a Road Scholar and recommended it as a great program.

    I’m new to the state of Michigan, having just started here at U-M in August 2017. It seems like a great way to get grounded in the state. I’m not sure whether people in Michigan feel that the faculty at U-M represents them, but I would like to work toward increasing that sense of representation. The work we do in our teaching, research, and dissemination can directly benefit the state, so I think it’s also important for me to gain a better sense of the different places, people, economics, and overall concerns in Michigan. Through the Road Scholars program we can have these interactions and two-way learning about what we all do.

    Before coming here I was at the University of Wisconsin for six years, and I regret not developing a stronger connection to that state. U-M has provided this unique opportunity to bridge that issue.
    – Kamran Diba

    The Michigan Road Scholars Tour — an annual five-day traveling seminar that takes U-M faculty through the state — increases mutual knowledge and understanding between the university and the people and communities of Michigan.

    You can keep up with the happenings on the tour May 6–10 by following #MIRoadScholars on Twitter.

    Read full interview at U-M Public Engagement and Impact


  3. Public Engagement & Impact Interview With 2019 Michigan Road Scholar Shanna Kattari

    Mark Rivett posted April 24, 2019

    Read full interview at U-M Public Engagement and Impact

    One of this year’s Road Scholars, Shanna Kattari, is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work with a courtesy appointment in Women’s Studies. She researches health disparities among transgender and nonbinary people, disability and ableism, and examines sexuality in marginalized communities, particularly in LGBTQIA individuals and people with disabilities.

    In this Q&A, Kattari reveals her motivation for joining the Road Scholars, and what she hopes to learn.

    Shanna K. Kattari, PhD, MEd, ACS; University of Michigan School of Social Work faculty, board certified sexologist, experienced sexuality educator, and social justice advocate.

    What interested you in the Road Scholar tour?

    As someone relatively new to Michigan — I’m just finishing up my second year at U-M — it’s really important to me to learn about my new state and all of the different facets that make up Michigan. I do community-based research and it is incredibly difficult to know what type of research is needed when I don’t know much about the communities in my new home, and what their needs are. Plus, I haven’t been further north than Lansing and really wanted to get to see more of the state.
    – Shanna Kattari

    The Michigan Road Scholars Tour — an annual five-day traveling seminar that takes U-M faculty through the state — increases mutual knowledge and understanding between the university and the people and communities of Michigan.

    You can keep up with the happenings on the tour May 6–10 by following #MIRoadScholars on Twitter.

    Read full interview at U-M Public Engagement and Impact