Pablo Bedoya Ríos from Colombia
Meet Pablo Bedoya Ríos, a visiting scholar in the field of photonics. He is a Physics Engineer and Master´s in science-physics student from the National University of Colombia in Medellín. He has been involved in several research and outreach projects within his community, of which stands out serving as officer of the local optics students’ chapter and having publications in international journals as an undergrad student.
Pablo’s current research is focused on quantum integrated photonics, more specific on enhancing light-matter interaction on microcavities to optimize the generation of entangled photons. Pablo will be here at BSU for the full 2022-2023 academic year conducting research at the photonics and optical engineering lab.
Dr. Will Garrett-Petts from Canada
Meet Dr. Will Garrett-Petts, Professor of English and Vice-President Research (Interim) at Thompson Rivers University, is this year’s Killam Visiting Professor in Canadian Studies, here at Bridgewater for the Spring 2023 semester. Garrett-Petts completed his master’s degree in Rhetoric and Canadian Literature at the University of British Columbia, and his PhD in English (critical and rhetorical theory) at the University of Alberta. Before taking up his role as Vice-President of Research, he was Associate Dean of Arts, Chair of English at TRU for five years, and, before that, Chair of Journalism. Between 2000 and 2012, Garrett-Petts was also Research Director of the Small Cities Community-University Research Alliance—a national research program exploring the cultural future of smaller communities in Canada. His major publications include Artistic Approaches to Cultural Mapping: Activating Imaginaries and Means of Knowing (Routledge, 2019, 2021); Cultural Mapping as Cultural Inquiry (Routledge, 2015, 2021); Whose Culture is it, Anyway? Community Engagement in Small Cities (New Star Books, 2014); Writing about Literature (Broadview Press, 2013); Imaging Place (Textual Studies in Canada, 2009); Artists’ Statements and the Nature of Artistic Inquiry (Open Letter, 2007); The Small Cities Book: On the Cultural Future of Small Cities (New Star Books, 2005); and PhotoGraphic Encounters: The Edges and Edginess of Reading Prose Pictures and Visual Fictions (University of Alberta Press, 2000). He is a Series Editor for the University of Calgary Press; and he currently holds research grants from Mitacs, the Vancouver Foundation, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, supporting his work in cultural mapping, undergraduate research, and community-engaged research in small cities.
Dr. Ketevan Mosashvili from Georgia
Meet Ketevan Mosashvili, a visiting scholar, professor of Psychology. Ketevan has PhD in Personality and Clinical Psychology and holds an assistant professor position at Tbilisi State University, Georgia. Her PhD research “Meaning – Making Framework: Religiosity, World Assumptions and Posttraumatic Growth in Case of Internally Displaced Persons after the Russian-Georgian War in 2008” is closely related with the problems of war and Internally Displaced Persons. Ketevan is extending her research, now focusing on IDPs and refugees from Russian aggression in Ukraine. Her collaboration with BSU has started from NSF funded undergraduate student research SIMuR project, where she worked with fellow students, providing training in Acceptance and Well-being in the Context of a Different Cultures, Cultural Adjustment vs “Culture Shock”, Meaning Making Framework, Appraisal of Life Events and Coping Strategies. Apart from teaching at BSU several classes in psychology, Ketevan cooperates with the student wellness center. Being a coordinator of Psychological Counseling Center for Students at Tbilisi State University (TSU), she is working on knowledge and experience exchange between the two centers.
Dr. Mikheil Elashvili from Georgia
Meet Dr. Mikheil Elashvili from Ilia State University ISU, Georgia (Republic of) joined the BSU community as a Fulbright research fellow for the spring of 2022. He has earned his Bachelor degree with honors in 1997, and Master degree with distinction at Informatics and Applied Mathematics in 1999 from the Tbilisi State University. Mikheil got his PhD degree in Geophysics in 2004. Professor at ISU, Mikheil is actively pursuing research and academic carrier. Former dean of School of Engineering at ISU and director of the Cultural Heritage and Environment Research Center, he is serving as a PI of various ongoing and completed international projects, collaborating with research teams from the Caucasus region, EU and US. Scientific/Research interests of Professor Elashvili are Environmental Studies, Climate and Environmental Changes, Reconstruction of Paleo Environment, Natural Hazards and Geomorphology, GIS and Remote Sensing, Applied Geophysics and Geo-Archaeology. Prof. Elashvili is engaged in developing innovative Virtual Reality technologies, used in research and education, by reconstruction of historic past and working on virtual museum concept. Currently Mikheil Elashvili is conducting the Multidisciplinary Study of Changes in Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironment and Human-Environment Interactions, actively participating in the NSF funded International Research Experience for Students project SIMuR and working with BSU students through the Graduate Course INTD499 in Multidisciplinary Studies. Mikheil Elashvili is also teaching several classes in calculus.