Who we are
The EPSA research team at UM works on a wide range of issues with a common focus on issues of power, community engagement, and collective action.
We engage in collaborative action research with community partners to uncover injustice and build community capacity for social change. We are community-engaged action researchers, critical friends, and activist-scholars.
Things We Live By
We take a critical perspective on social problems, taking into consideration the social, systemic, economic and political conditions of our community and organizations.
We acknowledge the function and process of power, which we see as influencing everything around us including what knowledge is valid, how knowledge is created and shared, who is able to succeed, and how success is defined.
Our Team
Dr. Scotney D. Evans (He/Him/His)
Associate Professor
Editor, Collaborations: A Journal of Community-based Research and Practice
Dr. Evans (he/him) is a community-engaged researcher working to understand and support the role of community-based organizations, networks, and coalitions in building collective power to promote community wellbeing, social change, and social justice. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational and Psychological Studies in the School of Education and Human Development, and teaches and advises students in the undergraduate program in Community and Applied Psychological Studies, the master’s program in Community and Social Change, and the PhD program in Community Well-being. Dr. Evans is also the editor of the open-access online journal Collaborations: A Journal of Community-Based Research and Practice and current president of the UMiami AAUP-Alliance. /p>
Dr. Evans received his Ph.D. in Community Research and Action at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. He has a master’s degree in Human Development Counseling also from Vanderbilt. Dr. Evans also has previous experience in non-for-profit community-based organizations as a youth development worker, crisis worker, family counselor, youth program developer, program evaluator, and organizational consultant.
Emily Tiên Nhi Bosworth (She/Her/Hers)
PhD Student, Counseling Psychology
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Emily is a counseling psychology doctoral student in the Department of Educational and Psychological Studies. She has a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida. She is interested in applications of Vietnamese Buddhist philosophy to overall wellbeing/healing and community organizing.
Andrea Botero (She/Her/Ella)
PhD Candidate, Community Well-Being
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Andrea Botero is a doctoral candidate in Community Well-Being at the University of Miami. She completed her Master’s degree in Community and Social Change at the University of Miami, and has 10+ years of experience in the nonprofit field, managing projects, and evaluating social programs. Her methodological toolbox includes both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and she uses data visualization to tell stories. Andrea's dissertation called "UNFREEZING HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS: KEY TENSIONS HINDERING THEIR MISSION AND VALUES" has the goal of identifying and understanding the tensions that hinder nonprofit organizations from achieving their mission and acting according to their values. The research aims to contribute to the improvement of nonprofit organizations' praxis and their dialectical process of becoming by developing a power and value-based framework that captures these tensions.
Carmen Chavez (She/Her/Hers)
PhD Student, Environmental Science and Policy
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies and Abess Center
Carmen Chávez is a tropical biologist, conservationist, educator, and National Geographic Explorer. With over 20 years of experience working in the Amazon rainforest, Carmen directed a non-profit organization and led multidisciplinary and collaborative efforts to conserve the rainforest through innovative and experiential education and research programs. She created and established numerous award-winning educational programs that reached thousands of school and university teachers and students in Peru, where she is originally from. She has provided these unique educational opportunities to the Amazon's isolated, underserved, and marginalized indigenous communities who are now making a difference in their communities. Carmen is starting a Ph.D. program at - Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science of the University of Miami, to further understand how communities respond to the global climate change crisis using nature-based solutions. She will collaborate with the Environmental Science & Policy Abess Center and the School of Education and Human Development. "
Karissa Coady (She/Her/Hers)
PhD Student, Community Well-Being
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Karissa is a first year PhD student in the Community Well-Being program at the University of Miami and a graduate research assistant on the EPSA team. She holds a M.Ed. in Community Development and Action from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University and a B.A. in Theatre and Business from Rhodes College, where she was a Bonner Scholar. Before pursuing graduate education, Karissa spent most of her time working with youth in grassroots nonprofits. She is interested in using critical and participatory methods to collaboratively work toward social justice outcomes with local communities. Karissa is particularly passionate about the power of youth to affect social change and the ability of art and artistic processes to build and heal community. When not working on classes or EPSA, you can find Karissa singing show tunes or hanging with her geriatric dog.
Stephanie Frosch (She/Her/Hers)
PhD Student, Community Well-Being
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Stephanie joins us with over a decade of experience as an award-winning educator, content creator, theatre practitioner, and LGBTQAI+ advocate. Her DEI and advocacy work has earned her seats on several advisory boards and round tables, the most recent being White House briefings with senior administration officials of the Biden-Harris administration to discuss ongoing initiatives to protect LGBTQIA+ communities. Steph has been a featured speaker for the 50th Commemoration of Stonewall, World Pride, Paramount, Apple, Warner Brothers, GLSEN, The American Alliance for Theatre and Education, as well as colleges and universities throughout the country. Steph is currently a Ph.D. student in Community Well-Being and an adjunct professor at the U as well as the graduate assistant at the LGBTQ Student Center. Steph is also assisting Dr. Safiya Noble of UCLA with new newest book. Steph holds an M.A. in Educational Theatre and Social Change from New York University and a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from the University of Central Florida.
Kativon Makary (She/Her/Hers)
PhD Student, Community Well-Being
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Kativon Makary (she/her) is a fifth-year PhD student in Community Well-being and completed her bachelors in Psychology at California State University, Long Beach. Kativon has experience researching conscientization among anti-racist organizers, and engaging in participatory action research with refugee and immigrant-run grassroots organizations. Her research interests involve conscientization, politics of solidarity, and abolition. She seeks to engage communities, such as youth of color and Copts from the diaspora, as co-researchers that collaborate to challenge unjust systems and build power.
Monique Mahabir (she/her/hers)
PhD Student, Community Well-Being
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Monique is a Ph.D. student in the Community Well-Being program at the University of Miami. She graduated from Lynn University with a B.S. and M.S. in Psychology. Monique is interested in investigating and dismantling the oppressive structures preventing students from gaining resources, opportunities, and mental health support. With EPSA, she assists in youth participatory action research with Power U. In addition to her involvement with EPSA, Monique is the managing editor of Collaborations: A Journal of Community-based Research and Practice, an affordable housing Graduate Research Assistant with the University of Miami’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement (CCE), an associate of Collaborators Consulting Group (CCG), and assists in mapping local networks of organizations addressing climate and heat-related issues in Miami with the Training in Heat-Related Equity and Disparities (THREAD) Research Collaborative.
Monica Gutierrez (she/her)
Master's Student, Mental Health Counseling
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Monica is a graduate of the Community and Applied Psychological Studies program, and a current first-year Master's student in the Mental Health Counseling Program within the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Miami. She has been a research assistant on the EPSA team since 2021, and has over a decade of experience in local and international community work. Her research interests include the relationship between culture, food, and health disparities in historically underrepresented groups. As a Latina researcher she is passionate about better understanding the acculturative stress and it's potential impact on adolescents of Latinx communities. In her current role on the EPSA team, Monica is part of the ongoing youth participatory action research occurring in conjunction with PowerU Center for Social Change, and has supported various past projects with community partners including Miami Homes for All, Catalyst Miami, Miami Workers Center, and the H.O.M.Y Collective.
Laura Garzo (She/Her/Hers)
Undergraduate Student
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Laura is a junior majoring in Community and Applied Psychology with two minors in Political Science and Africana Studies. While she have been a mentor to incoming college students for my community in Chicago, this will be the first official project experience she been a part of and she very excited to be part of the team. She joined EPSA was to further involve herself in research and dive more into her passion for empowerment and social justice in communities. She has played the violin for 11 years!
Micaela Greenfield (She/Her/Hers)
Undergraduate Student
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Michaela is a junior majoring in the Community and Applied Psychological Studies with a minor in Education. This is her first year on the EPSA research team.
Keira Hamilton (She/Her/Hers)
Undergraduate Student
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Keira is a current sophomore at the University of Miami, aspiring for a B.S. in Community and Applied Psychology, a B.A. in Psychology, and a Minor in marketing. She is currently working on projects involving restorative justice programming. Other interests include community well-being and community service.
Hope Matthis (She/Her/Hers)
Undergraduate Student
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies
Hope is a sophomore studying Community and Applied Psychological Studies with a double minor in criminology and psychology. She has been involved in multiple research projects, including ethnographic studies in the Dominican Republic, analyses of education inequities in Miami, and current research looking into restorative justice programs. Hope’s other passions include mental health advocacy, community engagement, social justice, and exploring the arts.