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As the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) begins the 2024-2025 academic school year, it welcomes nine new faculty members. “We are excited to welcome nine new faculty members to USJ this fall,” said Provost Michelle Kalis. “The faculty have excellent credentials and training, and several bring a wealth of clinical/practical and research experience. These faculty will add to USJ’s tradition of student-centered faculty and engagement with the broader community.”
The new faculty are:
DANIELLE BROCHU has joined USJ as assistant professor of Nursing. She received her BSN from the University of Saint Joseph, and her MSN and DNP from Sacred Heart University. Her research has focused on geriatrics and care of LGBTQ+ patients. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International and the American Nurses Association and is a board member of the Health Collective in Hartford. Her courses include Nursing Research, Issues in Professional Practice, Foundations of Professional Nursing, Foundations of Clinical, and Theoretical Nursing Across the Lifespan
LAURA CHRISTOPH has joined USJ as program director and associate professor of Health Sciences. She received both her B.S and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to joining USJ, Christoph was the director of Health and Performance Coaching at Canyon Ranch from 2021-2024. She also served as an associate professor of Health Sciences at Franklin Pierce University from 2018-2021, and as a professor of Health, Fitness and Nutrition at Holyoke Community College from 2007-2018. Her research includes serving as Co-Principal Investigator for an NIH-Inbre grant examining the effects of peer health coaching and physiological testing at Franklin Pierce University, and as project director for a HRSA grant providing training for Community Health Workers at Holyoke Community College. She is currently collaborating with Franklin Pierce University to explore the impact of health coaching on body composition of college students. She is a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach and Certified Personal Trainer, NASM. Her courses include Health Coaching, Leadership in Healthcare, and Survey of Chronic Disease and Disability.
MONICA ECHEVARRIA has joined USJ as clinical assistant professor and field liaison. She received her DSW from Simmons University. Prior to joining USJ, Dr. Echevarria was a Clinical Social Worker and supervisor at a private practice. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.
ANNETTE EVANS has joined USJ as assistant professor of Biology. She is an ecologist, herpetologist, and conservation biologist with a focus on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of polymorphic systems (particularly in vertebrate systems) and studying the impacts of invasive species on native communities in America and New Zealand. She received her B.S. in Biological Sciences and Geology and her M.S. in Biosecurity and Conservation, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She received her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Connecticut. Before joining USJ she was a lecturer at Yale University; an adjunct professor and teaching assistant at the University of Connecticut from 2014-2021; a research assistant at the University of Auckland; and an ecologist for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
HEATH H. HIGHTOWER has joined USJ as assistant professor of Social Work. He received his B.A. from Seatle Pacific University, his MSW from Boston University, and his Ph.D. from Lesley University. His research is in Critical suicide studies, Suicidology in marginalized communities, and Black female mental health clinicians. He is a member of the National Association of Social Workers. His courses include Human Behavior and the Social Environment I, Advanced Clinical Practice I, and Community Engaged Research II.
AIDAN LEVY has joined USJ as visiting assistant professor of English. He received his B.A. from Brown University, an M.F.A from LIU-Brooklyn, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. Prior to joining USJ, Professor Levy was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. His research is in 20th-Century American Literature, African American Literature, Jazz Studies, Multi-Ethnic Literature, American Studies, and Sound Studies, and Biography. He is a Leon Levy Center for Biography Fellow, and a member of the Modern Language Association and Columbia University Center for Jazz Studies. His courses include The Art of Effective Writing, American Literature, African American Literature, Literature of the Americas, Literary Texts and Critical Methods, Jazz Fictions, and Creative Writing: Fiction. His honors include the American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation; PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography, PEN/America Literary Awards (longlisted); Robert Palmer-Helen Oakley Dance Award for Excellence in Writing, Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards; Biography/Autobiography of the Year, Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards; Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC), Certificate of Merit, Award for Excellence in Historical Sound Research in Recorded Jazz.
KAITLIN MONDELLO, Ph.D., has joined USJ as visiting assistant professor of English. She received both her B.A. and M.A. from Stetson University, and her Ph.D. from The Graduate Center, CUNY. She taught previously at Millersville University of Pennsylvania and Hunter College, CUNY, among others. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Teaching and Learning Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Her teaching and research in literature explore concepts of nature and the environment in relation to gender, race, climate change, science, and animals. She is a member of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment, and the International Conference on Romanticism (ICR). Her courses include Poetry, The Art of Effective Writing, Environmental Literature, Romanticism, World Literature, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Folklore and Science Writing. She received the 2019 Pedagogy Award, NASSR/Romantic Circles; 2018 Interdisciplinary Research in the Service of Public Knowledge Grant; and 2016 Lore Metzger Prize, International Conference on Romanticism (ICR).
ANDREW PLATH is joining USJ as assistant professor of Counseling. He received his B.S. from Ball State University, his M.A. from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and his Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University. Before joining USJ, Dr. Plath was an assistant professor of Counseling at Caldwell University, and a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Baruch College. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Illinois. His professional background is rooted in clinical mental health, with a focus on working with court mandated domestic violence perpetrators to end the cycle of violence. His major research interest is counselor/student self-care and wellness, with additional research interest in creative pedagogy, such as the use of music as an educational tool for counselors. He is a member of the American Counseling Association, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, the Association for Humanistic Counseling, and the North Atlantic Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. His courses include Mental Health Diagnosis, Skills and Techniques in Counseling, Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy, and Group Process and Dynamics, Lifespan Development.
TINA WALDE has joined USJ as associate professor of Nursing. She received her B.A. from George Washington University, her MSN from Yale University, and her DNP from Oregon Health Science University. Before joining USJ, Dr. Walde was director of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program at Yale School of Nursing and an assistant professor at Oregon Health Sciences University’s MHNP program. She is also the owner of a private psychiatric practice on the Connecticut shoreline. Dr. Walde has over 15 years of clinical experience and specializes in trauma-informed care in child and adolescent psychiatry and integrated primary and behavioral health care. She is a board member of the Health Assistance Intervention Education Network (HAVEN); and a member of the CT APRN Society Health Policy Committee, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), and the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA).