Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Faculty Members

The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences welcomes more than 20 new faculty members this fall. Each brings to NSU noteworthy academic experience, both inside and outside of the classroom, in a variety of fields and interests. Over the next three weeks, the names and biographies of these faculty members will be shared in SharkBytes.

This week, the college introduces (in alphabetical order):

Ronald Goldstein, Ph.D., visiting professor
Goldstein earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences in 1970. He has served as an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Miami, an assistant professor of mathematics at Notre Dame University, an instructor at New York University, and as visiting faculty at the University of Warwick. Goldstein currently serves as president and chief technology officer of a software company based in South Florida. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at NSU.

Amy Hirons, Ph.D., assistant professor
Hirons earned her Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2001. She also earned an M.A. in Zoology from the University of Northern Colorado in 1989. Hirons has taught a wide variety of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including Biology I, Biology II, Ecology, Marine Ecology, Food Web Dynamics, Plankton Ecology, and Invertebrate Zoology as well as topics in biological anthropology. Her research is ecological in nature, and she has published a number of research papers in her field. Hirons has received many research funding awards from various funding agencies, and has served as an adjunct faculty at NSU.

Krista Kasdorf, Ph.D., visiting professor
Kasdorf earned her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of London in 1995 and the Diploma of Imperial College following her graduate program with Colorado State University in 1996. She served as a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) for one year each. Kasdorf has taught chemistry courses at FAU since 2007. She has published a number of peer-reviewed research papers and is a co-author of three editions of the General Chemistry Laboratory textbook by Plymouth. She is a recipient of the 1996 Hofmann Prize for Research in Organic Chemistry from Imperial College.

Stefan Kautsch, Ph.D., assistant professor
Kautsch earned his Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 2006. He held a post-doctoral appointment at the University of Florida from 2006 to 2009. Kautsch’s specific fields of interest and research are observational cosmology and galaxy morphology, as well as evolution. He has taught at the university level for several years, most recently teaching physics and astronomy courses at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Kautsch has published multiple research papers in astronomy and physics. He has also been actively engaged in both school and community projects that promote astronomy.

Edmond Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor
Lee earned his M.Sc. in Mathematics in 1997 and his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Simon Fraser University in 2002. Most recently, Lee was a math instructor at Corpus Christi College in Canada and an adjunct faculty at Simon Fraser University. He has taught a variety of math courses at all levels including pre-calculus, discrete mathematics, and differential calculus for biological sciences. He also served as an academic advisor for the mathematics department at Simon Fraser University from 2003 to 2006. Lee has published 24 research papers in peer-reviewed math journals.

Tobin Silver, Ph.D., assistant professor
Silver earned his Ph.D. in Health and Kinesiology from Purdue University in 2010 and his M.S. in Movement Science from Barry University in 2005. He has worked as director of a fitness center and a lecturer in the kinesiology department at the University of Massachusetts. Silver has taught a variety of courses in the areas of exercise and sport science, biomechanics, anatomy and physiology, and athletic training. He has published a number of research papers in the field of kinesiology and biomechanics.

Augusto Soledade, M.F.A., assistant professor
Soledade is a performer and choreographer and the founder, artistic director, and resident choreographer of Brazz Dance Theater. He earned his M.F.A. in Dance from SUNY Brockport in 1998 and received the Pylyshenko-Strasser Graduate Dance Award that same year. He has performed in Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout the United States. He has received six fellowships since 2005 and multiple grants to develop choreographic- and research-based projects. He has taught at Smith College, the University of Michigan, Wells College, and the University of Rochester.