Recent PhDs
Welcome to the School of Social Ecology's "Recent PhD" page. This
webpage spotlights our students who have recently received their
doctoral degrees. Listed on this page is the name of each student,
along with the relevant degree, department, list of committee members,
and a link to an electronic abstract of their dissertation.
We hope that you will find this information useful and informative.
Stop back often as this page will be updated regularly. If you have any
questions regarding the information contained on this page, please send
an email to Jean Martinez, Assistant Director of Graduate Student Services for the School of Social Ecology.
Thank you.
- Doctor Samuel Choi
Bacterial and Viral Interactions in the Aquatic Environment with Special Focus on Vibrio cholerae and Vibriophage
Committee: Professors Sunny Jiang, Betty Olson, and Oladele Ogunseitan - Doctor Kelly Pollack
The Effect of Caffeine on Algal Endosymbionts of Reef-Building Corals
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, Summer 2008
Committee:Professors Oladele Ogunseitan(Chair), Sunny Jiang, and Chad Garner - Doctor Johnny Nhan
Policing Cyberspace: The Compatibility of the Internet with Traditional Forms of Law Enforcement, Law and Policy
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, Summer 2008
Committee:Professors John Dombrink (Chair), Paul Jesilow and Henry Pontell - Doctor Dimitri Bogazianos
Things Done Changed: Rap Music, Industry Exploitation, and the Paradoxical Punishment of Crack Cocaine
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, Summer 2008
Committee:Professors David Theo Goldberg (Chair), Susan Coutin, and Valerie Jenness
- Doctor Bryan McDonald
The Food System and Human Security: Nutrition, Sustainability and Food Safety in a Time of Global Change
PhD Social Ecology, June 2008
Committee:Professors Richard Matthew (Chair), Joseph DiMento, and Daniel Stokols - Doctor Lindsay Malloy
Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Children's Evaluations of Disclosing an Adult's Wrongdoing
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2008
Committee:Professors Jodi Quas (Chair), Tom Lyon, Elizabeth Cauffman, and Alison Clarke-Stewart - Doctor Pamela King
Understanding Adolescents' Motivation for Physical Activity: Utility and Self-Determination Theory
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2008
Committee: Professors Margaret Schneider and Carol Whalen (Co-Chairs), Candice Odgers, and JoAnn Prause - Doctor Meret Keller
A Contextual Approach to Understanding the Relatons Between Fammily Sleep Arrangements and Young Children's Socio-Emotional Well-Being
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2008
Committee:Professors Wendy Goldberg (Chair), Elaine Vaughan, and Ilona Federenko - Doctor Gary Germo
Effects of Early Adversity and Current Stressors on Adolescents' and Young Adults' Morning Cortisol Levels: The Moderating Role of Attachment Style
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2008
Committee: Professors Ellen Greenberger (Chair), Chuansheng Chen, Alison Clarke-Stewart, and Ilona Federenko - Doctor Christine Gardiner
From Inception to Implementation: How SACPA Has Affected the Case Processing and Sentencing of Drug Offenders in One California County
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, June 2008
Committee: Professors Elliott Currie (Chair), C. Ronald Huff, and Susan Turner - Doctor Nathalie Carrick
Fairies are Real, but Witches Aren't: Children's Evaluations of Emotional Fantasy and Reality
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2008
Committee:Professors Jodi Quas(Chair), Linda Levine, and Thomas Lyon - Doctor Marian Marnie Brow
The Role of Personality Following the September 11th Terrorist Attacks: Big Five Trait Combinations and Interactions in Explaining Distress and Coping
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2008
Committee:Professors Roxane Cohen Silver (chair), Karen Rook, and Susan Charles - Doctor Josephine Bitler
Pre-Diabetes in Hispanic Girls: Susceptibility and Environment
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, June 2008
Committee:Professors Chad Garner(Chair), Catherine Carpenter, and Daniel Stokols - Doctor Thomas Wicke
Community Response to Trauma: an Ecological Analysis of How Community is Affected by Social Disaster in Laramie, Wyoming and Jasper, Texas
PhD Social Ecology, March 2008
Committee: Roxane Cohen Silver (Chair), George Tita, and Daniel Stokols - Doctor Sharon Brown
Perceptions of health risk and measures of resiliency to tobacco use among elementary and middle school students
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, March 2008
Committee: Professors Oladele Ogunseitan (Chair), Elaine Vaughan, and Daniel Stokols - Doctor Toby Warden
The Engagement of U.S. Cities and the Global Warming Issue, 2005-2007
PhD Social Ecology, December 2007
Committee: Professors John Whiteley (Chair), Oladele Ogunseitan, and Daniel Stokols - Doctor Huy Vu
Acculturation, Intergenerational Conflict and Support, and Psychological Well-Being
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, December 2007
Committee:Professors Karen Rook (Chair), Roxane Cohen Silver, and Chuansheng Chen - Doctor Anne Wessells
Constructing Watershed Parks: Actor-Networks and Collaborative Governance in Four U.S. Metropolitan Areas
PhD Social Ecology, December 2007
Committee: Professors Helen Ingram (Chair), Scott Bollens, Joseph DiMento, Martha Feldman, and David Meyer - Doctor Sarah Becker
Land Use and Quality of Life in 45 Israeli Cities
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, December 2007
Commitee: Professors Oladele Ogunseitan (Chair), Lisa Grant, and John Whiteley - Doctor Judith Andersen
The Role of Psychological State and Biological Context on Neuroendocrine Stress Response Regulation: A Study of Women of Child-Bearing Age
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, December 2007
Committee: Professors Roxane Cohen Silver (Chair), JoAnn Prause, and Ilona Federenko - Doctor Tryon Woods
The Freedom of Difference: Decolonization in Chiapas and the Niger River Delta
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, Summer 2007
Committee: Professors Elliott Currie (Chair), James Diego Vigil, and Frank Wilderson - Doctor Heather Lench
The Relation of Approach and Avoidance Goals to Persistence, Affective Judgements and Health
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, Summer 2007
Committee:Professors Linda Levine (Chair), Roxane Cohen Silver, and Jutta Heckhausen - Doctor Joyce Chang
The association between neighborhood traffic and repeated acute respiratory illnesses that required emergency department visits and/or hospitalization for children living in a metropolitan area
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, Summer 2007
Committee:Professors Chad Garner (Chair), Ralph Delfino, and JoAnn Prause - Doctor John Billimek
A Climate for Collaborative Care: Translating Quality Improvement Systems Change into Improved Intermediate Outcomes in Diabetes Patients
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, September 2007
Committee: Professors Daniel Stokols (Chair), Sherrie Kaplan, C. David Dooley, and JoAnn Prause - Doctor Saran Wilkins-Cook
Poverty Concentration and Lung Cancer Outcomes in Black Men
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, Summer 2007
Committee: Professors Richard McCleary (Chair), Chad Garner, and Oladele Ogunseitan - Doctor Guadalupe Vidales
A Comparative Trans-National Ecological Study of Latina Domestic Violence: Barriers to Seeking Services in Mexico and the United States
PhD Social Ecology, June 2007
Committee: Professors John Dombrink (Chair), James Diego Vigil, and Susan Coutin - Doctor Paul Kaplan
The Subject of Execution: Narratives of the American Creed in U.S. Capital Punishment
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, June 2007
Committee: Professors Valerie Jenness (Chair), Kitty Calavita, and Simon Cole - Doctor Richard Utman
Procedural Justice In Pre-Trial, Civil Litigation
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, June 2007
Committee: Professors James W. Meeker (Chair), Joseph DiMento and William Thompson - Doctor Eunice Chern
Glomalin-Related Soil Protein and Associated Metals Loading into a Coastal Watershed
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, June 2007
Committee: Professors Oladele Ogunseitan (Chair), John Whiteley and Kathleen Treseder - Doctor Ryan Fischer
State Level Context and Offender Recidivism: The Impact of State Sentencing Structures
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, June 2007
Committee: Professors Joan Petersilia (Chair), C. Ronald Huff and JoAnn Prause - Doctor Jennifer Gress
Understanding the Role of Social Capital in the Production of Affordable Housing in Orange County, California
PhD Social Ecology, June 2007
Committee: Professors Victoria Basolo (Chair), Daniel Stokols and John Whiteley - Doctor Mariela Alfonzo
A Mall in a Former Life: How Converting Former Malls into Mixed-Use Neighborhoods Impacts Sense of Community
PhD Urban and Regional Planning, March 2007
Committee: Professors Kristen Day (Chair), Marlon Boarnet, Scott Bollens and Daniel Stokols - Doctor Hannah Aoyagi
Does the Toxics Release Inventory Really Work? An evaluation of the conditions under which information can be an effective regulatory tool
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, March 2007
Committee: Professors Oladele Ogunseitan (Chair), Rufus Edwards, and George Tita - Doctor Ismael Aguilar-Benitez
Institutional and Economic Aspects of Water Services Management at the US-Mexico Border
PhD Urban and Regional Planning, March 2007
Committee: Professors Jean-Daniel Saphores (Chair), Helen Ingram, Soroosh Sorooshian, and Marlon Boarnet - Doctor Cara Laney
Emotional Content of True and False Memories
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, December 2006
Committee: Professors Elizabeth Loftus (Chair), Linda Levine, and Peter Ditto - Doctor John Lu
Personality, coping strategies, mood and the physiological side effects of chemotheraphy in women with breast cancer: A comparative analysis of optimism and hardiness
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, December 2006
Committee: Professors Salvatore Maddi (Chair), Karen Rook and Daniel Stokols - Doctor Aubrey Manack
Effectiveness of a Parent-Child Communications Intervention Aiming to Increase Awareness of Antibiotic Resistance and Knowledge of Appropriate Antibiotic Use within a Multiethnic Population
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, December 2006
Committee: Professors Chad Garner (Chair), Rufus Edwards, and Oladele Ogunseitan - Doctor Michael Poulin
When Do Assumptions Shatter? A Prospective Investigation of Negative Events and World Assumptions
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, December 2006
Committee: Professors Roxane Cohen Silver (Chair), Susan Charles, Jutta Heckhausen, and Richard Haier - Doctor Michael Blake Roberts
Making the Vision Concrete: Implementation of Downtown Revitalization Plans
PhD Urban and Regional Planning, December 2006
Committee: Professors Scott Bollens (Chair), Victoria Basolo, and Martha Feldman - Doctor Erualdo Gonzalez
Resident Involvement in Advocacy and Consensus Planning
PhD Urban and Regional Planning, September 2006
Committee: Professors Ross F. Conner (Chair), Raul P. Lejano, and Sanjoy Mazumdar - Doctor Sacha Satram
Genetic and Environmental Factors and Male Breast Cancer Risk
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, September 2006
Committee: Professors Hoda Anton-Culver (Chair), Argyrios Ziogas, and Oladele Ogunseitan - Doctor Hilary Nixon
Electronic Waste Management in California:
Consumer Attitudes Toward Recycling, Advanced Recycling Fees, “Green" Electronics, and Willingness to Pay for Recycling
PhD Planning, Policy and Design, September 2006
Committee:Professors Jean-Daniel Saphores (Chair), Joseph F. DiMento, and Oladele Ogunseitan - Doctor Julia Dmitrieva
The Role of Personality and Biological Factors in Protecting Adolescents from the
Effects of Environmental Risk Factors
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2006
Committee: Professors Ellen Greenberger (Chair), Chuansheng Chen (Co-Chair), and Elizabeth Cauffman - Doctor Joanne Christopherson
Mortality Consequences of Low Self-Control
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, June 2006
Committee: Professors Richard McCleary (Chair), JoAnn Prause, and John Whiteley - Doctor Patricia Erwin
Compelled to Safety: Victims of Domestic Violence at the Intersection of the Criminal and Civil Courtroom Processes
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, June 2006
Committee: Professors Susan Coutin (Chair), Kitty Calavita, and Joan Petersilia - Doctor Erik Fritsvold
"Fat, Lazy Americans": Legal Consciousness & Radical Environmental Activism
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, June 2006
Committee: Professors Kitty Calavita (Chair), Susan Coutin, and Valerie Jenness - Doctor Genevieve Dunton
Anticipated Emotions Across Stages of Health Behavior Change: The Role of Motivational Orientation
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2006
Committee: Professors Elaine Vaughan (Chair), Linda Levine, and Peter Ditto - Doctor Lisa Sander
Genetically Engineered Foods in the Public Sphere:Interactions Between the Mass Media and the Socio-Political Environment
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, March 2006
Committee: Professors Dele Ogunseitan (Chair), Chad Garner, and Rodolfo Torres - Doctor Kelly Jarvis
Maternal Parenting and Child Adjustment in the Context of Domestic Violence
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, March 2006
Committee: Professors Ray Novaco (Chair), Wendy Goldberg, and Jodi Quas - Doctor Susan Farruggia
The transition from foster care to independence
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, March 2006
Committee: Professors Ellen Greenberger (Chair), Chuansheng Chen, and
Jutta Heckhausen - Doctor Amber Rinderknecht
Inhaled manganese alters neurological response to toxic challenges: implication to developmental exposures
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, March 2006
Committee: Professors Jonathon Ericson (Chair), Rufus Edwards, Chad Garner, and MIchael Kleinman - Doctor Richard G. Funderburg II
Agglomeration, Production Externalities, and the Firm Location Decision
PhD Planning, Policy and Design, March 2006
Committee: Professors Marlon Boarnet (Chair), Luis Suarez-Villa, Kenneth A. Small, and Daniel E. Bogart - Doctor Jorie Butler
State Negative Affect and Illness Symptoms in Adolescents:
Bad Moods Predict Colds and Flu
PhD Health Psychology, December 2005
Committee: Professors Carol Whalen (Chair), Larry Jamner, Susan Charles, and Barbara Henker (UCLA) - Doctor Patrick Pham
Environmental Radon Exposure From Landfill Gas Utilization
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, December 2005
Committee: Professors Jonathon Ericson (Chair), Oladele Ogunseitan, and Michael Kleinman - Doctor Cynthia Smith
The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medical Therapies among Employees in Small and Very Small Businesses
PhD Social Ecology, December 2005
Committee: Professors Daniel Stokols (Chair), Hoda Anton-Culver, and Kenneth Chew - Doctor Richard Harvey
Hardiness At Work: Psychophysiological Indicators Of Everyday Courage Under Stress
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, December 2005
Committee: Professors Salvatore Maddi (Chair), Daniel Stokols, and Larry Jamner - Doctor Blaine Bridenball
Public Attitudes Toward the Police: The Primacy of Citizens' Perceptions of Their Neighborhoods
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, September 2005
Committee: Professors Paul Jesilow (Chair), Valerie Jenness, and Kitty Calavita - Doctor Laurel Rodriguez
The Federal Organizational Sentencing Guidelines: A Case Study of Regulatory Decision Making
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, September 2005
Committee: Professors Henry Pontell (Chair), Gil Geis, and Kitty Calavita - Doctor K.M. Williamson
Planning for Modern-Day Public Forum Spaces: New Urbanism and the Challenges of Hosting the American Public Realm
PhD Social Ecology, June 2005
Committee: Professors Kristin Day (Chair), Scott Bollens, Gilbert Geis, and Joseph DiMento - Doctor Amy Himsel
Young adult daughters and their mothers: A dyadic examination of daughters’ role
-related experiences and the mother-daughter relationship
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, June 2005
Committee: Professors Ellen Greenberger (Co-Chair), Chuansheng Chen (Co-Chair), and Wendy Goldberg - Doctor Julie Abril
The Relevance of Culture, Ethnic Identity, and Collective Efficacy to Violent Victimization in One Native American Tribal Community
PhD Criminology, Law and Society, June 2005
Committee: Professors Paul Jesilow (Chair), Gilbert Geis, and James Diego Vigil - Doctor Shahrzad Mavandadi
Positive and Negative Social Exchanges and Disability in Later Life: An Investigation of Temporal Relationships and Trajectories of Change
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, March 2005
Committee: Professors Karen Rook (Chair), Susan Charles, and Jutta Heckhausen - Doctor Simon Dagenais
Multifactorial safety Assessment of Proliferol, An Investigational New Drug for Chronic Low Back Pain: Adverse Events, Acute Toxicity, and Environmental Loading
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy. March 2005
Committee: Professors Oladele Ogunseitan (Chair), Chad Garner, and Scott Haldeman - Doctor Laura Zettel
Aging Alone: Do the social Support Resources of Never-Married Individuals Place Them at Risk?
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, December 2004
Committee: Professors Karen Rook (Chair), C. David Dooley, Susan Charles, and Jutta Heckhausen - Doctor Michele Persico
Using Attachment Theory to Examine Individual Differences in Social Support Processes Between Friends
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, December 2004
Committee: Professors Roxane Cohen Silver (Chair), Karen Rook, and Peter Ditto - Doctor Christopher Boyko
New Challenges in Old Places: The Impact of Tourist Hallmark Events On Residents' Place Meanings
PhD Urban and Regional Planning, December 2004
Committee: Professors Kristin Day (Chair), Daniel Stokols, and Julie Dercle (Department of Urban Studies & Planning, CSU Northridge) - Doctor Lori Wilson
Enabling Objectives Influencing Willingness to Use Acupuncture
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, September 2004
Committee: Professors Peter Clecak (Chair), Dele Ogunseitan, and JoAnn Prause - Doctor Terry Webster
Adaptation Processes for Elderly Care Recipients and Their Caregivers in the Context of a Medicalized Home Environment
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, September 2004
Committee: Professors Karen Rook (Chair), Elaine Vaughan, and Carol Whalen - Doctor Dara Sorkin
Vulnerability to Negative Social Exchanges in Later Life: The Role of Interpersonal Control Strivings and Coping Processes
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, September 2004
Committee: Professors Karen Rook (Chair), Susan Charles and Jutta Heckhausen - Doctor Ellen Thomas Reibling
Relation of Viewer Personality, Anti-smoking Message Type and Executional Style to Youths’ Intentions Not to Smoke
PhD Environmental Health, Science and Policy, September 2004
Committee: Professors Cornelia Pechmann (Chair), Linda Levine, and Dele Ogunseitan - Doctor Mai T. Nguyen
Growth Management at the Ballot Box: What are the Motivations and Outcomes?
PhD Urban and Regional Planning, September 2004
Committee: Professors Victoria Basolo (Chair), Scott Bollens, Dan Stokols, Marlon Boarnet and Susan Wieybicki - Doctor Shari Mitchell
Fear of Terrorist Attack and the Use of Physical Security Measures in Public Space
PhD Social Ecology, September 2004
Committee: Professors Kristin Day (Chair), Daniel Stokols, and Phillip Cohen - Doctor Nikki Hawkins
Anticipating Reactions to Fetal Sex Determination: Affective Forecasting Accuracy and Information-Seeking Behavior
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, September 2004
Committee: Professors Peter Ditto (Chair), Roxane Cohen Silver, Linda Levine, and Pathik Wadhwa - Doctor Kimberley Babb
Coping Flexibility and Social Competence in Children With and Without Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder
PhD Psychology and Social Behavior, September 2004
Committee: Professors Linda Levine (Chair), Jutta Heckhausen, and Carol Whalen
