Staff

Dr. Castillo is an AGEP alumnus, holds a PhD. in Electrical Engineering from the City College of New York-CUNY (2014) and has completed two Postdoctoral fellowships at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York performing research at both the Center of Functional Nanomaterial (CFN) (2016-17), with a focus on nanofabrication of promising electronic 2D devices and properties characterization, and at the Biological, Environmental and Climate Science Department (BECS) (2014-16) with a focus on absorbing aerosols and its effect on climate change.

Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the Electrical Engineering Technology Department at Farmingdale State College and his research focuses on Laser-plasma interaction with emphasis on particle acceleration and terahertz radiation sources.

Dr. Callender earned her B.A. in Biological Sciences from Hunter College, CUNY (2003), where she was an MBRS-RISE scholar. She completed her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Stony Brook University in 2010, followed by an NIH-IRACDA NY-CAPS postdoctoral fellowship. She started her teaching career at St. Joseph’s College, where she taught introductory biology for majors.

In 2015, she joined the Biology faculty at Long Island University - Post, where she coordinated and taught Biology for non-majors. In 2019, Dr. Callender joined the faculty at Farmingdale State College (FSC), and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Biology department.

In addition, she is the On-site project coordinator for the NIH IRACDA NY-CAPS K-12 fellowship and Co-Principal Investigator for NSF AGEP NY-PUI Alliance. Her research is focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying meiotic recombination and chromosome behavior. She is also passionate about teaching and mentoring students from underrepresented backgrounds in hopes of increasing their interests in research and teaching in STEM.

Christopher Malone was appointed Associate Provost at Farmingdale State College, SUNY., in September 2021. From 2018-2021, Malone served as Founding Dean of the newly created School of Arts and Sciences at Molloy University. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Associate Dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences at Lehman College, CUNY.

Malone began his teaching career in the Department of Political Science at Hunter College in 1996, as a Doctoral Teaching Fellow. In 2001, he joined the faculty of the Political Science Department at Pace University in New York City, where he remained for 15 years. In his time at Pace, Malone served in various academic and administrative roles, including: Founding Director of the American Studies Program, Director of the Pforzheimer Honors College, Founding Director of the Pace Summer Scholars Institute, Chair of the Dyson Faculty Assembly, and Chair of the Department of Political Science. From 2004-2010, Malone also co-taught a popular distance learning Public Policy and American Politics course on CSPAN, with CSPAN's long-time serving Vice President, Steve Scully, which reached 70 million households.

Malone's academic research lies in the field of race and American political development, political participation, and civic engagement. He is the author of Between Freedom and Bondage: Race, Party and Voting Rights in the Antebellum North (Routledge, 2008), and co-editor and contributing author of Occupying Political Science: OWS From New York to the World (Palgrave, 2012) and The Organic Globalizer: Hip Hop, Political Development and Movement Culture (Bloomsbury, 2014).