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Faculty/Staff

Nicole Piercey

Radiologic Science Clinical Instructional Asst.

Education
B.S. in Radiologic Sciences, Georgia Southern University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
I love seeing students develop a love and understanding for a field that has a large variety of growth opportunities.

Erin Pinkney

Custodian

Dr. Lainie Pomerleau

Dr. Lainie Pomerleau-College of Coastal Georgia

Assistant Professor of English

Education
Ph.D. English, University of Georgia
M.A. English, University of Tennessee
B.A. English, University of Southern Maine

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
My research explores how speculative narratives and digital writing environments produce new models of authorship, embodiment, and collaboration at the intersection of literature, rhetoric, and technology. Grounded in posthumanism and new materialism, my work investigates how multimodal composition, adaptation, and machine intelligence foreground hybrid forms of agency that reshape how authorship, responsibility, and mediation are understood in speculative and digital contexts By placing speculative fiction in conversation with digital rhetorics, I argue that these texts and platforms function as sites where cultural understandings of creativity, responsibility, and mediation are actively renegotiated.

SCHOLARLY OUTPUT

PUBLICATIONS

Co-editor with Dr. Richard Utz, special issue of Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching, Introduction, “Teaching the Middle Ages and Renaissance to STEM Students,” Expected Spring 2026.

Co-author with Dr. Franziska Tsufim, “More is Less?: Using Generative AI for Idea Generation and Diversification in Early Writing Processes,” Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions, Utah State University Press, 2024.

“Beaufort, Lady Margaret,” Palgrave Encyclopedia of Women’s Writing in the Global Middle Ages, expected 2023-2024 (digital), 2025 (print).
“Part I: The Middle Ages,” Editor and Author, British Literature: Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century and Neoclassicism, University of North Georgia Press (delayed due to Covid).

“A Necessary Evil: The Inverted Hagiography of William Shakespeare’s Richard III,” Renaissance Papers, 2015.

Book Reviews & Public Facing Articles:

Review of Women and Magic in Medieval Romance, Jane Bonsall, 2025. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (forthcoming 2026).

Review of Popular Memory and Gender in Medieval England, Bronach C. Kane, 2021. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (2025).

Review of International Medievalisms, ed. Mary Boyle, 2023. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (2025).

Review of Ethics in the Arthurian Legend, Melissa Ridley Elmes and Evelyn Meyer, Boydell and Brewer, 2023. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching (2024).

Founding faculty member and content creator, “The Role of Inclusivity in Digital Storytelling,” in conjunction with Richard Utz (Georgia Institute of Technology), John Lyon (Georgia Institute of Technology), and Julie Ann Crommett (CEO and Founder, Collective Moxie. Fall 2023.

“Integrating AI into College Writing and Communication Classes,” published in TechStyle, Georgia institute of Technology’s public form for multimodal and digital pedagogy, May 2023.

CONFERENCE & PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS
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“‘The Monster Stands at the Threshold … of Becoming’: Death, Beginning-Ends, and Hybrid Entanglements in Terry Pratchett’s Reaper Man” in Monsters, Monstrosities, & the Monstrous, 2026 Pop Culture Association National Conference. April 8-11, 2026.

Invited panel speaker and co-chair, “Cyborg Pedagogy: How AI LLMs Re-Define Our Relationship with Information and Digital Literacies,” in “New Ways of Creating Knowledge in the Technologically Integrated Classroom” panel. 2026 Intersectional Studies Remote Conference at South Carolina State, March 27, 2026.

“Outside-and-inbetween: Interrogating Early Career Professional Development and Success,” in “Career Counterstories: Pivots, Fallbacks, and Early Academic Identities (and Why CCCC Needs an Early-Career Special Interest Group)” panel. Conference on College Composition and Communication, Cleveland, OH, March 4-7, Cleveland, OH.

Panel Organizer, “Career Counterstories: Pivots, Fallbacks, and Early Academic Identities (and Why CCCC Needs an Early-Career Special Interest Group).” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Cleveland, OH, March 4-7, Cleveland, OH.

“Cyborg Pedagogy: How AI LLMs Re-Define Our Relationship with Information and Digital Literacies,” in “New Ways of Creating Knowledge in the Technologically Integrated Classroom” panel. South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 6-8, 2025.

Panel Co-Chair, “New Ways of Creating Knowledge in the Technologically Integrated Classroom.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 6-8, 2025.

Chair, “Medieval Literature and Knowledge.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 6-8, 2025.

Chair, “Epic Continuities: From Homeric Voyage to Middle-Earth.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 6-8, 2025.

“Memorial Horror and Haunted Texts: Rhetorical Ghosts and the (Re)creation of Harley Quinn’s Poison Ivy and The Bride from Creature Commandos” in the “ Ghost in the Machine: Naming, Rhetoric, and Storytelling Across Media Afterlives.” Literature/Film Association, Savannah, GA, Sept. 25-27, 2025.

“Immersive Fantasy Game Narrative and the Collaborative Construction of Ethos in College Composition,” in the “Coarticulating Pedagogies: Multiauthorship and Multimodality in the STEM Composition Classroom” Roundtable. Conference on College Composition and Communication Annual Convention, Baltimore, MD, April 9-12, 2025.

“Student ‘Belonging’ Across Disciplines: First Year Writing and STEM Students,” in the “Interrogating a “Sense of Belonging” in the First-Year Writing Classroom” Roundtable. South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Jacksonville, FL, Nov. 15-17, 2024.

“Academic Integrity and the Ethics of Communal Play: Research Perspectives on Tackling Administrative Dilemmas in AI Use Policies,” Co-Presented with Dr. Franziska Tsufim, Machine Writing and the Work of Rhetoric and Composition, Conference on College Composition and Communication, Oct. 23, 2024.

“Ignored Pasts and Neglected Futures: Memory, Time, and Environmental Change in The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyn.” Southeastern Medieval Association, Augusta, GA, Oct. 10-12, 2024 (accepted, conference canceled due to Hurricane Helene).

“The Lone Medievalist and Popular Medievalism in the College Writing Classroom.” Georgia Medieval Group, Augusta, GA, Oct. 12, 2024 (accepted, conference canceled due to Hurricane Helene).
Invited Speaker, “Tolkien and Asia,” part of the “Tolkien in Asia” symposium hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Modern Languages, November 3, 2023.

“A New Era for Peer Review?: Using Chat GPT as Drafting Support in University Writing Classes.” Co-presented with Dr. Franziska Tsufim. Teach With AI Conference, University of Central Florida, Sept. 24-25, 2023.

“Old, Old School Revival: Teaching Multimodal College Composition With High Fantasy, Neomedieval Role Playing Games.” Comics and Popular Arts Conference at DragonCon, Atlanta, GA. Aug. 31-Sept. 4, 2023 (accepted, panel canceled).

“Communicating Interdisciplinary Research to Diverse Audiences.” Invited talk for UGA’s Center for Integrative Conservation Research and its Integrative Conservation PhD program, Sep. 30, 2021.
“Anglo-Saxons and other Medieval Misuses: Revising Medieval Introductory Material in an Open Access Anthology.” Open Education Conference, Virtual Event, Nov. 9 – 12, 2020.

“Graphic Romance: Teaching Medieval Romance Through Graphic Novels and Comics.” Southeastern Medieval Association, Greensboro, NC. Nov. 14 – 16, 2019.

“Common Places for the Uncommonly Placed: Medieval English Queens and their Books of Hours.” New Chaucer Society 2018 Congress, Toronto, Ont. July 10 – 15, 2018.

“This Life, The Afterlife, and the Lake in Between: The Awntyrs off Arthure at Terne Wathlyne.” Southeastern Medieval Association, Charleston, SC. Nov. 16 – 28, 2017.

“Generative Violence, Violently Unregenerative: Captive Spaces as Inverted Bedchambers in Henry VI, Part Three.” Bedchamber Scenes/Scènes de lit, University of Georgia/ Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier III, Athens, GA. Apr. 12 -13, 2017.

“ ‘A Great Voice out of Heaven’: Christina Rossetti’s The Face of the Deep as Public Sermon.” British Women Writers Conference, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. June 2 – 5, 2016.

Panel Co-Chair, “Women’s Words: Female Instruction in the Medieval British Isles.” International Congress on Medieval Studies Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. May 16 – 20, 2016.
“Dynastic Translation and Communion: Lady Margaret Beaufort, The Imitation of Christ, and the Establishment of the Tudor Dynasty.” International Congress on Medieval Studies Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. May 16 – 20, 2016.

“Beyond (and Behind) Invasions: The Nostalgic Apocalypse of the Sermo Lupi ad Anglos and Beowulf.” Southeastern Medieval Association, Little Rock, AR. Oct. 22 – 24, 2015.

“A Parody of the Sacred: The Inverted Hagiography of William Shakespeare’s Richard III.” Southeastern Renaissance Association. Chapel Hill, NC. Oct. 2 – 3, 2015.

“From Angel to Anchorite in the House: The Religious Mystery of Ada Clare’s Ascetic Domestic Piety in Bleak House.” Victorian Institute. Charlotte, NC. Oct. 24 – 25, 2014.

“The (Weak) Ties That Bind: Female Agency in Malory’s ‘Deth of Arthur.’” Southeast Medieval Association. Boone, NC. October 3 – 5, 2013.

PUBLIC HUMANITIES, DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT & PEDAGOGY
President and Founder, Media Res: Research & Narrative Strategies for Fantastical & Speculative Film, Television & Video Games – Integrating academic expertise into popular fantasy and speculative entertainment. Founded September 2025.

Invited participant, University System of Georgia Teaching and Learning Conference, Athens, GA. April 16-17, 2026.

Invited Speaker, ““The Once and Future ‘Once and Future’: Death, Beginning-Ends, and Adaptation in Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword.” Coastal Scholars, College of Coastal Georgia (open to the public). Feb 5, 2026.

Invited Speaker, “Cyborg Pedagogy: How AI LLMs Re-Define Our Relationship with Information and Digital Literacies,” 2026 Intersectional Studies Remote Conference at South Carolina State, March 27, 2026.

Invited Speaker, “Disciplinary Integration and the New Humanities.” Open to
public. College of Coastal Georgia, spring 2026 (dated TBD).

Invited Participant, State of the Entertainment Industry in Georgia, Trilith Studios, Oct. 23, 2025.

Invited Speaker, “The Monster Stands at the Threshold: Mutation, Hybridity, and Posthuman Fear.” Open
to Public, College of Coastal Georgia, Oct. 27, 2025.

Invited Speaker, “Cyborg Ethics: AI and the Human-Machine Relationship.” Open to the public. Gould
Memorial Library, College of Coastal Georgia, Oct. 17, 2025.

Invited Speaker, “In memoriam: Memory and Murder in Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club.” Public lecture, past of Coastal Georgia Reads, Glynn County Libraries, March 2025. (canceled).

Invited Speaker, “Rhetorical Ghosts and the Changeless Future in the Arthurian Legend’s Awntyrs off
Arthure at the Terne Wathelyn.” Open to the public. College of Coastal Georgia, Feb, 6, 2025.

Invited Speaker and Co-presenter, “AI and Faculty Workload: Using AI for Faculty Evaluations.” Open to
the public. College of Coastal Georgia, Feb, 6, 2025.

Invited Participant, State of the Entertainment Industry in Georgia, Trilith Studios, Oct. 17, 2024

Co-chair and Organizer, “Science Fiction and the Future of Space: National Astronomy Day 2024.”
Tellus Science Museum, Cartersville, GA, May 15, 2024.

Co-organizer, Georgia Medieval Group Spring Meeting. Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, Georgia Institute of Technology, April 20, 2024.

Co-Chair and Co-organizer, “The Challenges and Ethics of Space Exploration Symposium. Georgia Institute of Technology, in conjunction with the School of Literature, Media, and Communications and the School of Modern Languages, April 4, 2024.

Co-Chair and Co-organizer, “Postcolonialism and Media: An Interdisciplinary Symposium.” Georgia Institute of Technology, in conjunction with the School of Literature, Media, and Communications and the School of Modern Languages, March 8, 2024.

Co-organizer, “Integrating Art, Literature, Science, and Public Policy.” Invited speaker Dr. Jay Clayton, hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, in conjunction with the School of Literature, Media, and Communications, School of Modern Languages, and School of Public Policy, February 5, 2024.

Co-Chair and Co-Organizer, “Teaching the Middle Ages and Renaissance to STEM Students,” hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology and Studies for Medieval and Renaissance Teaching, Digital Symposium, December 4, 2023.

Co-Chair and Co-Organizer, “Multilingual Composition Pedagogy Symposium,” hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology and its Writing and Communications Program, September 15.

Co-organizer, JA Crommett faculty, staff, and student seminar, “Inclusivity and Digital Storytelling,” hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology, Fall 2023

Co-Organizer, “Out and About,” an event featuring conversations about the experience of LGBTQ+ students, staff, faculty, and alumni/ae in Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology. April 19, 2023.

Co-Organizer, “Inclusive Storytelling and Technology,” an all-day event with sessions for students and faculty featuring guest speaker Julie Ann Crommett, who has worked in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) space for over thirteen years across media and tech, including at Google, NBCUniversal, and Disney. April 3, 2023.

Co-Organizer, “Humanizing STEMM for the 21st Century,” an event exploring how Georgia Institute of Technology might develop future integrations with HASS (humanities, arts, and social science) similar to those suggested by the National Academies featuring guest speaker, Dr. Lisa Margonelli.

GRANT AWARDS

In Process: Open AI Researcher Access Program
Author and $5,000 grant recipient, “Seeing Ourselves: The Role of Inclusivity in Storytelling and Story Creation at Georgia Tech.” Awarded by the Digital Integrative Liberal Arts Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, Summer 2024.

Co-author and $3,000 grant recipient, “The Challenges and Ethics of Space Exploration Symposium,” hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Literature, Media, and Communications, Spring 2023.

Co-author and $5,000 grant recipient, “Life Beyond Earth: Bridging Science Fiction and the Ethics of Astrobiology with Interdisciplinary Digital Resources.” Awarded by Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology, May 2023.

Aurora Pope

Aurora Pope

Associate Professor of Visual Arts

Education
M.F.A. Studio Art, East Tennessee State University
A.B. Anthropology, University of Georgia

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Aurora Pope teaches both studio and lecture classes. The studio classes are 2-D Design, 3-D Design, Drawing 1 & 2, and Advanced Drawing. She also teaches Art Appreciation, Art History Surveys 1 & 2, and Topics in American Art. In the studio, Aurora often incorporates elements from her natural surroundings into her work, either as materials or representations. In the last few years, she has been reacting to prints left on paper from mushroom spores, building upon them with graphite, charcoal, and soft pastel. These have been recently included in juried competitions with Upstream Gallery and Ten Moir Gallery. Aurora also makes artist’s books that include ecoprinted and handmade paper and other organic materials. In 2023, she installed a solo exhibition of these drawings and books at Glynn Visual Arts. The show was entitled _Elementals_.

Dr. Brian Pope

James Pope

Professor of Psychology

Education
Ph.D. (Biopsychology), University of Georgia
M.A. (General-Experimental Psychology), College of William and Mary
B.A. (Psychology), DePauw University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
My scholarship is primarily focused on teaching students to do psychological research by having them develop measures of psychological attitudes and/or present visual or audio-visual stimuli and recording participant responses. Research projects are developed in the Research Methods course in the spring semester and further refined in a Supervised Research course the following fall. Students learn to develop measurement scales, perform statistical analyses, and prepare a summary of the research for presentation at a professional meeting (typically the Southeastern Psychological Association).

The following research collaborations with students were presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association meeting in Atlanta in 2025 –

Pope, J.B., & Cordell, E. (2025, April). Musical correlates of ASMR response. Poster presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association
Convention, Atlanta, GA.

Pope, J.B., Fromhagen, C., DeJesus, P., Bray, I., & Royal, G. (2025, April). Attitude toward generative AI use in higher education settings. Poster presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association Convention, Atlanta, GA.

Pope, J.B., & Wegman, B. (2025, April). Measurement of giving and receiving phone snubs. Poster presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association Convention, Atlanta, GA.

Pope, J.B., & Stoerrle, A. (2025, April). Measurement of work-home attentional shifting. Poster presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association Convention, Atlanta, GA.

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Ashley Prosser

Lecturer of Mathematics

Education
M.S. in Mathematics, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Statistics, University of North Carolina Wilmington

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
My teaching interests focus on helping students build a strong foundation in mathematics while encouraging critical thinking and problem-solving. I enjoy creating an engaging classroom environment where students can connect abstract concepts to practical applications. My research interests include mathematics education and algebra. I have studied the impact of Common Core standards on state testing and conducted a project on the zeros of polynomials.

Christian Pscholka

Biological Sciences Lab Coordinator

912-279-5923

George Ragsdale

Part-time Faculty, Accounting

Education
JD, Delaware University
MBA in Finance, Widener University
BS in Chemical Engineering, Cornell University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Interests: Business law, ethics, and contract law

Jane Rainer

Part-time Faculty, Cyber Security and Information Technology

Dr. Aurora Ramos Nunez

Aurora Ramos Nunez

Associate Professor of Psychology and Student Success Coordinator

Education
Ph.D. in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Houston
M.A. in Developmental Psychology, University of Houston
B.A. in Psychology, San Diego State University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Dr. Ramos Nunez is an associate professor of psychology at the College of Coastal Georgia. She advises psychology major students and teaches Introduction to General Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Foundations of Brain and Behavior, Research Methods in Psychology, Brain Health in Psychology, and Learning and Behavior. Her research background includes the use of neuroimaging techniques to examine cognitive processes related to language such as speech perception, production, bilingualism, and cognitive control.

Currently, Dr. Ramos Nunez conducts survey research to examine factors related to second language acquisition and collaborates with undergraduate students in their various projects examining behavioral outcomes associated with academic performance, physical activity, and social media use, among others. She is also the Student Success Coordinator, working towards designing and executing initiatives to help with student retention.

Nicole Ransom

Nicole Ransom

Financial Aid Counselor

Carl Ratcliff

Custodian

Dr. T. David Reese

T. David Reese

Professor of Finance and Economics

T. David Reese is a Professor of Finance and Economics in the School of Business & Public Management at the College of Coastal Georgia.

“Dr. T.” David Reese also serves as a consultant to governmental agencies and for-profit and non-profit organizations on matters related to Economic Development, Community Development, and Business Development. Dr. Reese’s past consulting clients include the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), and the City of Montgomery (AL). Over the past 20 years, Dr. Reese has held management positions with a range of public, private, and community financial institutions. Prior to his career in academia, he spent more than 10 years on Wall Street, working as an Investment Analyst with Metropolitan Life, and as a Vice President of Citicorp Investment Bank. During the 1980s, while working on Wall Street, Dr. Reese acquired the nickname “Dr. T.” During this period, Dr. T. worked with a number of major corporations, investor groups, and entrepreneurs to structure and finance leveraged buyouts. He has been active in community economic development throughout his career. He worked with two municipally-sponsored non-profits in New York City, which served small businesses owned by women and people of color. Dr. Reese also served as the youngest board member of 100 Black Men of New York, a group of business and community leaders dedicated to the political and economic empowerment of African-Americans. Dr. T is a former Director of the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF), a multi-million dollar community development venture capital fund that finances small businesses and creates jobs for low-income persons. LEAF, headquartered in Boston, finances transactions throughout the country.

Dr. Reese earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, and his master’s degree and doctorate at Southern New Hampshire University. Dr. Reese engages in research in three areas: Small Business Finance, African-American Entrepreneurship, and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Ultimately, a desire to identify and understand those factors that impact access to capital for various marginalized communities motivates all of Dr. Reese’s research interests.

Marco Ricci

Laboratory Coordinator

Christine Rice

Christine Rice

Custodian

Denise S. Richardson

Admissions Assistant

Shannon Riggins

Riggins, Shannon
Assistant Director of Admissions Operations

Dr. Richard Robby Roberson

Dr. Roberson

Associate Professor of Hospitality, Tourism
Chef Instructor

Education
Post-Doctorate in Marketing & Management, University of Florida
Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University
Master of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Valdosta State University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Teaching Interests: Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Marketing and Management

Research Interests: Film induced tourism, sustainable tourism

Dr. Traesha Robertson

Associate Professor of Biology

Education
Ph.D. in Biology (Plant Physiology), Texas Tech University
M.S. in Biology (Plant Ecology), Sul Ross State University
B.S. in Biology, Angelo State University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Dr. Robertson is a botanist who conducts research in plant ecology, with primary interests in plant phenology, ecology, and physiology and their responses to climate change. She teaches both lower- and upper-division courses in biology with a focus on the botanical courses. She also mentors Coastal Ecology students, serves as the curator of the College of Coastal Georgia’s herbarium and greenhouse, and is an advising scientist for TIDES (Texas Integrated Diving & Ecological Studies) Laboratory, which is a multi-institutional undergraduate research program that focuses on student-driven marine research projects on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System in the Caribbean.

Benjamin Rogers

Director of Athletics

Education
M.H.R. in Human Resource Development, Clemson University
M.S. in Sport Management, University of West Georgia
M.S. in Kinesiology, Georgia Southern University
B.A. in General Studies, Southern New Hampshire University

Teaching and Research Interests / Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
Teaching and Research Interests: Leadership and organizational effectiveness in sport and educational settings, with particular emphasis on Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) Theory and its influence on trust, communication, and performance outcomes; human resource development and talent management; intercollegiate athletics administration and governance; student-athlete development and holistic well-being; coaching leadership and performance development; organizational culture, ethics, and compliance in sport; and the integration of health, wellness, and human performance to enhance individual and organizational outcomes.

Departments/Offices