Our Team

DeLeon L. Gray, Ph.D.

Executive Director & Co-Founder
(Curriculum Vitae)

DeLeon Gray is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. He has previously held appointments at the Association for Psychological Science, the American Institutes for Research, and the National Institutes of Health. His research focuses on the ways in which students’ achievement motivation and in-school behavior may be traced back to interpretations of their own social encounters. His research program has been recognized by the receipt of prestigious honors including the Research on Socially and Economically Underrepresented Populations Award (RiSE-UP) from the Association for Psychological Science, and dissertation fellowships from the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation and the American Education Research Association (AERA). Most recently, he received the AERA Division E 2013 Outstanding Dissertation Award in Human Development and the 2013 Loadman Outstanding Dissertation Award in Educational Psychology and Philosophy from The Ohio State University. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) (B.A., Interdisciplinary Studies) and The Ohio State University (M.A., Quantitative Research, Evaluation, and Measurement; Ph.D., Educational Psychology). His work appears in Contemporary Educational Psychology, Journal of Research on Adolescence, and Educational Psychology Review, and other peer-reviewed outlets. DeLeon enjoys bowling, karaoke, performing stand-up comedy, and having a winning fantasy football team.

Lauren H. Bryant, Ph.D.

Director of Innovation and Evaluation
& Co-Founder
(Curriculum Vitae)

Lauren is a Research Scholar with the College of Education at NC State and the Director of Innovation and Evaluation with the SMART Collaborative.  Her main areas of investigation are culturalized, practice-relevant student motivation strategies and the social capital and dynamics of large and interdisciplinary teams, such as research-practice partnerships.  On the SMART Collaborative, she works with Ph.D.s, graduate students, and undergraduate students to conduct research that will progress our context-specific understandings of student motivation while also giving students opportunities to develop as scholars through hands-on experiences.  As Co-PI of the Developing Appropriate Strategies for Targeting Early Adolescents’ Motivation in STEM project, a three-year ITEST Strategies project, Lauren leads qualitative and quantitative analyses on changes in teachers’ beliefs and practices with regard to their use of culturally-sensitive motivationally supportive strategies.  Before coming to NC State, she received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Virginia Tech, where she also received her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees.  Lauren lives in Raleigh with her husband and her dog.  She enjoys walking, cooking, NC microbrews, and Golden Girls reruns.  
 

Mauriell H. Amechi, M.A.

Pre-Doctoral Fellow

Mauriell H. Amechi is a Pre-Doctoral Fellow in the SMART Collaborative and Ph.D. candidate at UW-Madison in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (concentration in Higher Education). The overarching goal of his research is to understand how colleges and universities create educational environments that enhance learning, affirm cultural identity, and inspire achievement among minoritized groups in order to improve their access, persistence, and educational attainment. Amechi examines issues of equity, identity, and student engagement among historically underserved student populations, with a special emphasis on the college transitions of foster youth. In a second, related strand of research he explores strategies employed by colleges and universities to cultivate inclusive and optimal learning environments for all students. To date, the ACPA Foundation and the National Association for Campus Activities have funded his research. A native of Chicago, Amechi received his B.A. with highest distinction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and went on to study at Ohio State University, where he earned a M.A. in higher education and student affairs.
 
 

Briana Green

Graduate Student Member

 
Briana is a graduate research assistant with The SMART Collaborative. On the iScholar project, she leads an interdisciplinary team to develop culturally relevant, social action oriented STEM activities for participating middle grades students and provides ongoing instructional support to teachers between iScholar sessions. Briana studies teachers’ beliefs about motivation and the link between students’ social identities and achievement beliefs. Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, she assists in disseminating research findings in the form of conference proposals, online publications, journal articles and research talks. Briana joined The SMART Collaborative as an undergraduate research assistant while obtaining her Bachelors of Science in Business and Marketing Education. She enjoys substitute teaching and attending cultural events in local communities.
 

Erin Huggins, M.A.T.

Graduate Student Member

Erin Huggins is a Ph.D. student in Education Research and Policy Analysis (K-12) at North Carolina State University. She received her B.A in English Literature, her M.A.T. in Special Education (K-12), and she has over 12 years of combined teaching experience in public and private schools as well as abroad in Asia. Erin’s research interests include student assessment and achievement for general and special education (K-12), teacher quality and motivation in public schools, along with distance education, online learning, and education technology. As an elementary school teacher, Erin was nominated for Teacher of the Year twice and was top ten and top five nationally for Nobel Learning Communities.  She believes that all children have the capacity to learn and be successful, and she has a drive and passion to ensure the best possible educational outcomes for all students she serves. As a member of the SMART Collaborative, Erin brings a wealth of practical knowledge about classroom and teaching experiences. In her free time, Erin enjoys visiting museums and state parks with her two children, taking walks with her family, independent cinema & documentaries, aromatherapy, swimming, cooking, and playing tennis.

Tamika McElveen, M.Ed.

Graduate Student Member

 
Tamika McElveen is a Ph.D. student in NC State’s Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences, with a focus in Educational Psychology.  As a research assistant for the SMART Collaborative, Tamika engages in grant implementation, data collection, and data analysis for several research projects.  Her research interests aim to utilize motivation research and practice to impact academically under-performing students and schools.  As a School Counselor in Wake County Public Schools and as a community mental health provider in Wake, Harnett, and Johnston counties, Tamika understands the importance of quality schools, teachers, and parental and family involvement.  Tamika received a B.A. in Psychology and M.Ed in School Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Tamika seeks to strike a work-life balance and enjoys spending time with her husband and three children.  Tamika also enjoys reading, puzzles, and video games.
 

Jason Wornoff, M.S.

Graduate Student Member

Jason Wornoff is a Ph.D. student in NC State’s Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences, with a focus in Educational Psychology. His research aims to understand the influence of students’ social encounters on academic motivation, and physiological bio-markers of wellness. His analytical skills and research interest have been refined through several appointments, serving the United States Department of Defense (DoDEA), and the United States Army – North Carolina National Guard. As a federal servant, his unwavering efforts to deliver students effective instructional interventions have been recognized by receipt of the prestigious Department of Defense Judith Gilliam Award. His research dissemination efforts include a conference presentation at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), as well as his role as a co-author on multiple book chapters. Lending his research efforts to active scholarship, Jason’s interest in bridging theory to practice meet reality as a member of the SMART Collaborative—serving the unique needs of local school districts, facilitating college readiness workshops on NC State’s campus, and helping to disseminate research findings to teachers. Jason received a B.S. in Human Development and Family Science (Magna Cum Laude) from The Ohio State University, and his M.S. in Curriculum, Instruction, and Counselor Education (Educational Psychology Concentration) from NC State. In his free time, Jason enjoys writing and recording music, and discovering new sounds with his band, The Quarry.

Malinda Pennington, M.Ed.

Graduate Student Member

Malinda Pennington is a Curriculum and Instruction Ph.D. student in NC State’s Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences. Her research interests include development of effective training and support models to prepare teachers to meet the needs of students with autism. As a member of the SMART Collaborative, she brings over 25 years experience teaching in public schools and providing educator professional development to team efforts to work with local school districts. Professionally, she is a National Board Certified Teacher and was recognized as the 2012 NC North Central Region Teacher of the Year.  She is a TEACCH Autism Program Certified Professional Consultant and has provided school trainings and consultations on evidence-based practices for students with autism in many states and internationally.  In 2013, she assisted her district in obtaining a grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to start the Wilson Autism Spectrum Disorders Academy, a laboratory school and training program in partnership with Barton College and ECU, to educate pre-service and in-service teachers about strategies for working with students with autism.  Her scholarly research efforts have already received recognition.  She published an article, Defining autism: Variability in state education agency definitions and evaluations for autism spectrum disorders and co-authored a chapter in Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues.  She has also been a presenter and poster session participant at multiple national conferences for the Council for Exceptional Children. When at home, Malinda enjoys spending time with her family, playing board games, crocheting, and digging in the garden. 
 

Lexi DeFalco

Undergraduate Student Member

Lexi is a sophomore from Raleigh, North Carolina majoring in Elementary Education with a minor in Nonprofit Studies. She plans to teach for a few years before returning to school to earn a law degree so she can advocate for education reform, or become a professor at a university. Lexi is involved in many different organizations around campus including the University Scholars Program, DanceLife, and an assortment of education and professional development clubs. She serves as a research assistant for the SMART Collaborative Research Team, where she studies different types of motivational support in middle school students in Durham, North Carolina.  Lexi is also a Caldwell Fellow, a program that encourages servant leadership and thinking big. This summer, through the Caldwell Program, Lexi had the opportunity to participate in two experiential learning trips. One included backpacking through Utah, while the other involved serving a small community in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Being a Caldwell Fellow has been a life changing opportunity, and Lexi is excited to tell you all more about the program and the memorable experiences she has had while being a NC State.
 
 

Alex Olosu

Undergraduate Student Member

Alex Olosu is a senior majoring in Psychology with a minor in Cognitive Science. He serves as a research assistant in The SMART Collaborative with a focus on data collection and dissemination. He also serves as a research assistant in the Applied Cognitive Psychology (ACP) Lab at NC State. His primary focus has been assessing the correlation between mind-wandering and a range of independently studied topics such as driving, sleep, and reading comprehension. His research passions center around understanding how people make sense of their (and others’) memberships in different socially constructed groups such as race, religion, and ethnicity. He aspires to pursue his doctorate in Psychology with a research emphasis on cognitive representations of race, trauma, and memory. Outside of his budding and ever-growing passion for research, he is an Artistic Director and Choreographer for Fusion Dance Crew at NC State, listens to podcasts, travels, and enjoys anything to do with soccer.
 
 

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