Castleton is pleased to welcome new faculty additions joining the college in the fall of 2014.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Megan Blossom earned a B.S. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Brown University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Child Language from the University of Kansas. Dr. Blossom is a child language specialist whose research focuses on assessing linguistic knowledge in toddlers with a particular interest in the development of grammatical knowledge that is vulnerable in children with language impairments. Her approach to the study of human language is interdisciplinary and brings together the perspectives of cognitive psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, and human development. Prior to joining the faculty at Castleton, she was a lecturer in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences & Disorders at the University of Kansas.
Assistant Professor of Theater
Angela Brande of Middlebury, VT, completed her graduate work at Brandeis University and has worked in professional theaters for over 30 years. Before joining the college full-time, Brande has spent the past 21 years working part time in the Castleton theater department teaching courses in costume design, stage makeup and theater history, as well as supervising student work in the theater costume shop.
Professor of Accounting
Michael Deyoe, of Hartford, NY, holds a Master of Business Administration from Clarkson University and has successfully taught accounting courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The Castleton alum originally re-joined the college community in 2013 teaching as a part-time faculty member in the business department and brings with him over fifteen years of industry experience in public accounting, industry accounting, and internal auditing.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Gillian Galle received her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH in May 2013 and spent the past year as a post-doctoral associate in the Department of Teaching and Learning at New York University. Previously, she spent two years teaching courses in Pre-calculus and Calculus at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY.
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Nicole Hadeka, RN, MSN, of Fair Haven, VT, has been an active RN for 16 years with experience in Labor and Delivery and School Nursing. Through teaching at the collegiate level she hopes to share her passion for nursing with future generations of nursing students.
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Debra Hairr, DHSc, MSN, RNC-OB, earned a Master of Science in Nursing degree with a focus on nursing informatics from Walden University, and a doctoral degree in the health sciences from A.T. Still University in Mesa, AZ. Dr. Hairr has practiced in the area of women’s health nursing since 1988, and holds a national certification in obstetrical nursing. She is a member of Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Newborn Nursing (AWHONN) and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing.
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Bonnie Hanley, RN-BC, MSN, CCM, CPHQ comes to Castleton from the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System in Palo Alto, CA, where she has been an active nurse leader since 2007. During her tenure at the VA, Hanley served as Clinical Support for Mental Health Nursing, Patient Safety Manager, and most recently as the Assistant Manager of Case Management and Utilization Management, and has lead numerous performance improvement teams.
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Leah Matteson comes to Castleton with over 30 years of nursing experience. Matteson holds undergraduate and gradate degrees in nursing and completed a post-masters certification as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She has worked in critical care, public health, disaster preparedness, long-term care, home-health and hospice, psychiatric care, and nursing education. Matteson was the recipient of the Vermont Organization of Nurse Leaders (VONL) Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching in 2012, and is currently finishing up her doctoral work with a focus on the use of social media in nursing education. In addition to her faculty position at Castleton, she also teaches A&P, Human Biology, nutrition, Pharmacology and Phlebotomy at the Community College of Vermont.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Christine Palmer received a B.A. at Williams College, an M.S. at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. at Dartmouth College. She recently finished a postdoctoral position at the University of California, Davis, and specializes in a range of biology fields including molecular biology, genetics, plant biology, and ecology.
Assistant Professor of Film Studies
Michael Talbott hails from Los Angeles by way of New York, where he attended NYU’s Cinema Studies Ph.D. program. He was previously a Visiting Lecturer in Global Film at the University of Vermont. Talbott is interested in global film circulation and the political economy of cinema, and has taught courses on contemporary world cinema, film festivals, Latin American cinema, international film history, contemporary American cinema and documentary film.
Assistant Professor of Physics and Chemistry
Timothy Thibodeau received his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Saint Anselm College. As an undergraduate, he studied the surface chemistry of a high temperature superconductor using infrared spectroscopy. He went on to earn a doctorate in Physical Chemistry at the University of Maine. While at the University of Maine, he was part of a renewable fuels research group, utilizing theoretical and experimental methods to determine ways of increasing the energy content of this fuel. Before joining the Castleton faculty, he taught Chemistry and Physics at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Jennifer Turchi originally hails from the Washington D.C. area, and graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Psychology, and a M.S. in Sociology. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, with a concentration in Family and Health. Turchi has taught a variety of classes, including American Family, Social Problems, Gender, and Undergraduate Statistics. Her main area of research focuses on single fathers' parenting experiences and health outcomes for children in single-father and single-mother families. She worked for several years at the Public Policy Center at the University of Iowa, interviewing young teens and adults about their conversations surrounding sexual health, and presented the results at several conferences and state meetings with Iowa Department of Public Health representatives.
Professor of Accounting
Gail Wright of Baltimore, MD, comes to the college with a robust history of accounting and business knowledge. She has taught courses on auditing, financial management, statistics, taxation and corporate governance and has professional experience in independent accounting and tax consulting. In addition to her accounting work, Wright has also played an instrumental role in the development of a study abroad program in the European Union and previously spent time auditing with a big-four accounting firm. Wright holds a Master of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a Master of Science in Taxation from the University of Baltimore.
Adjunct Professor of Geography
Adjunct Professor of Communication
Adjunct Professor of Arabic
Adjunct Professor of Political Science
Adjunct Professor of Political Science
Adjunct Professor of Psychology