Greg Gardner is a Clinical Professor of Athletic Training at the University of Tulsa. Dr. Gardner has served as a consultant to numerous athletic training education programs in the U.S. as well as internationally in Jordan and Ireland. He currently serves as an accreditation reviewer for ARTI (Athletic Rehabilitators and Therapists of Ireland). Gardner was inducted into the Mid America Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2013, the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2014, and the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2020. In June of 2020 he Received the Sayers J. Bud Miller Outstanding Educator Award from the National Athletic Trainers Association.

Matt Hindman is Associate Professor of Political Science and the chapter president of the University Tulsa chapter of the American Association of University Professors (TU-AAUP). His research and teaching interests focus on American political institutions and their impact upon citizens’ political behavior. His published work includes a book titled Political Advocacy and Its Interested Citizens, which explores the development of the American interest group system. In 2018, he was awarded the Thomas H. Buckley Award for Teaching Excellence.

Buford Boyd Pollett is the Genave King Rogers Assistant Professor of Energy Law and Commerce.  He is a Texas Licensed Attorney and Geoscientist, a licensed attorney, and a proctor in maritime law.

His energy experience includes work with Eni (the Italian Integrated Energy Company) and Technip. He has a MS/BS in Geology from the University of Georgia, a Master in International Business Management from Pepperdine University and a Juris Doctorate from Loyola University School of Law, New Orleans.

His teaching and research focus on:

• Sustainability,
• Energy transition,
• Renewable Energy including wind and solar, and
• Full lifecycle of energy projects.

Dr. Eric Wickel is the John C. Oxley Endowed Chair of Kinesiology and Rehabilitative Sciences within the Oxley College of Health Science. His research explores the complex associations involving physical activity and sedentary behavior with health outcomes. Research in this area has been published in national and international academic journals and presented across the globe. Dr. Wickel has worked at the University of Tulsa since 2006. He enjoys an active lifestyle and time with his wife, two kids, and two dogs in Bixby.

Miriam Belmaker is a Chapman associate professor of Anthropology focusing on climate change and human-environment interactions. She received her BA in Paleolithic Archaeology Cum Laude from Haifa University in 1995 and a Ph.D. in Evolution from the Hebrew University in 2006. Her research focuses on the effect of climate change on critical events in human evolution, history, and ecology. Her work is funded by the National Science, Wenner Gren, and Leakey Foundations, among others, and she is widely published in Journals such as Journal of Human Evolution, Journal of Archaeological Science, Quaternary Science Review, and Quaternary International.

Grant Matthew Jenkins, Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing, teaches contemporary literature, theory, and creative writing. He is the author of Poetic Obligation: Ethics in Experimental American Poetry after 1945 (U of Iowa Press, 2008) and the manuscript under consideration, Other Wise: Ethics in African American Poetry After the Civil Rights Movement, and has published two books of poetry, Joy of God and Other Series (Blackbird, 2003) and Morphs (Cracked Slab, 2009) with Cheryl Pallant. His novel, Ivory Tower, was published in 2020 by Atmosphere Press.

Ghulam Haider is currently getting his doctorate in mechanical engineering from The University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. He got his master’s degree from TU as well in Mechanical Engineering. His area of research is fluid mechanics, erosion modeling, and erosion control. Furthermore, he teaches courses at TU as a TA (teaching assistant). Haider is passionate about learning, exploring, and teaching. He believes that teaching is one of the best ways to give back to the community, as you get to directly impact lives. Haider loves trying new cuisine and cooking. He is a fitness freak and a crazy dog lover!

Suraj Vodnala is a pre-med student majoring in business management and minoring in Society, Law, and Policy. Suraj does undergraduate research under Dr. Tim Hart and Dr. Robert Sheaff. Suraj believes that college students are constantly working on amazing projects that often never leave campus, but he appreciates the NOVA foundation’s dedication to launching and introducing these projects to the community. His current projects include working with a team of senior engineering students to create a newly designed Small Unmanned Aircraft (from a business perspective) and being a part of the Love’s Cup Business Plan competition, presenting a novel chemotherapeutic scanning process, developed under Dr. Sheaff.