Rural Education Summit 2024 Presenter Bios

Dr. Amy Price Azano (she/her) is the founding director of the Virginia Tech Center for Rural Education and a professor of rural education and adolescent literacy in the School of Education. A first-generation college student, her scholarship focuses on equity challenges and opportunities for rural schools and communities. She is co-editor of the forthcoming Rural Education and Queer Identities: Rural and (Out)Rooted.
Session: Rural and (Out)Rooted: A Pedagogy of Pride

Dr. Bing (she/they) is the Director of the Virginia Tech Pride Center. Their work focuses on supporting the mental, emotional, social, and physical wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer Hokies by creating space, providing resources, advocating for student needs, and facilitating learning opportunities for faculty, staff, and students. Dr. Bing serves on the Convening Committee for the Rural Education Summit.
Session: Queer, Rural, and Educational Intersections

Dr. Casey Anne Brimmer (they/them) is a creator, activist, educator, and scholar that focuses on queer gender and sexuality, disability, neurodiversity, and body and fat positivity. https://www.cabrimmer.com/
Session: LGBTQ+ 101: Terminology and Identities

Dr. Chase Catalano (he/him) is an Associate Professor and Program Leader of Higher Education in Virginia Tech’s School of Education. His research and scholarship addresses trans(*)ness, social justice, queerness, and educational interventions for campus transformation within the context of higher education. Dr. Catalano serves on the Convening Committee for the Rural Education Summit.
Session: Queer, Rural, and Educational Intersections

Dr. Karen Eppley (she/her) is a Teaching Professor of Education at Penn State. A former fifth grade teacher, her research focuses on the intersection of literacy education and rural education and rurality as a contested social space. 
Session: Whispers of the Heart: Queer Coming of Age in Rural Middle Grade Novels

Dr. Jamon H. Flowers (he/him) is an Assistant Professor in the Educational Administration and Policy program at the University of Georgia. His research explores rural educational leadership, focusing on race, place, and opportunity.
Session: Research on Rural Intersections: “It’s Easier to be Black than Gay”

Dr. Donna Fortune (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Practice and the Program Leader for Elementary Education in Virginia Tech’s School of Education. She teaches literacy, listening literacy, social studies, culturally responsive teaching pedagogies, and curriculum courses. She promotes the benefits of using children’s picture books as mentor texts for instruction and as a resource that teachers can use with students as gateways into the world of others.
Session: We’re with the Banned!

Dr. Ed Gitre is an Associate Professor of history at Virginia Tech and Director of The American Soldier in World War II Project. He is serving his first term as the District G representative on the Montgomery County School Board.
Session: We’re with the Banned!

Dr. Kristina Hesbol is an Associate Professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at the University of Denver, where she teaches graduate leadership courses. Dr. Hesbol is the founding director of the Center for Innovative Rural Collaborative and Leadership Education (CIRCLE).
Session: Rural Queer Youth Studies

Dr. Rachelle Kuehl (she/her) is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Virginia Tech’s School of Education and a 2022 National Academy of Education / Spencer Foundation postdoctoral fellow. Her scholarship focuses on educational equity, critical literacy, and antiracist pedagogies.
Session: Whispers of the Heart: Queer Coming of Age in Rural Middle Grade Novels

Dr. Darris R. Means (he/him/his) is a Professor of Educational Leadership and Dean’s Fellow for Rural Education in the College of Education at Clemson University. His scholarship focuses on rural education and spatial, racial, and class equity in postsecondary education access and success. Dr. Means serves on the Convening Committee for the Rural Education Summit.
Session: Queer, Rural, and Educational Intersections

Joshua Olinger has organized educational and community-building events since 2013 as the founder and current chair of the board of directors at Diversity Camp and as a previous board member and project manager for an LGBTQ+ community center.
Session: Diversity Camp: Support for LGBTQ+ Youth in SW VA

Dr. Matthew Panozzo (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Literacy in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership at the University of Memphis.His teaching and research area includes exploring identity, empathy and humanity through literacy, arts-based education research, and LGBTQ children’s and young adult books. 

Session: Whispers of the Heart: Queer Coming of Age in Rural Middle Grade Novels

Dr. Kent Seidel is an Associate Professor in Research and Evaluation Methods at the University of Colorado, Denver. He is the founding co-director of the Center for Practice Engaged ​Education Research (C-PEER) and associate director of CIRCLE. 

Session: Rural Queer Youth Studies

Dr. Courtney Thomas (she/her) is the acting director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Political Science and Collegiate Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech. Her recent research has focused on queer rights in education and rural queer education spaces. She serves on the Montgomery County Public Schools Education Committee, the board of the Southwest Virginia chapter of GLSEN, and the NRV Indivisible Education Working Group. Dr. Thomas serves on the Convening Committee for the Rural Education Summit. 

Session: We’re with the Banned!

Alexis Isaac (she/her) is a doctoral student in Counselor Education and Supervision at Virginia Tech and a National Certified Counselor. Her research, informed by her counseling experiences, centers around interpersonal violence, substance use, mental health care access, and underserved communities. 

Josh Thompson (he/him) is a doctoral candidate in English Education at Virginia Tech and a queer Appalachian educator, scholar, and writer. Through his research, teaching, and advocacy, he works to foster queer-affirming literacy educational spaces.
Session: Anti-LGBTQ+ Policy and Affirming Pedagogies

Dr. Clint Whitten (he/him) is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Virginia Tech whose research explores the intersections of rural education, Queer identities, and community activism. He is co-editor of the forthcoming Rural Education and Queer Identities: Rural and (Out)Rooted. Dr. Whitten serves as the Co-Convener for the Rural Education Summit.
Sessions: Anti-LGBTQ+ Policy and Affirming Pedagogies
Rural and (Out)Rooted: A Pedagogy of Pride