Arts & Sciences | Graduate School

Graduate Ambassador Directory

Deborah Ariyo

Major: Romance Languages Ph.D.

UA Involvement: Member of the African Student Association and the African Student Association

Research Interests: Sustainable development in areas of education and women empowerment, hopes to build her career in advancing education, partnering with non-profit organizations with the aim to bridge the literacy gap in Nigeria and Africa

Hometown: Nigeria

Email: doariyo@crimson.ua.edu

Heaven Cauble

Major: Psychology Ph.D.

UA Involvement: Served as the Graduate Student Association Vice President of Operations during the 2023-2024 school year

Research Interests: Decision-making, Alzheimer’s Disease, the effects of health on cognition in older adults, and health disparities and cognition across cultures

Hometown: Madisonville, LA

Email: hecauble@crimson.ua.edu

Oluwatobi Fijabi

Major: Biology Ph.D.

UA Involvement: Member of the Deeper Life Campus Fellowship, serves on the welfare committee of the African Student Association, and is a mentor to undergraduate students in the biological department

Research Interests: Small molecule composition of fruit flies occasioned by natural diets

Hometown: Oyo State, Nigeria

Email: oefijabi@crimson.ua.edu

Oluwafunmilayo Akinpelu

Major: English Literature, Ph.D.

UA Involvement: Graduate Student Administrator, First Year Writing Program; Vice President of Operations, Graduate Student Association; Vice President, BLissful GLare Book Club; Member (and two-time former secretary) of the African Student Association; Member of the Deeper Life Campus Fellowship

Research Interests: Digital storytelling (and humanities); Futurisms; Feminisms; 21st-century African literary history; Literature of Africa in the Americas; World literature; East Asian pop and non-pop culture (more specifically “the Afro-Anime Initiative”)

Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria

Email: omakinpelu@crimson.ua.edu

Kim Jacks

Major: Political Science Ph.D.

Undergraduate Institution: Susquehanna University

UAInvolvement: Graduate Teaching Assistant, Graduate Student Association Executive Council, Vice President of the Political Science Graduate Student Association, Assistant Team Leader for the Education, Advocacy, and Training Team with the Center for Service and Leadership (CSL)

Research Interests: Women’s representation in politics, higher education policy, Latin American Politics, democratization and authoritarianism

Hometown: Nanjemoy, MD

Email: kjacks@crimson.ua.edu

Gbenga Falana

Major: Music Composition M.M.

UA Involvement: Graduate Assistant in the Composition Area, Collaborative Composition with Theater and Dance (MFA) Students, and an active member of the African Students Association

Research Interests: Composition of choral, African, and Yoruba music, collaborative composition, creative ethnomusicology, and studies in African music

Hometown: Ilawe-Ekiti, Nigeria

Email: gofalana@crimson.ua.edu

Lexie Thornton

Major: Geography Ph.D.

UA Involvement: Water R2O: National Science Foundation Research Traineeship, Vice President of the Graduate Association for Geography and Environmental Studies (GAGES), Treasurer for Gamma Theta Upsilon Honor Society (GTU), Graduate Council Fellow, Senior Lab Lead and Research Assistant in the UA Coastal Research and Extreme Events Lab, works with the UA division of the Scientific Research and Education Network (SciREN), Teaching Assistant for summer courses at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, affiliated member of the Alabama Water Institute, Independent Consulting Contractor for the Geological Survey of Alabama, and Studied Abroad through the Geography of Ireland Field Studies course

Research Interests: Coastal Geomorphology and Paleotempestology. Specifically, how barrier islands impact the preservation of paleotempestites along the Northern Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Coast of the United States

Hometown: Vernon, CT

Email: lvthornton@crimson.ua.edu

Hailey Richardson

Major: Geography Ph.D.

UA Involvement: Graduate Council Fellow, Senior Lab Lead in UA Laboratory for Location Science, Geography Department Teaching Assistant, affiliated member with the Alabama Transportation Institute, President of the Graduate Association for Geography and Environmental Studies. Member in Gamma Theta Upsilon (International Geographical Honors Society), GIS Association of Alabama, International Association of Crime Analysis, National Council for Geographic Education, and the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation for Young Professionals

Research Interests: Geography of Crime, Location Science, Geospatial Intelligence applied to Crime and Homeland Security, Geographic Information Science (GIS)

Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas

Email: hnrichardson1@crimson.ua.edu

Emmanuel Kofi Adu

Major: Romance Languages M.A.

UA Involvement: Spanish Graduate Teaching Assistant, Secretary of La Última Letra (LUL-Spanish department), and member of the African Students Association (ASA)

Research Interests: Exploring the influence of Ghanaian and other African local dialect accents on African children learning French and Spanish as second languages, focusing on comprehension challenges.

Hometown: Accra, Ghana

Email: ekadu@crimson.ua.edu

Emmy Smith

Major: Public Administration M.A.

UA Involvement: Alabama International Relations (Treasurer, Secretary-General, Journal Editor), Housing and Residential Communities Resident Advisor, member of Crimson Yogis, Blount Scholar, Honors Program student

Research Interests: Counterterrorism, library sciences, Middle Eastern conflicts, Supreme Court cases

Hometown: Wetumpka, Alabama

Email: eksmith11@crimson.ua.edu

Calvin Perdigao

Major: Chemistry Ph.D.

UA Involvement: McNair Graduate fellow and laboratory teaching assistant for general chemistry

Research Interests: Using biochemical and structural biology methods, such as EM, to determine the structure and function of type-IIIA CRISPR-Cas systems

Hometown: Lilburn, Georgia

Email: ccperdigao@crimson.ua.edu

Diweng Dafong

Major: Romance Languages: French Ph.D.

UA Involvement: Vice President of the Graduate Student Association

Research Interests:

Hometown: Nigeria

Email: mdafong@crimson.ua.edu

Gabi Gonzalez

Major: Business Administration MBA, Theatre MFA

UA Involvement: Research Assistantship with UA Theatre and Dance, MWIB officer of financial affairs, GSA Vice President of Public Relations, GAIN Ambassador, McNair Scholar

Research Interests:

Hometown: Greenville, South Carolina

Email: sggonzalez@crimson.ua.edu

Douanla Kembou Gildas

Major: Romance Languages Ph.D.

UA Involvement: Graduate instructor of record; teaches introductory and intermediate level Spanish classes to undergraduates; Member of the African Students Association, Member and Treasurer (2024-2025) of La Última Letra (Spanish Graduate Students Association)

Research Interests: Social representations, Identities, Memory, Migrations, Creative Writing, Self-writing; Second Language Acquisition, Spanish & French

Hometown: Bangang, Cameroon

Email: gdouanlakembou@crimson.ua.edu