CSUMB welcomes new crop of faculty

By Mark Muckenfuss

Seven new Otters have joined Cal State Monterey Bay as assistant professors this fall. Here is a brief introduction to the new faces on campus.

 

Hannah Belan, assistant professor of game design:

Video game visuals fascinated Hannah Belan from an early age, first watching them on the screen as her older brother played his PlayStation, then going on to modify her favorite games as a teenager, altering their aesthetics to her own taste. Still, it hardly seemed like a career. 

But after two years of studying chemical engineering in college, she decided to make a switch.

“I found that game design was where my heart was,” she said. “I was so much happier.”

Now, after completing her master’s degree in May at Massachusetts’ Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in her hometown, she has joined CSUMB. Engagement between the faculty and students was a large part of why she chose to become an Otter.

During her initial campus visit, she said, “Every time a student walked past a professor who was interviewing me, they knew each other. The community here seems really centered on the students’ well-being. It was something that genuinely mattered to me.

“I’m just excited to be here and join the community,” she added.

 

Stephanie Kathan, assistant professor of social welfare:

After six years of teaching and working on her doctorate in social welfare at UCLA, Stephanie Kathan said she is happy to be on a small campus. 

“I definitely missed the experience of living in a tight-knit community,” said Kathan, a native of Pleasant Hill. “I’m impressed by how welcoming everyone has been. It's a very different atmosphere [than UCLA] and I much prefer it here.”

Kathan earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at UC Davis before changing tack and going into the study of social work. 

“I wanted to do something that had more of an application to the real world,” she said. Her master’s degree in social work is from the University of Texas at Austin. “I realized I had more interest in the structural components of change – public policy and leadership. I also realized at the time I had the skills to do research, which led me to the PhD.”

Since arriving at CSUMB, Kathan, who is a runner, has joined an all-women’s Dungeons and Dragons group and is dusting off her long-dormant skills. She’s also enjoying the Monterey area.

“I grew up coming here for vacation,” she said. “So to live here is like I'm always on vacation.”

 

Jason Lambert, assistant professor of management

Windy City native Jason Lambert was surprised by the cool breeze that greeted him when he arrived at CSUMB during the summer. He was expecting warm, sunny California weather.

“It’s still beautiful,” he said. And if the air might be chilly, “the people are very warm and welcoming. They're open, friendly and supportive. That's one of the things that solidified my decision to come to CSUMB.”

Another important thing was the university’s mission and its focus on inclusiveness.

“So far, I really believe that CSUMB's values and mine fit well,” he said. 

Lambert earned his doctorate in business administration at the University of Texas at Arlington. His research explores how organizational policies and practices influence the attitudes and beliefs of token employees -- defined as a person whose identity represents less than 15% of a work group or organization. He has taught at Savannah State, St. Xavier and Texas Women’s universities. He also has a podcast called Top 5 DEI.

His wife, Thanayi, is continuing to do research she began as a clinical nursing professor at UT Arlington. The couple’s oldest daughter lives in New York and works for Simon and Schuster, their son is in medical school at Texas A&M in Austin, and their youngest daughter is attending Monterey High School.

 

Helen Fann, assistant professor of human development:

Teaching in public schools while attending UC Davis, Helen Fann saw an issue with how bilingual students were being evaluated. They were being graded on the same standards as native English speakers. 

“The schools are not accurately assessing these kids because their home language is not English,” she said. “It’s like using a calculator to weigh something. It's not the right instrument.”

A native of Taiwan, Fann is bilingual herself and speaks with her parents in Chinese. Her research has examined the reasons why immigrants who are not native English speakers choose or decide not to encourage their children to retain their native language. 

She plans to continue that research as part of CSUMB’s faculty in the Department of Human Development and Family Science. 

A native of West Covina, Fann, who said she is an avid movie fan, earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees all from UC Davis. She has taught at Sacramento State, Sierra College and Central Washington University. Coming to CSUMB felt natural.

“The summer right before I went to Washington,” she said, recalling 2024, “my friend and I took a trip to Carmel, and I said, ‘I would so love to live here.’ A year later, I was here interviewing for the job. Life just has a way of working out.” 

 

Haoyu Niu, assistant professor of mechatronics

A native of the Beijing area, Haoyu Niu (How-You New) came to California in 2014 to pursue a master’s degree at Chico State and, later, a doctorate at UC Merced. He went on to do research at Cornell University and Texas A&M at College Station before deciding he wanted to come back to the West.

“I was kind of spoiled by California weather,” he said. 

He also wanted to change course on his career.  

In Texas, he said, “I was trying to apply AI, machine learning and deep learning to agricultural applications, mostly using robotic platforms. After three years of post-doc life, I realized I wanted to enter the academic community.”

He is excited to be joining CSUMB’s fledgling mechatronics program.

“It’s a rare opportunity to work in a new department,” he said. “I feel I can contribute.”

He plans to reach out to local ag leaders and expects he will apply his skills to developing a robotic platform for crop maintenance, water use and harvesting.

Off campus, Niu said he loves to hike, especially in the mountains.

“I’m very excited to go to Yosemite and Sequoia national parks,” he said. 

 

Gabrielle Bernal, assistant professor of education:

Gabrielle Bernal has spent time in Michigan and Mexico. Now, the Watsonville native is back where she began. 

“I couldn’t have dreamed it up any better,” Bernal said. “I’ve found such open arms.

It definitely feels like home.”

She did her undergrad work at Cal Poly SLO, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Following a master’s degree in special education from Notre Dame de Namur University, she went to the University of Michigan to pursue her doctorate. Several years of teaching and working on her degree in Ann Arbor, she said, made her realize she was a California girl. 

Fresh off her doctorate, she’s excited to contribute to CSUMB.

“I think I bring a certain equitable lens to all the courses I teach, to show students how they can problem solve and hone in on their skills and passions,” she said. “They have so much power, but oftentimes they’re made to think they don’t. We need to show them how to shift that power so students can be advocates for themselves.”

Bernal spent two summers learning Nahuatl as a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellow in Mexico. But her specialty, she said, is instructing students on how to teach math. 

 

Dongji Feng, assistant professor of computer science:

Although an expert in artificial intelligence, Dongji Feng prefers a personal touch. It was among the things that drew him to join the Otter Raft.

“One of the reasons I came to CSUMB was mentoring students,” Feng said. “For computer science students, that is very important. I like most to teach and mentor students. But here, I can also do research.”

Feng, a native of Shanxi in the northeast of China, was exposed to computers from an early age. His father had a degree in computer science and he was one of the first kids in his elementary school to get a home computer. He remembers spending many hours on what now seems like an ancient machine. When he graduated from high school, his father suggested he pursue computer science. It turned out to be a good fit.

While pursuing his master’s degree at Auburn University, Feng heard a lecture about bringing computer access and AI to rural areas. It resonated with him. 

“I started to think how can we use AI to improve education?” he said. 

Prior to coming to CSUMB, he was an assistant professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.

His wife, Chang, currently lives and works in Seattle as a software engineer. The couple is hoping she can transfer to San Jose soon. They have a 4-year-old son. 

In addition to these seven, Rachel Safa is also a new faculty member. She has been hired as a senior assistant librarian.