About the Council
The Faculty Advisory Council brings together faculty partners to strengthen connections between academic programs and Career & Employment Hub initiatives. Members serve as a faculty voice to guide Career Hub programming, provide insight on incorporating career readiness into the classroom, and share feedback on student needs and trends.
Meet the Members
Jono Anzalone
Jono graduated from Creighton University with a BA in Political Science, the University of Nebraska with an MS in Economics, a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Higher Education at the University of Nebraska, and the Harvard School of Public Health and Kennedy School of Government National Preparedness Leadership Initiative.
Rachel Bouvier
Dr. Bouvier earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she focused on the relationship between economic development and environmental quality. She also holds a Master’s degree in Resource Economics and Community Development from the University of New Hampshire.
Ben Greenfield
Ben Greenfield is an Associate Professor of Public Health who joined the USM faculty in 2020. His professional background is at the interface between environmental science and public health.
Joseph Lasley
Joe’s vision is to foster environments in which people experiment with new ways of being that lead to collective transformation and a socially just future. His research investigates play, game-based leadership, and group experiences in developmental environments with applications for leadership development.
Ashanthi Maxworth
Dr. Ashanthi Maxworth is an Associate Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering since March of 2025. She was born and raised in Sri Lanka and her BSc is from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in electronic and telecommunication engineering.
Catherine Miller
Dr. Catherine Miller joined the USM Biology faculty in 2019. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor of Biology at Western Illinois University, and she held postdoctoral research positions in the Department of Microbiology and the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Iowa.
Sara Needleman
Sara is a passionate advocate for meaningful, dynamic teaching and learning. Her experiences as a middle school teacher, teacher educator and consultant lead to her belief that students of any age, ethnicity and socioeconomic background learn best when they inquire — when they pursue understanding, not when they acquire information.
Daniel Panici
Daniel Panici received his Ph.D. in Mass Media and Communication at the University of Missouri (1989), Master’s Degree in Communication at Colorado State University (1986), and Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Business at Augustana College (1983). Daniel joined the USM faculty in 1995 after teaching for six years at Berry College in Georgia.
Heidi Parker
Heidi M. Parker, Ph.D., is a faculty leader in the University of Southern Maine School of Business, where she serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives, Chair of the Business Administration Department, and Associate Professor of Sport Management.
Jamie Picardy
Dr. Jamie Ann Picardy is an Associate Professor within the Food Studies and Honors Programs at the University of Southern Maine. She also is the Associate Director for the Honors Program.
James Quinlan
James Quinlan joined the department in August 2023. He received his Ph.D. in Computational Sciences – Mathematics under the direction of James Lambers, where he developed a stencil selection algorithm with an adaptive mesh refinement method for upscaling transmissibility in subsurface flow simulations.
Francesca Vassalo
Dr. Francesca Vassallo is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Political Science Department at the University of Southern Maine. Her research interests and publications have focused on conventional and unconventional political behavior, French and European politics, European public opinion, US-EU relations and protest action.
Elizabeth Vella
Elizabeth Vella, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern Maine. Dr. Vella received her Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences from Virginia Tech in 2005 and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007.