Our Team
Dr. Pheather R. Harris
Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives | CAMP Statewide Director
prharris@uci.edu
Dr. Pheather R. Harris has worked in postsecondary education for over two decades and currently serves as the Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives | CAMP Statewide Director at UCI. She leads several National Science Foundation multimillion dollar grants, has raised money to provide scholarships to students from Edison International, has published peer reviewed journal articles focused on advancing equity and inclusion in postsecondary education, has written a book that humanizes the experiences of students while providing higher education professionals with information about inclusive ways of being, and is the President-Elect of the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates. She has served students, faculty, administrators, and staff in leadership capacities in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors and has won numerous awards as a higher education scholar and is a 2022 NSF IASPIRE Leadership Fellow. Dr. Harris is the PI on TIME which provides faculty with a 2-year professional development series that advances inclusion in STEM, while directing the UC California Statewide Alliance which provides academic support, mentorship, conference sponsorship, and undergraduate research opportunities to minoritized students in STEM. Pheather earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from the University of Southern California, a Master’s degree in Education from Harvard University, and a Doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration from The George Washington University. She is a critical methodologist that centers the voices of stakeholders while leading programs aimed at institutional transformation for more just and equitable academic environments.
Dr. Derek Dunn-Rankin
Faculty Liaison
Professor Emeritus
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Dunn-Rankin studies combustion, sprays, and particles using optical diagnostics and laser spectroscopy. Generally, he is interested in the fundamental information that can be obtained from simplified systems, such as linear droplet arrays, two-dimensional gas burners, and sub-scale ventilation and biomedical environments, which mimic a specific behavior in more complex systems. Using non-intrusive laser diagnostics, he probes the simplified systems in order to develop physical insight into influencing factors. His current research activities include a study of the electrical aspects of microgravity combustion; an effort to develop techniques to measure the size of airborne droplets and particles using laser light scattering; and development of a hydrogen-enhanced IC engine. Dunn-Rankin also is studying combustion control, the formation of droplet streams at high ambient density, and acoustic interactions with burning droplets. His work can be applied in the area of combustion for size reduction, performance improvement, and emissions reduction in the area of spray processing for the novel production of biomedically relevant materials.
Leonora Peña
Program Specialist
ldwillia@uci.edu
Mrs. Leonora Peña, also referred to as Leo, is a Program Specialist for the California Alliance for Minority Participation at the University of California, Irvine. Leo has worked at UCI for nineteen years and is a proud alumna of both UCI and the CAMP Program. She began her academic career as a chemistry major; however, found her passion in the social sciences. Leo received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 2002. She enjoys science and also has a deep interest in the arts.
Ana Tecuanapa
Program Professional
atecuana@uci.edu
Ana Tecuanapa is a Program Professional for the California Alliance for Minority Participation at the University of California, Irvine. Prior to joining UCI’s CAMP team, Ana was an assistant director and educator for five years. She has a passion for ensuring that students have a positive experience while they pursue their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Ana is a proud UCI alumna, having received a partial Zot scholarship to fund her studies. Ana graduated in 2021 with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Education and Psychological Sciences and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts Degree in Psychology. Ana’s passion for education gives her a unique lens from which to contribute to the mission and vision of the CAMP Program.
Dr. Yu-Chien (Alice) Chien
CAMP Faculty Partner
chieny@uci.edu
Dr. Chien is currently the principal investigator for a NASA datamining project to extract insights from the microgravity E-FIELD Flames experiment data she took. She served as the realtime remote operator on earth for the NASA E-FIELD Flames experiments aboard the international space station (ISS). Her first in-depth aerospace teamwork experience was in 2002 building a plane in the UAV Lab as an Aerospace Engineer undergraduate, and her first combustion project was in 2004. She continued as an experimentalist through her M.S in Aeronautics and Astronautics (2005 -2007), her Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (2009 – 2014), and up to the present. Her research interests also include gas hydrate studies for combustion, fire extinguishment and CO2 sequestration, aerosols and spray holographic imaging, and optical diagnostics techniques. Chien supervises graduate research theses/dissertations, and undergraduate projects/individual research. She devotes herself to bridging the gap between conventional course work and academic research with various curricula she created.