Faculty Experts

Adrian Oglesby began his tenure as the Director of Utton Center in 2014. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law and has practiced water law since 2000, including working with the Utton Center on many projects. Oglesby’s legal...

Robert Rhatigan joined the UNM Geospatial and Population Studies group in 2013 and currently serves as associate director and senior research scientist II His background in GIS, data analysis and technical communication has been a valuable addition to...

Vanessa Svihla is an associate professor at The University of New Mexico with appointments in the Organization, Information & Learning Sciences program and the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering. Svihla was the first UNM faculty member...

Meriah Heredia-Griego is the director of the University of New Mexico’s Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR). Heredia-Griego works closely with the Division of Equity and Inclusion and is a senior fellow with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ...

Peter Kierst is a senior lecturer in political science who teaches Constitutional Law and theory.  He joined the political science faculty full-time in 2005 after teaching these subjects for many years part-time. Kierst was a trial lawyer in New ...

A UNM faculty member since 1986, Professor Christine Sierra teaches and researches in the field of American politics with a focus on race, ethnicity, and gender.   Her publications include work on Mexican American activism on immigration policy,...

Dr. Emile Nakhleh is a research professor and coordinator of National Security Programs at UNM. Nakhleh is a retired Senior Intelligence Service Officer, a National Intelligence Council Associate and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Since ...

Biography Nancy López is an associate professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico  López directs and co-founded the Institute for the Study of “Race” and Social Justice, RWJF Center for Health Policy, which is in the process of creating a ...

Research interests include teacher inquiry and practitioner research, K-12 school/university partnerships, and curriculum and instruction in K-12 settings.   She teaches undergraduate and graduate teacher education classes Her research emphasis is...

Since he was a boy growing up on the border of Texas and Mexico, Eliseo Torres, known to everyone as “Cheo,” has been fascinated by the folk traditions and folkways of Mexico and of his Mexican American roots.