Internal Research Council

Dr. Matthew Richardson is the Acting Director of the Center for Urban Research, Engagement and Scholarship (CURES) in the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences at the University of the District of Columbia. CURES is a cross-campus multidisciplinary research center that seeks to develop, modify, and deploy solutions to achieve equitability, livability, sustainability, and resilience of cities. Dr. Richardson is also an affiliate Research Ecologist with Bok Tower Gardens (Lake Wales, FL) and former founding Coordinator of the Professional Science Master’s Program in Urban Agriculture at UDC.

Prior to joining UDC, Dr. Richardson was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), a Research Entomologist with the USDA-ARS, and a Research Scientist with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. He was selected as a 2018-2019 Fulbright Scholar to Barbados and is a prolific author of science and science education publications. Some of his broad research interests include finding practical solutions to conserve or restore species, natural communities, and ecosystem services while improving human health, promoting inclusion and social equity, and mitigating or adapting to climate change. He has received the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Service Award from the USDA and The President’s Volunteer Service Award for his commitment to service, science education, and applied research.

Dr. Richardson earned degrees in Biology (BA) and Entomology (BS) at the University of Delaware before completing his MS in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology at UIUC.

Bushra Ahmad Saeed is currently serving as the Division Director of the Nursing, Allied Health, Life and Physical Sciences programs at UDC-CC. In addition to her Director role, she enjoys teaching Biological Science and Fundamentals of Chemistry Lab courses at the college where she serves as a key role model for many of its students. Professor Saeed has a strong passion to see underrepresented students, particularly in STEM, become educated and enter the work force highly prepared. Hence, she is a member of the District of Columbia STEM network, and annually hosts “Women in STEM” forums at UDC-CC. This actively engaging platform exposes students to accomplished women across a multitude of STEM fields (from NASA, Health institutes, FDA, etc.).
Dr. Saeed completed her Masters in Biotechnology (gold medalist) and her Ph.D. in molecular
Biotechnology from the University of Karachi. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship to
pursue her Post Doctorate research from Cornell University in Bio-nanotechnology.
Dr. Saeed has authored numerous research articles which have been published in peer-reviewed
research journals. She has published on Stem Cells, micropropagation and development of new
molecular diagnostic techniques for virus indexing. Professor Saeed was recently named a “Dean’s
Teaching Fellow” at UDC-CC, having completed The Association of College and University
Educators’ (ACUE) comprehensive course on Effective College Teaching

Catherine Meals is the Reference & Assessment librarian in the Learning Resources Division at the University of the District of Columbia. She leads the UDC Library’s assessment program and supports both student learning and faculty research through information literacy instruction and reference services. Her research interests include personal librarianship, develop­ment of student research assignments, and affective outcomes in information literacy instruction. Prior to joining UDC, she worked at the DC Public Library and was a strategic researcher in the labor movement. She holds an MLIS from the University of Maryland and a BA from Swarthmore College. She is a founding member of the Board of Instigators of the Diverse City Fund.

Amit Arora, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management in the School of Business and Public Administration at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). Previously, he was an Associate Professor and Co-Director of Nicholas J. Giuffre Center for Supply Chain Management at Bloomsburg University (BU). Prior to joining BU, he was Assistant Professor and Director of Global Logistics & International Business Education and Research Center at Savannah State University. He is a certified SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) scholar by the Supply Chain Council. He teaches courses in Transportation, Logistics, Operations, Supply Chain Management, Innovation, Quality, Strategic Management, and Business Research. His current research interests are sustainability strategies in supply chain management, supply chain collaboration and experiential innovative gaming exercises for teaching. He has co-authored articles in logistics, marketing, international business, and pedagogical journals. He has published in International Journal of Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, Journal of Promotion Management, among others. Amit serves as Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI for various funded research grants from National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, VentureWell, and CIBERs. Amit is actively involved with academic organizations like Academy of International Business Southeast (AIB-SE) and Northeast Decision Sciences Institute (NEDSI). He is currently the Chapter Chair of AIBSE and Conference Chair for NEDSI 2023. He has extensive industry experience having worked in the auto industry in India for about 10 years.

Dr. Jillian L. Wendt is Associate Professor of Science Education at the University of the District of Columbia College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) in the Division of Education, Health, and Social Work (DEHS) and a Myrtilla Miner Faculty Fellow in the Center for the Advancement of Learning (CAL). She is actively engaged in curriculum design, teaching, and education research. Her interests include urban teacher preparation, science and STEM education, STEM mentoring, and online learning. Her most recent work has explored online peer mentoring to support minoritized women’s persistence in STEM and development of STEM identity. She is passionate about education—especially efforts to facilitate equitable representation across disciplines and to establish sustainable pipelines for broadening participation.