Email:
Office: Duns Scotus Hall, Room 314
Phone: (716) 839-8366
Postdoctoral Research
- Plymouth Marine Lab, Plymouth, England
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin
Research Interests
- Behavioral and evolutionary ecology
- Plant/insect interactions (herbivory, pollination)
- Sustainable agriculture
- Ecological design, sustainability and green building
Teaching Activities
- Ecology
- Food and Agriculture Issues
- Green Buildings
- Alternative and Renewable Energy Issues
- Sustainable Design Seminars
- Animal Behavior
- Conservation Biology
- Global Water Issues
- Costa Rican Natural History
Community Involvement
- At large Representative, Erie County Environmental Management Council
- Volunteer Preserve Manager, Allenberg Bog, Buffalo Audubon Society
- Trustee, Western New York Sustainable Energy Association
- Board of Trustees, Daemen College
Email: jsankoh@daemen.edu
Office Location: BC206
Phone Number: 716-839-8448
Dr. Sankoh is a graduate of SUNY-Cortland College (BA), Farleigh Dickinson University (MAIS), and the University at Buffalo-SUNY (MA, PhD). He is the founder (and past Director) of Daemen’s Academic Service Learning program. Service learning is a major element of Daemen’s academic experience for students locally, nationally, and internationally, and is a requirement of the core curriculum. Dr. Sankoh has also taught at Niagara University, the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and Medaille College.
Dr. Sankoh’s scholarly expertise focuses on the developing world. His current research interests include global comparative political studies, academic service learning, and immigrant and refugee studies. His scholarly publications have appeared in the Oxford University Forum on Public Policy, the Third World Foundation Studies Monograph, the Journal of Intercultural Disciplines, and the National Association of African American, Hispanics, & Asian Studies Monographs, among others.
In 2014, Dr. Sankoh received the Fulbright Senior Specialist Roster award, which will allow him to undertake comparative political studies and service learning projects at various overseas colleges and universities during the next five years. His current research area is “Comparative Global Genocide since World War II: Abuse of Political Power,” with case studies of the Jewish, Rwandan, Burmese, Sierra Leonean, and Sudan’s Darfur genocides. .
At Daemen, Dr. Sankoh teaches undergraduate and graduate courses relating to the developing world and community engagement. These include courses on the politics of globalization (PSC210), sustainability and third world development (PSC213), Sub-Saharan Africa (PSC/HST312), service learning for refugee studies (IND215), the history and politics of poverty and homelessness (IND233), problems of the Third World (HST230), and courses in community, nonprofit, and business leadership (LEAF507, LEAF511, and LEAF514).
Dr. Sankoh also holds a People to People Ambassadors certificate, Oxford University Forum on Public Policy certificate, Distinguished Political Science Honor Society Award, Daemen College Distinguished Administrator/Faculty Award, US. President’s Points of Light National Service Award, New York State Governor’s Community Service Award, NAACP certificate of Appreciation, and Kiwanis Club International Distinguished President’s Award, among others. He has served on various Ph.D. dissertation committees and has been a reviewer of various academic research publications and proposals in his area of expertise in comparative politics, international relations/global studies, and service learning.
Email: pmessing@daemen.edu
Office Location: 237 Duns Scotus Hall
Phone Number: 716.839.8280
Dr. Penny Messinger holds a BA in History from Marshall University and a MA and PhD in History from The Ohio State University, with specializations in women’s history, American history, and Russian history. In addition to regular teaching and advising responsibilities, Dr. Messinger oversees the program in Women's Studies, including the minor in Women's Studies, and Public History. She also coordinates Women’s History Month events at Daemen (in March). She has been elected to several terms on Daemen's Faculty Senate, as well as the Educational Policy Committee (EPC) and Core and Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS) Committee.
Research and Teaching Areas
Dr. Messinger teaches a range of classes in American history, women’s history, and women’s studies. These have included American history survey courses, American history since the 1960s, the political history of the Progressive and New Deal eras, Culture Wars, and labor history. She also teaches American women’s history, women’s studies, and senior thesis courses. Her academic research focuses on 20th century Appalachian history, the creation of Appalachian identity, and economic and cultural history. Her current research project explores the missionary presence in the Appalachian South, but she is also in the early stages of a collaborative research project (with Dr. Andrew Wise), a joint biography of Anna and Boris Reinstein. Dr. Messinger is an active member of the Appalachian Studies Association and the American Historical Association, and is on the steering committee of the Upstate New York Women’s History Organization (UNYWHO). She has also served on the Women's History Month Planning Committee for Erie County (NY).
Dr. Messinger is a faculty advisor for the History & Government Student Club and is Daemen's liaison with the American Association for University Women (AAUW; Daemen College is an institutional member). She also administers the .
Email: lparshal@daemen.edu
Office Location: 237 Duns Scotus Hall
Phone Number: 716-839-8303
Dr. Parshall completed her undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where she majored in Political Science. She received an MA and a Ph.D. in Political Science (2001) from the University at Buffalo (SUNY), specializing in American Politics, Public Law and Judicial Politics, and Public Policy. Dr. Parshall is the author and co-author of several law review articles relating to the constitutional jurisprudence of Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy (the subject of her doctoral dissertation) and reform of the presidential nominating system.
Dr. Parshall is the Secretary of the New York State Political Science Association (2013-2014), and Chair of the State and Local Politics Section (2009-2014). She was the recipient of a 2012 Hackman Research Residency Award from the New York State Archives Partnership Trust and is currently working on a related manuscript, In Local Hands: Village Government Incorporation and Dissolution in New York State. Dr. Parshall is also a Key Votes Advisor (NY) for Project Vote Smart (2013).
Dr. Parshall is a member of the Northeastern Association of Pre Law Advisors (NAPLA) and serves as a campus Pre Law Advisor.
Dr. Parshall was awarded the inaugural Richard P. Natthan Public Policy Fellowship from the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany. The fellowship is for the period of one-year (2018-2019) and comes with research/technical assistance from the experts at the RIG in support of her research on local government consolidation.
Research and Teaching Areas
American Politics: (Public Law & Judicial Politics, State and Local Politics, Election Law, Criminal Procedure, Judicial Process, Presidency and Institutions); Public Policy: (Federalism, Intergovernmental Relations)
Email:
Phone: (716) 566-7869
Office Location: DS 337
Dr. Law is an Assistant Professor of Biology that joined Daemen College in 2013. He has worked on a vast array of research projects throughout his career including monitoring biogeochemical cycling as part of a global warming study, monitoring small mammal populations at a Superfund site, tracking invertebrate recovery following hurricane disturbance, comparing ecosystem functioning in natural and created wetlands, monitoring dispersal distances of introduced trout, finding cost-effective and efficient locations for ecological preserves, and managing agricultural systems in order to enhance native granivorous invertebrate populations. Although the focus of these research experiences are varied, with study organisms ranging from plants to trout, his background centers on the common theme of monitoring and minimizing anthropogenic disturbances to the environment.
Dr. Law’s current research focuses on understanding the factors affecting weed seed predation in agricultural fields. Gaining a better understanding of invertebrate seed predation will allow for the enhancement of the granivorous invertebrate community in a way that assists in effectively controlling weeds, with a focus on soil and water conservation.
In addition to his research, Dr. Law is passionate about teaching. As a M.S. student at Texas Tech University and a Ph.D. student at Penn State University, he completed multiple courses on college-level instruction. While a Ph.D. student, he served as an NSF GK-12 Fellow gaining experience in curriculum development and student assessment. He further honed his teaching skills as a Visiting Assistant Professor at North Central College (Naperville, Illinois) before coming to Daemen.
Research Interests
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Disturbance Ecology
- Biodiversity Conservation
- Seed Ecology
Teaching Activities
- General Biology
- Plant Biology
- Ecology
- Conservation Biology
Personal Interests
- Kayaking
- Hiking
- Photography
- Camping
- Running
Adjunct Faculty
Principal Consultant at Anthesis Group, Meng, Energy Systems Engineering, BS Environmental Geosciences, BA Economics.
Mr. Lanfear has extensive experience using straw bale and other natural materials in building as well as installing green roofs on buildings.
Co-Teaches SUST 326 Green Buildings.