Our Team
Adam Gismondi, Ph.D.
Director, National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement
617-627-4405
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Adam Gismondi, Ph.D., serves as Director of the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement ("N-solve" or NSLVE), the largest study of college student voting in the nation. Adam formerly served as Director of Impact at the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE). Adam leads the NSLVE team, along with partnerships for the office, communications, and theory-to-practice resources, and has co-authored NSLVE's major national research reports on college student voting and recommendations for practice. His research includes work on democracy, digital platforms, and education, and his doctoral dissertation focused on how college student social media use impacts student civic learning and engagement. Adam also currently serves as an advisory board member for SXSWedu, civic media researcher for Civic Series, and recently finished two terms as president of the William & Mary Alumni Boston Chapter. Prior to working in a research capacity, Adam spent six years working as a student affairs administrator at both the University of Florida and Florida State University. He holds a B.A. in sociology from William & Mary, an M.Ed. in student personnel in higher education from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in higher education from Boston College.
Duy Trinh
Program Manager, National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement
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Duy is Program Manager for NSLVE and is responsible for building, maintaining, and managing campus relationships with the 1,200+ campuses participating in NSLVE. This includes responding to questions from campuses about their NSLVE reports, advising on ways to understand and use NSLVE reports and data, finding and using our resources and tools, and managing thousands of campus contacts, the newsletter, and the mailing list. She holds an M.S. from Northeastern University and B.A. from Connecticut College.
Victoria Tse
Outreach and Data Analysis Specialist, National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement
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Victoria is the Outreach and Data Analysis Specialist at NSLVE. Her role gives her the opportunity to be involved in data analysis and the creation of data visualizations as well as recruitment and communications with NSLVE campuses. Coming from a quantitative social science background, Victoria is interested in the intersection of quantitative research and community building and engagement. She holds a B.A. from Smith College in Economics and an M.A. in International Economics from The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mari German
Outreach and Resource Specialist, National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement
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Mari is the Outreach and Resource Specialist for the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) at Tisch College. She supports the communication, outreach, and impact needs for the team and is involved in the campus reauthorization and recruitment processes for NSLVE. Her background is DEIJ, community and higher education focused. Prior to joining the team, she was a Mentor/Trainer at The Posse Foundation which brought her full circle as a Posse Scholar. Mari holds a double B.A. in Africana and Hispanic Studies from Hamilton College.
Part-Time Team Members
Katherine Pinney
Program Assistant for Research
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Katherine is the Program Assistant to Research, supporting CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), and the Tisch College Community Research Center (TCRC) in an administrative capacity. She’s also involved with various projects and research with the teams. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Westfield State University.
Affiliated Scholars
Scholars (temporary and part-time) working with NSLVE to advance knowledge about student learning for and institutional engagement in democracy. For more information, email nslve@tufts.edu.
Dr. Nancy Thomas
Senior Advisor to the President for Democracy Initiatives and Executive Director of IDHE at AAC&U
Dr. Nancy Thomas founded the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University as the home for the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (“n-solve” or NSLVE). She now serves as the Senior Advisor to the President for Democracy Initiatives and Executive Director of IDHE at AAC&U. Her research interests and advocacy include student learning for and institutional engagement in democracy, student voter participation, access, and equity, campus climates for student political learning and participation, controversial discussions in and beyond the classroom, free speech and inclusion, academic freedom, and higher education’s role in democracy in question. She is the author or editor of multiple book chapters, papers, articles, and collections, including the monograph, Educating for Deliberative Democracy. Dr. Thomas holds her undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University, a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to being a devoted mom of two great (all grown up) kids, she is an avid kayaker, skier, and anything else outdoors.
Matt Nelsen, Ph.D.
Affiliated Scholar
Assistant Professor, Political Science
University of Miami
Matt Nelsen is an assistant professor within the Department of Political Science at the University of Miami. His research examines how local-level institutions, especially schools and neighborhoods, act as microcosms of democracy. He finds that these institutions can simultaneously serve as sites that exacerbate existing racial inequalities while also holding the potential to foster agency and equal political voice. He investigates these roles and their effects on political participation by leveraging multiple methodological approaches, including lab-in-the-field experiments, survey data, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and archival research. Matt's research is featured in a number of publications, including Perspectives on Politics, Political Behavior, the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, the Washington Post, and GenForward's Race and Place: Young Adults and the Future of Chicago. His book, which examines how to make civic education courses more empowering for racially marginalized youth, is forthcoming at Oxford University Press.
Matt received his PhD in Political Science from Northwestern University in June of 2020 and previously obtained a MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and BAs in Political Science and Asian Studies from St. Olaf College.
Amanda L. Wintersieck, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
Virginia Commonwealth University
Amanda L. Wintersieck, Ph.D., is an associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research interests lie in political behavior and political communication. Specifically, she is interested in the effects of political campaigns on voters’ evaluations of candidates, on the role the media plays in citizen’s vote choice and the conditions that advantage a candidate’s campaign. Her current research focuses on the role of news media and the impact of the electoral context in political campaigns. She pursues these interests utilizing a multi-methodological approach, including experiments, surveys and content analysis.
Her work has appeared in the Political Communication, American Politics Research, Politics, Groups, and Identities, The Praeger Handbook of Political Campaigning in the United States, The Politics of Truth in Polarized America, and The London School of Economics American Politics and Policy Blog. Professor Wintersieck teaches undergraduate courses on political behavior, public opinion, research design, American government, campaigns and elections, and the media and politics.