About Us

Joy Coles is a 2018 graduate of UK’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program, a member of UK’s Delta Psi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society, and a lifelong UK Chellgren Student Fellow. She currently works as an advanced practice provider on the advanced heart failure/heart transplant/mechanical circulatory support team at UK HealthCare. Joy is a Class of 2012 Chellow and serves on the Chellgren Center Advisory Board as an Alumni Board member.

Josiah Hanna is an assistant professor in the Computer Sciences Department at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. He received his Ph.D. in the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at Austin and his B.S. in computer science and mathematics at the University of Kentucky. Before joining UW--Madison, he was a post-doc at the University of Edinburgh and also spent time at FiveAI working on autonomous driving. His research interests lie in artificial intelligence, robotics, and machine learning, seeking to develop algorithms that allow autonomous agents to learn effective behaviors from their experience. In particular, he studies reinforcement learning and methods to increase the applicability of reinforcement learning to real-world use-cases. Josiah is a Class of 2011 Chellow and serves on the Chellgren Center Advisory Board as an Alumni Board member.

Lynn Roche Phillips, Ph.D., AICP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky. A geographer, certified planner, and dedicated educator, her teaching and research focus on urban and regional planning, land use, environmental management, social justice, and the geography of the thoroughbred industry. Before entering academia, she spent 17 years working as a professional planner, including serving as a county planning director. Lynn has served as a mentor in the Chellgren Center researching mentoring program and serves on the Chellgren Center Advisory Board as a faculty member.

Trenton Schroering is a University of Kentucky junior majoring in political science, with minors in law and justice and writing, rhetoric, and digital studies. In 2026, Schroering was named a Phi Beta Kappa Key into Public Service Scholar, becoming the first University of Kentucky student to receive this national recognition. His involvement in community service, civic dialogue, and public affairs reflects his interest in making a positive impact through public service. Trenton is a Class of 2025 Chellow and serves on the Chellgren Center Advisory Board as a currently enrolled student member.

Dr. Michelle Sizemore is Associate Professor of English in the College of Arts & Sciences and the Director of the Gaines Center for the Humanities. Her research focuses on the irrational features of democracy in late-eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century U.S. literature and culture. She is the author of American Enchantment: Rituals of the People in the Post-Revolutionary World (Oxford University Press, 2018) and is currently completing her second book, Irritability, which examines unpleasant political feelings in nineteenth-century American literature. She teaches courses on a range of topics, time periods, and national traditions, most recently a class on censorship called “Reading Dangerously“ and a class on the Dark Academia literary genre. Michelle has served as a mentor in the Chellgren Center research mentoring program and serves on the Chellgren Center Advisory Board as a faculty member.

Jennifer Strange, MS, serves as Senior Director of Academic Advising in the University of Kentucky’s Office of Student Success. She supports the Colleges of Health Sciences, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, and Social Work. A University of Kentucky graduate, Jennifer, earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing and a Master of Science in Higher Education while working in the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence. Jennifer is a Class of 2008 Chellow and serves on the Chellgren Center Advisory Board as an Alumni Board member.

Jason Unrine is an environmental toxicologist who joined the UK faculty in 2008.  He is professor and University Research Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment and director of the Kentucky Water Research Institute. For over 25 years, he has conducted research on the environmental chemistry and toxicology of emerging and legacy contaminants including engineered nanomaterials, trace elements, and disinfection byproducts.  He also teaches courses on chemical analysis, ecotoxicology, and global change. Jason serves on the Chellgren Center Advisory Board as a faculty member.