Meet the Team
Prevent Gun Violence: Research, Empowerment, Strategies & Solutions (PROGRESS)
Hannah Balcanoff
Undergraduate Research Assistant for PROGRESS
Hannah is a sophomore undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, seeking a double-major in Criminology and Criminal Justice, as well as Sociology. After taking Dr. Richardson’s class, “The New Jim Crow: African-American, Mass Incarceration and the Prison Industrial Complex," she was inspired to contribute to PROGRESS. Her aim is to help the initiative, working towards preventing gun violence through community intervention. Hannah’s goal is to help bring education, awareness, and solutions to the lack of mental health resources in the criminal justice system.
Timel Rodriguez, B.A.
Graduate Research Assistant for PROGRESS
Timel graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland College Park. During her undergraduate career, Timel applied data-driven approaches to analyze various types of offenses, contributed to databases, and crafted many academic essays on forensic criminology. Now, Timel has continued her journey at the University of Maryland, pursuing her master’s degree in international relations. Her commitment to delving into complex societal issues led her to join the PROGRESS initiative, where she channels her passion for community-based participatory research. In her current role, Timel engages in continuous learning, delving into gun violence prevention and intervention policies research.
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Shayla Stringfield, B.S.
Graduate Research Assistant for PROGRESS
Shayla graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Family Science from the University of Maryland, College Park. Since graduating in May of 2019, she has had the opportunity to work on research projects that include caregiver depression, housing insecurity, and implementation research. In addition to being a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES®), Shayla is a certified Community Health Worker (CHW) for the State of Maryland. Currently, her research focuses on examining various social determinants of health, specifically community violence exposure and gun violence prevention, in order to improve health outcomes for children in the D.C. Metropolitan area.
Lindsey Wood, B.S.
Graduate Research Assistant for PROGRESS
Lindsey graduated from Florida State University in May 2023, double-majoring in Communication Science and Disorders (CSD) and Spanish. In her time at FSU, Lindsey’s research focused on disproportionality of speech-language impairment rates in Florida schools according to language and ethnic background. Now, she is pursuing her Master’s of Speech Language Pathology at the University of Maryland with an emphasis on Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and Bilingual Certification. Lindsey is passionate about the intersection of speech-language pathology and the criminal justice system, and is interested in how forensic speech-language pathologists can provide interventions for youth placed at-risk for delinquency or involvement with the justice system.