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Dr. Jeff Gagnon
Program Director
jgagnon@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1122, 858-534-1700Dr. Jeff Gagnon holds a doctorate in literature from UC San Diego and a Master of Education from Harvard University. Most recently he was the assistant director of the Dimensions of Culture First-Year Writing Program at UCSD, where he taught interdisciplinary writing and research courses on topics such as justice, popular culture, and the histories of social movements in U.S. culture. In his teaching career he has taught nearly every grade from 7th to the college-level, and feels most at home in college classes focused on reading, writing and critical thinking. His research interests include first-year writing pedagogy, ethics in STEM education, public writing, civic-minded education and sports and social justice movements. Originally from Massachusetts, he is an avid follower of Boston sports teams, especially the Red Sox.
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Dr. Haleema Welji
Associate Director
hwelji@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1110Dr. Haleema Welji earned her doctorate in anthropology from UC San Diego, and holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative human development from the University of Chicago and a Master of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to returning to UCSD, she taught cultural and linguistic anthropology courses in the Duke Thompson Writing Program. She received the 2020 Award for Excellence in Teaching Writing from Trinity College of Arts & Science at Duke University. Her current research focuses on social justice activism amongst young Muslim-Americans, for which she was invited into the Social Science Research Council’s Religion and the Public Sphere Summer Institute. Dr. Welji also conducts research on writing pedagogy related to themes of social justice including teaching about Islamophobia.
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Ishika Rathi
Program Coordinator
irathi@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1108, 858-534-3068Ishika Rathi holds a B.S. in Cognitive Science (Neuroscience) and a B.A. in Literature/Writing from UC San Diego. Her firsthand experience as a Warren Writing undergraduate student instilled in her a deep appreciation for the program's impact on students. Maintaining a multidisciplinary background, she conducts research on both Tourette's Syndrome and AI detection. Outside of work, she can be found writing, crocheting, or enjoying sunny San Diego.
Warren Writing Faculty
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Niall Twohig
Lecturer - WCWP 100
ntwohig@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1107, 858-534-4352Niall Twohig has an M.A. in English from Boston College and a Ph.D. in Literature from UC San Diego. He is a yoga instructor and published poet whose first book of poetry, Cosmic Dustbowl, is published through Charybdis Press. He writes and teaches to bring a lineage of systemic critique and ethical praxis to his students.
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Keith McCleary
Lecturer - WCWP 100
kmccleary@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1112, 858-534-4351Keith McCleary holds an M.F.A. in Writing from UC San Diego, and a B.F.A. in Film & Television from New York University. He has taught at UCSD since 2011 in Warren College, Sixth College, and the International Triton Transition Program. Keith's research deals with pedagogy, writing, and multimedia, and he is an author and/or contributing editor for a variety of comic books, graphic novels, journals, and anthologies.
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Mark Young
Lecturer - WCWP 100
mtyoung@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1112, 858-534-4351Mark Young earned his Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Riverside, with emphases in twentieth- and twenty-first-century literature and media. As a writer and researcher, his interests include the roles of music, nostalgia, and the fantastic in the processes of artistic creation and public remembering. As a teacher, he has worked at all levels of California’s higher education system and shares a particular interest in how mentorship drives academic innovation and the success of first-generation college students.
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Tricia Ornelas
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
trornelas@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1114Tricia Ornelas earned a master's degree in English literature from Northern Arizona University and a bachelor's degree in Psychology from San Diego State University. With her thesis and master’s emphasis on African American women’s literature, other areas of literature interest are the genre of magical realism, Hispanic literature, The Zora Canon, and anything ever written by Toni Morrison or Haruki Murakami. She is a San Diego native and with over fifteen years' experience, she has taught on several campuses throughout the city. She reaches for progressive andragogy to engage student experience and question antiquated hierarchical foundations of higher education. She enjoys live music, writing poetry, and building community.
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Natalie Susi
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
nsusi@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1109Natalie Susi received a bachelor’s degree in English education from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in English literature from San Diego State University. She has been teaching at UC San Diego for 6 years. She also has more than 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur. She founded and grew a beverage company called Bare Organic Mixers, and sold the company in 2014. Currently, outside of teaching at Warren Writing, Natalie provides conscious communication coaching to executives, entrepreneurs, and global business leaders.
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Walter Merryman
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
wmerryman@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1120Walter Merryman earned his Ph.D in Comparative Literature from University of California, Riverside, focusing on comparative readings of concepts of community and human rights in twenty-first century Anglophone Literature and Continental Philosophy. He is originally from Ohio and earned a BA and MA in English from Bowling Green State University. His past teaching experience includes teaching First-Year Writing and Writing Across the Curriculum at UC Riverside, World Literature at Moreno Valley College, and Technical Communication at University of Michigan. Having taught writing and communication in a variety of disciplinary settings, Walter teaches with an emphasis on writing as a transferable and adaptable skill useful in academic research, professional settings, and communication in general. Walter plays the drums, and from that he has learned that learning should be unafraid of failure and fun.
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Emma Uriarte
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
emuriarte@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1109Emma Uriarte holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Oregon State University, where she taught undergraduate composition and fiction writing. She earned her B.A. in English from the University of San Diego before spending three years teaching ESL in Madrid, Spain. Her current teaching interests range from alternative narrative craft to analyzing the rhetoric of discourse communities. Her writing has been published or is forthcoming in Flash Fiction Magazine, SLAB, and X-R-A-Y. When she isn’t teaching or working on creative projects, she enjoys walking around her neighborhood, befriending local cats, and doing yoga.
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Simrita Dhir
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
sidhir@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1109Simrita Dhir holds a doctorate in Comparative Literature from Panjab University, India. Later she studied Advanced Rhetoric at the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies, San Diego State University, where she explored written, spoken, and visual language and its relationship to knowledge and culture. Her research interests include American Fiction, South Asian Studies, Colonial Novel, Diaspora Studies, Post-Colonial Novel, and Subaltern Narratives. She is the author of acclaimed novels The Rainbow Acres (2018) and The Song of Distant Bulbuls (2023). She has extensive experience teaching Literature, Writing and Critical Thinking in the United States and abroad. Through all her courses, she seeks to create an equitable, inclusive and antiracist classroom environment, so that all students have the resources and support to reach their full learning potential. She enjoys gardening, swimming, poetry, and coffee.
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Emily Windham
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
ewindham@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1109Emily Windham earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a master's in history from San Diego State University. Her research focused on women's Progressive-era organizations as a form of mental health support. Emily has taught at UCSD as a Humanities TA since January 2023. She has been involved in the San Diego Community College District as well as local San Diego history programs as her family has roots in the area. She is exploring practicing mindfulness in the classroom as well as in her personal life.
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Jordan Escobar
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
joescobar@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1107Jordan Escobar holds an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis is poetry from Emerson College and a BS in Animal Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. His chapbook collection of poems, titled Men With the Throats of Birds, was published by Cutbank Books in 2023. He is the recipient of the Emerging Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club Foundation, the Djanikian Scholarship from the Adroit Journal, the Galway Kinnell Memorial Scholarship from Community of Writers, and a Fine Arts Work Center Scholarship from the City of Boston Office of Arts and Culture. In addition to UCSD, he has taught writing at Emerson College and Babson College.
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Mathew Holloway
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
mholloway@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1109Mathew B. Holloway II is an educator, artist, writer, and consultant. He is the principal of Conversations by Courage, a consulting practice dedicated to collective well-being through connecting ideas, sectors, and communities. As a scholar-practitioner and skilled storyteller, Mathew delves into social pain, care, and conflict in U.S. public affairs. He lectures at the University of California, San Diego, and serves on the boards of the San Diego Diplomacy Council and Black Men Flowers Project. Mathew is also Vice President of the Fulbright Association San Diego Chapter. As a public artist, he creates restorative and contemplative experiences that bring people together across differences. With the upcoming 250th anniversary of the U.S., his work aims to reshape the discourse on these critical issues.
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Jill Martiniuk
Lecturer - WCWP 10A/B
jmartiniuk@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1120Jill Martiniuk earned her doctorate and Master’s degree in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Virginia and holds a bachelor’s degree from Emory University in Russian Area Studies and a Master’s degree in Learning Design and Technology from the University of South Florida. She has taught in first-year writing programs at the University of Houston and the University of South Florida. She has also taught professional and technical communication at the University at Buffalo. Her current research interest centers on contemporary adaptations of Slavic folklore, and accessibility and equity in online learning spaces. She enjoys exploring new places, reading, and taking her beagle, Hank, on walks.
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Hadley Clark
TA - WCWP 10B
hgclark@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1111Hadley Clark is a Master's student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She earned her B.S. in Marine Science at California State University Monterey Bay. She then worked as a Research Assistant in a Remote Sensing Lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for 3.5 years. There she studied the spatial correlation between dimethyl sulfide (DMS) concentrations in relation to the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale abundance to eventually provide real-time location information to proximate ships to decrease right whale ship-strike fatalities. Her research at Scripps focuses on using passive acoustic technology to understand the interaction between Hawaii’s endangered false killer whale population and the local fisheries for conservation and management implementation strategies. In her free time, Hadley enjoys running, sailing and spending time with friends.
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Pedro Pimenta
TA - WCWP 10B
pnevespimenta@ucsd.edu
EBU3B 1111Pedro Neves Pimenta is a Master’s student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where his research focuses on coral ecosystems and their conservation. He earned his B.S.E in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, where he concentrated on designing technology for environmental resilience. At Scripps, Pedro is part of the coral reef engineering research group, studying ecological resilience and developing innovative engineering solutions to protect coral reefs. He is also passionate about climate advocacy and strives to integrate his scientific expertise into efforts for environmental justice. In his free time, Pedro enjoys scuba diving, photography, and spending time at the beach.
