Megan Augustyn has joined the College as an Associate Professor. Dr. Augustyn received her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on the study of the causes and consequences of crime, victimization, and other health-risk behaviors across the life course. Prior to joining the faculty at Florida State University, she was an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio where she was a recipient of the President’s Distinguished Achievement Award in Research from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Additionally, Dr. Augustyn brings over $1.4 million in grant funding to the college to support her research on life course criminology. Her work has been published in outlets such as Criminology, Violence Against Women, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Prevention Science, Development and Psychopathology, and Journal of Quantitative Criminology.
Keller Sheppard has joined the College as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Sheppard received his Ph.D. in Criminology and Justice Policy from Northeastern University. His research interests include police use of force, criminal investigations, juvenile risk assessments, juvenile justice violence prevention, implementation science, and trauma-informed care. Prior to joining the faculty at Florida State University, he worked as a Senior Research Analyst for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Dr. Sheppard plans on continuing to collaborate with DJJ and to work on funded research projects. His research has been published in the Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Aggression and Violent Behavior, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and the UCLA Law Review.
Nic Swagar has joined the College as a full-time research faculty member. Dr. Swagar received his Ph.D. in Criminology from Florida State University. His research interests include police-suspect encounters, suspect resistance and police use of force, neighborhoods and crime, and youth homelessness and crime. Dr. Swagar is also an advocate of developing researcher-policymaker partnerships to effectuate public safety. Prior to joining the faculty at Florida State University, Dr. Swagar was a consultant with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) where he helped collect and analyze data sets and produce professional reports and research papers. He is currently working on a $240,000 research grant from FDLE to study police-suspect interactions, traffic crime, drug crime recidivism, and the impacts of the pandemic on crime in Florida. His work has been published in American Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Policy Review, and Crime & Delinquency.