Affiliated Faculty

Dr. Sabrina Danielsen

Dr. Sabrina Danielsen studies religion, social problems, environmental politics, gender, and the social construction of race. Her primary research methods are content analysis and comparative historical methods. She is currently working on an interdisciplinary research project with Dr. Dan DiLeo and student Emily Burke that compiled a groundbreaking dataset of more than 12,000 bishops’ columns in 171 Catholic dioceses. They are using content analysis to understand how American Catholic leaders have and haven’t discussed climate change in recent years. She can be reached at SabrinaDanielsen@creighton.edu.


Dr. Dan DiLeo

Dr. Dan DiLeo is the director of the Justice and Peace Studies program at Creighton. He has served as a consultant for the Catholic Climate Covenant, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C., since 2009. He recently published an article about how public theology can be informed by social science. He is working with Dr. Danielsen on a content analysis of Catholic diocese newsletters to examine the ways bishops are (and aren’t) communicating about climate change. He can be reached at DanDiLeo@creighton.edu.


Dr. Kevin Estep

Dr. Kevin Estep specializes in the quantitative analysis of publicly available data related to topics such as public health, politics, and polarization. He also has experience with qualitative interviews and content analysis. His most recent research looks at the relationship between partisanship and vaccine policy positions at the state level. An upcoming project will examine variation in compliance to social distancing recommendations following the COVID-19 outbreak. He can be reached at KevinEstep@Creighton.edu


Cathy Fox

Cathy has spent over a decade working in the field of grief and loss, grounded in trauma, child development, and family systems, with a strong background in mental health and suicide. She also has significant experience in nonprofit administration and program development. As the Field Education Director for the Social Work program, Cathy interfaces with the community to develop and supervise agency-based practicum placements for students. Cathy is available to consult in areas of grief, trauma, suicide prevention/postvention, child development, program development, and nonprofit management. She can be reached at CathyFox@Creighton.edu.


Dr. Laura Heinemann

Dr. Laura Heinemann is an associate professor of anthropology at Creighton. Her research focuses primarily on ethnographic studies of caregiving and kinship. Her most recent project examines the experiences of caregivers and patients involved in in-home care following hospitalization. She has also collaborated on projects related to social capital and refugee settlement in Omaha. She can be reached at LauraHeinemann@Creighton.edu.

Laura Heinemann

Dr. LaShaune Johnson

LaShaune Johnson is an associate professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Assistant Director at the Creighton University at Highlander space.  She uses community-based participatory research methods, arts-based methods, and qualitative methods.  Much of her work is focused on understanding role of intersecting systems of oppression on Black cancer survivors’ journeys across the cancer continuum.  She also works as a culturally-responsive, race equitable evaluator.  She can be reached at LaShauneJohnson@Creighton.edu.


Dr. Dawn Irlbeck

Dr. Dawn Irlbeck is an expert on criminal justice, policing, race, and victimization. She has experience partnering with local organizations and law enforcement agencies to conduct program evaluations and other researcher-practitioners partnerships to help reduce crime. She can be reached at DawnIrlbeck@Creighton.edu.


Dr. Eric Meyer

Dr. Eric Meyer, an Omaha native, studies behavioral change within the areas of criminal justice related to incarceration and rehabilitation. His most recent research involved an ethnography at a youth correctional facility, where he assessed the therapeutic climate available to inmates to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. He earned his Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He can be reached at EricMeyer@Creighton.edu.

Eric Meyer

Dr. Rebecca Murray

Dr. Rebecca Murray is Associate Dean for the Social and Applied Sciences. She studies wrongful conviction, victim advocacy, and the effects of place on crime. Her methodological expertise includes both quantitative methods (using statistics and mapping) and qualitative methods such as interviews and focus groups. Her most recent projects are evaluations of agencies that link employment, law enforcement, and collaborative intervention. She can be reached at RebeccaMurray@Creighton.edu.


Dr. Cristina Pop

Dr. Pop is a medical anthropologist who specializes in sexual and reproductive health and healthcare in Eastern Europe and the U.S. Her most recent project examines the changing landscapes of reproductive medicine in post-communist Romania and the ways women navigate access to care in a context of perceived reproductive vulnerability. She can be reached at CristinaPop@Creighton.edu.


Dr. Alexander Roedlach

Dr. Alex Roedlach, associate professor of anthropology, is currently the chair of the Department of Cultural and Social Studies. He has expertise in a range of qualitative (ethnography/interviewing/focus groups), quantitative (survey research), mixed methods (group concept mapping and intercultural competence assessment), and applied research methods such as participatory action research. As a medical anthropologist, he recently completed a yearlong study with CHI Health to evaluate the impact of a program on the health and wellbeing of clients.

Read more about his research on his personal website, and contact him at roedlach@creighton.edu


Dr. Ryan Wishart

Dr. Ryan Wishart studies environmental sociology, political economy, and ecology. His research has focused on the social and environmental problems associated with coal extraction in the rural Appalachian region, social movements, and elite political organization and mobilization. He recently published an article using network analysis to illustrate how fossil fuel interests were embedded into policymaking networks. He can be reached at RyanWishart@creighton.edu.


Emeritus Faculty

Dr. Pierce Greenberg

The Social Science Data Lab is an initiative started by Dr. Pierce Greenberg, now an assistant professor of sociology at Clemson University. Dr. Greenberg has expertise and experience in quantitative analysis, survey research design and methods, and spatial analysis and GIS.

He can be reached at pierceg@clemson.edu. His peer-reviewed publications can be viewed on Google Scholar.

Pierce Greenberg