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Family and Child Studies Faculty

David J. Atencio

David J. Atencio

Associate Professor
Education: Ph.D., Stanford University
Email: atencio1@unm.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

  • Development of Self Regulation & Motivation
  • Executive Functioning and Mindfulness
  • Professional dispositions & responsiveness

Courses Taught (Selected:

  • FCS 305: Research and evaluation in family and child studies
  • FCS 502: Developmental issues in families: Infancy & early childhood
  • FCS 503: Seminar in human growth and development
  • FCS 546: Family Systems Theory

David J. Atencio is an Associate Professor in the Department of Individual Family & Community Education in the College of Education. As a New Mexico native, graduate of UNM’s Psychology Department, and Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, David considers himself fortunate to be a member of the College of Education faculty since 1998. David’s research focuses on the development of self-regulation, motivation, and mindfulness in young children. He has provided national and state leadership in improving professional development systems for early care, early education, and family support professionals. Together with his wife and daughter, he is a music minister in his church, a role he has held since he was in seventh grade.

Alexandra Nicole Davis

Alexandra Nicole Davis

Associate Professor
Education: Ph.D., University of Missouri
Email: alexdavis@unm.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

  • Sociocultural values
  • Family and Life Stressors
  • Prosocial and moral development
  • Parent-youth relationships

Courses Taught:

  • FCS 105: Introduction to Family Studies
  • FCS 315: Adolescent Development in the Family

Alexandra Davis received her PhD from the University of Missouri in 2016 in Human Development and Family Science. She has been involved in research projects examining sociocultural and contextual factors related to positive functioning, including family relationships and prosocial/moral development, among ethnic minority and low-SES youth and adolescents.

She loves to travel and spend time with friends and family. She is also a sports fan and enjoys playing basketball in her free time.

Ziarat Hossain

Ziarat Hossain

Professor
Education: Ph.D., Syracuse University
Email: zhossain@unm.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

  • Fathers
  • Gender Roles
  • International Families
  • Multicultural Issues
  • Parent-Child Relationships

Courses Taught (Selected):

  • FCS 412: Fathering
  • FCS 484: The Sociocultural Context of Children and Families
  • FCS 517: Family Interaction Theories

Ziarat Hossain is a Professor of Family and Child Studies and Regents’ Lecturer at the University of New Mexico. He teaches developmental, theoretical, and cross-cultural courses in Family and Child Studies. His research systematically documents patterns of fathers’ involvement in the family across cultural communities. He is a former Society for Cross-Cultural Research president and Fulbright Scholar. He enjoys traveling and music.

Ryan J. Kelly

Ryan J. Kelly

Associate Professor and FCS Graduate Program Coordinator
Education: Ph.D., Auburn University
Email: ryankelly@unm.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

  • Sleep and Development
  • Family Risk
  • Sociocultural Context
  • Risk and Resilience Mechanisms

Courses Taught (Selected):

  • FCS 213: Marriage and Family Relationships
  • FCS 570: Research Methods

Ryan J. Kelly earned a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from Auburn University. His research has focused on the influence that family (e.g., marital and parent-child aggression, parental alcohol use, parental psychopathology) and romantic relationship risk (e.g., dating violence) has on youth health and development over time with a specific focus on sleep. A second line of work has focused on health disparities and understanding the extent to which the negative consequences of risk exposure varies by ethnicity and socioeconomic status. His research is multidisciplinary in nature and has drawn from disciplines including child development, family studies, pediatric sleep medicine, and health psychology.

Ryan enjoys spending time with his wife, Jessica as well as exercising, attending Lobo sporting events, and searching for small family-owned restaurants in Albuquerque.

Ashley Martin-Cuellar

Ashley Martin-Cuellar

Visiting Lecturer III
Education: Ph.D. in Family Studies, The University of New Mexico
Email: acuellar@unm.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

  • Clinician resilience
  • Compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction
  • Trauma-informed parenting education

Courses Taught:

  • Family Resource Management
  • Ecological Aspects of Family Housing

I am interested in mental health clinicians with a personal history of trauma and how this history impacts their experience with compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Additionally, in my work as a Marriage and Family Therapist, I am interested in trauma-informed care and specifically, with trauma-informed parenting education, including the impact trauma has on parenting practices. Aging and Adulthood

Chelsea T. Morris

Chelsea T. Morris

Assistant Professor
Education: Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning, University of Miami
Email: ctmorris@unm.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

  • Early childhood/EC special education
  • EC professionalization and system improvement
  • Exclusionary discipline/EC Suspension and Expulsion
  • Community resilience/EC trauma responses
Maria Elena Cecilia Salazar

Maria Elena Cecilia Salazar

Lecturer III
Education: Ph.D., New Mexico State University
Email: espanola@unm.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

  • Early Childhood Education
  • Literacy
  • Children’s Literature
  • Students of New Mexico’s Public Schools

Courses Taught:

  • FCS 115: Guiding Young Children
  • FCS 402: Teaching and Learning: Reading and Writing
  • FCS 440L: Student Teaching in Early Childhood Education
  • FCS 484: Sociocultural Context of Families

Maria Elena Salazar is a Lecturer III in the College of Education & Human Sciences, Department of Individual Family & Community Education. Her scholarly interests have been guided by her experiences as a student, educator of preschool through graduate students, and mother of children in New Mexico’s public schools and institutions of higher learning. She is passionate about utilizing culturally relevant literature and curriculum with students of all ages, and feels literacy in its many forms are gateways to academic success. During her free time she enjoys cooking and visiting the many historical and recreational sites across New Mexico and the greater Southwest.

Cara Streit

Cara Streit

Assistant Professor
Education: Ph.D., University of Missouri
Email: cestreit@unm.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

  • parent-child and sibling relationships
  • prosocial behaviors
  • social cognitions and emotions
  • cultural values

Courses Taught (Selected):

  • FCS 313: Family Theories
  • FCS 484: Sociocultural Context of Families

Broadly, my research focuses on how family and cultural processes influence prosocial and moral development in ethnic minority children and adolescents. My work examines the generalizability of traditional models of prosocial and moral behaviors across different cultures and considers mothers, fathers, and siblings as socialization agents of youth’s prosocial behaviors. In addition, I explore how cultural values are transmitted from one generation to the next and the role of cultural mechanisms in positive youth development.

In my free time, I enjoy going to baseball games, spending time with family and friends, and exploring local coffee shops and breweries.

Emeritus Faculty

Cathy Gutierrez-Gomez

Frank Kessel

Estella A. Martinez

Mary Smith