Faculty and Staff | Montgomery College, Maryland

Psychology Department Rockville and Takoma Park/Silver Spring

Department Chair | Dept. Administrative Aides | Full-time Faculty | Part-time Faculty

Department Chair

Levena De La Rosa

MS, Howard University; BA, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Chair, Education and Psychology Department - Rockville and Takoma Park/Silver Spring

Email: levena.delarosa@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-2313

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT 218G

Biography

Levena Nash De La Rosa is a native of Los Angeles, California. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). During her undergraduate career, Professor De La Rosa participated in the Center for American Politics and Public Policy Research and Internship Program in Washington, DC where she interned at the Center for Training for Child and Family Services. This experience ultimately led to graduate-level training in Psychology at Howard University where she earned a Master of Science degree from Howard University in Psychology with a focus in Social Psychology. While there, she served as a Research Assistant at the Center for the Research of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR), a Graduate Assistant in the Office of Retention Mentoring and Support Programs and taught and assisted with several courses in the Psychology Department.

Levena Nash De La Rosa joined Montgomery College in 2012 as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Education and Social Sciences teaching courses in the area of Psychology. She has taught at both the Rockville and Takoma Park/Silver Spring campuses guiding students in their educational pursuits in various courses such as General Psychology, Human Growth and Development, Child and Adolescent Development and Social Psychology. Professor De La Rosa is also very active outside of the classroom; she enthusiastically contributes to the Montgomery College’s initiatives and special programs such as the Psychology Open Education Resource (OER) and Common Course, Structured Remote Training (SRT), Achieving the Promise Academy (ATPA) and I Am Psyched. Professor De La Rosa has received several awards for her excellence in teaching, student engagement, and scholarly pursuits. In 2018, she received the MC Part-time Faculty Teaching Award. She was awarded the MC Part-time Faculty Engagement Award as well as the Outstanding Part-time Faculty Award in 2019. Levena currently serves as Full-Time Faculty member at the Rockville Campus of Montgomery College. Professor De La Rosa is incredibly passionate about student success at Montgomery College and beyond and she seeks to be a bridge to educational opportunity for all who seek it.

Department Administrative Aides

Raana Hughson

BS, Towson University

Administrative Aide II, Department of Education and Social Sciences

Email: Raana.Hughson@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-5545

Office Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, NP 229

Educational Background

B.Scs. Mass Communication, Concentration in Strategic Public Relations, Towson University

Full-time Faculty

Psychology

Andraé L. Brown

Ph.D., Seton Hall University

Psychology Professor

Email: Andrae.Brown@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-2299

Office Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, NP 226

Educational Background

M.Ed., University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Ph.D., Seton Hall University

Elizabeth Fillion

Ph.D., Ohio University

Psychology Professor

Email: Elizabeth.Fillion@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-6157

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT 218C

Educational Background

Ph.D., Ohio University
MS, Ohio University

Bonita Parker

PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Psychology Coordinator and Professor

Email: bonita.parker@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-1399

Office Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, NP 223

Educational Background

BA, Psychology, Hampton University
MA, Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
PhD, Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Alejandra Picard

Ph.D., University of York

Psychology Professor

Email: alejandra.picard@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7466

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT 218I

Biography

Prof. Picard is currently working on a Ph.D. in Psychology, with a concentration in Comparative Cognition. Her Ph.D. thesis research is a comparative study focusing on relationship quality and cognition in two species of parrot. She has an interest in research which explores the evolution of the mind, with a particular interest in the role of social factors in the emergence of complex cognition.

Prior to attending the University of York, Prof. Picard was a full-time faculty member in the Psychology Department at Polk State College. During that time, she earned a graduate certificate in college teaching from the University of South Florida and was a recipient of the Distinguished New Faculty Award at the 23rd International Conference on Teaching and Learning.

For her M.S. degree, Prof. Picard worked with birds of prey, conducting research on hawk cognition at a wildlife rehabilitation center at Georgia Southern University. As well as being interested in animal cognition, she is interested in the application of research for the improvement of captive animal welfare. Prof. Picard also highly values travelling and study abroad experiences. She attended the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea program as an undergraduate and lived in England for two years while completing PhD course and research requirements at the University of York.

Educational Background

BA, Bard College at Simon's Rock, Philosophy, Religion, and Theory
MS, Georgia Southern University, Experimental Psychology
PhD, University of York, Psychology, Comparative Cognition

Courses Typically Taught

PSYC 102 General Psychology
PSYC 203 Human Growth and Development During the Life Span
PSYC 214 Child Psychology

Selected Conference Presentations

Picard, A. (2014, March). Social learning in orange-winged Amazon parrots. Poster to be presented at the International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, Florida.

Picard, A. (2013, January). Relationship quality and cognition in parrots. Paper presented at the Scottish Primate Society conference, Montrose, Scotland.

Picard, A. (2011, April). Preparing students to thrive in the global community. Paper presented at the International Conference of Teaching and Learning, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Frances Raphael-Howell

Ph.D. Clark University

Psychology Professor

Email: frances.raphael-howell@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-1644

Office Location: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, NP 222

Educational Background

Ph.D. Clark University
MA Clark University

Nichole Thomas

Ph.D., Walden University

Psychology Professor

Email: Nichole.Thomas@MontgomeryCollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-2371

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT 218F

Educational Background

Ph.D., Walden University
MA, City University of New York

Pamela Trotter

Ph.D., Kent State University

Psychology Professor

Email: Pamela.Trotter@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-2368

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT 218E

Educational Background

Ph.D., Kent State University
MA, Kent State University

Part-time Faculty

Oritsegububemi Ayu

Ph.D., Howard University; M.S., Howard University; B.S., Bowie State University

Part-Time Psychology Professor

Email: oritsegububemi.ayu@montgomerycollege.edu

Biography

Dr. Ayu is a part time Psychology faculty at Montgomery College and a full-time lecturer in the Psychology Department at Howard University. She received her B.S. in Psychology from Bowie State University and both the M.S. and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Howard University. Since then, she has served as an adjunct professor where she has taught numerous undergraduate courses in core areas including Cross Cultural Psychology, Health Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Abnormal Psychology. In addition, she is one of the core faculty instructors for the large Introduction to Psychology courses, which allows her to interact with hundreds of students per semester from all majors across the university. Dr. Ayu’s primary area of research involves examining psychosocially toxic environments, otherwise known as PTEs (poverty, violence, discrimination, trauma, etc.) and their impact on psychosocial factors among marginalized youth, particularly those in out of home care. Her culturally responsive approach to research extends to the classroom, where she connects lived experiences and theoretical concepts to offer a contemporary style toward teaching psychology. Students often comment on how her learning-focused instructional style assists them in enhancing their knowledge in areas beyond the classroom, shaping their approach to life after graduation.