The Pleasure Study Fellows
Alexus Martinez
Alexus is working towards licensure as a marriage and family therapist, specializing in sex therapy. Alexus received their BA in Psychology along with an LGBT Studies certificate from Arizona State University. They hold a MA in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family therapy from Pepperdine University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Human Sexuality from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Alexus’ dissertation focuses on the lived experiences and gender make-up of individuals whose gender expands beyond the binary.
Alexus can be reached at @renegadelovetherapy or [email protected]
Aisha Abimbola Adaranijo
Ayesha can be reached at [email protected]
Allison Grossman
Allison can be reached at [email protected]
Andrea Lewis
Andrea can be reached at [email protected]
Athanasia Platis
Athanasia is a current PhD candidate in Sociology at Georgia State University. Her research focuses on menstruation, sex work, and gendered experiences of medical practices. Beyond sociology, Athanasia is working towards a Public Health graduate certificate, educating others on the tampon tax, and menstrual stigma, as well as performing public sociology via burlesque.
Athanasia can be reached at [email protected]
Brittany Brashear
Brittany is a psychology PhD candidate at the University of West Georgia. She also holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Chatham University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duquesne University. Her dissertation focuses on genderqueer and nonbinary millennials’ use of cultural resources and experiences with gender discourse. Other research interests include identity formation and the history of gender and sex.
Brittany can be reached at [email protected]
Daniel Copulsky
Daniel Copulsky is a Ph.D. student in Social Psychology at the University of California Santa Cruz. His research is focused on nonmonogamy, asexuality and ace spectrum identities, and sexual identity labels. Daniel's writing on intersections between asexual and polyamory communities is available in the Journal of Positive Sexuality and the anthology Expanding the Rainbow. He is currently working on a project about the experiences of people in nonmonogamous relationships during the COVID pandemic. Daniel also serves on the board of directors for the Center for Positive Sexuality.
Daniel can be reached at [email protected]
Draven L. Alexander
Draven L. Alexander is at their most energetic when providing education surrounding Trauma and Systemic Trauma, Consent, Sexuality Studies, Pleasure Activism, Polyamory & BDSM, and Social justice. Draven is a trauma processing therapist who finds passion in supporting people to learn and explore their responses to behaviors from an eclectic mixture of intersectionality, decolonizing trauma-work, and embodied experiences. Draven a life-long learner with a BA in Psychology and a M.Ed. in Counseling from University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Draven is also currently working on their Ph.D. in Human Sexuality through the California Institute of Integral Studies, while simultaneously pursuing an AASECT Sexuality Educator Certification.
Draven can be reached at
Emily Owens-Edington
Emily is a doctoral student at California Institute of Integral Studies in Human Sexuality. Her studies focus on comprehensive sexuality education in the United States and the need to be inclusive, affirming, and intersectional in all Health Education content. She has also been a Health Educator for the last 15 years in K-12, university, start-up, and corporate settings with a focus on content development that is applicable to all learners and all identities. Her current role as a Health Education Instructional Coach allows her the opportunity to provide educators across New York City with professional development experiences that increase student engagement through skills-based instruction. Emily also leads Health Ed professional learning communities where PreK-12 educators of Health, Physical Education, and Wellness professionals share their expertise and resources in an attempt to overcome the barriers of poverty, racism, environmental injustice, and in their school communities.
Emily can be reached at [email protected]
Erielle Jones
Erielle can be reached at [email protected]
Heather Tillewein
Heather Tillewein is the Communications Chair for the LGBTQ Health Caucus for the American Public Health Association. She also serves on the executive committee and on the policy committee for the LGBTQ Health Caucus. Dr. Tillewein also is a Harvard Fellow and is an associate editor for the Harvard Public Health Review. She holds a PhD in Health Education from Southern Illinois University and holds an MPH and BHS from the University of Missouri. Currently, Dr. Tillewein works as an adjunct professor for Austin Peay State University. Her research focuses on health barriers among sexual identity and gender identity populations. Dr. Tillewein also focuses on sexual health and mental health in her research.
Heather can be reached at [email protected]
Javay Frye-Nekrasova
Javay Frye-Nekrasova, M.Ed, also known as The Millennial Sexpert, is a sex educator, sexologist, and pleasure expert. She earned her BA in Media Arts & Design and BS in Hospitality Management from James Madison University. After graduating she began working in the entertainment industry and that was when she developed her passion for sex education. She decided to combine her passion for media and sex education. She earned her Masters of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University. She is a first year in the Human Sexuality PhD program at California Institute of Integral Studies. Javay plans to focus her research on sex work. She has worked in the sexuality profession for years. Her goal as a sex educator is free, comprehensive, inclusive sex education for all. She continuously works towards that goal by combining her media and sex education experience with her sex education webseries, In Bed With a Millennial, which is available on YouTube and IGTV.
Javay can be reached at [email protected]
Jennifer L. Roll
Jennifer L. Roll (she/her/hers) is a first year social work doctoral student at Walden University. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Social Work from Ashland University in 2015 and a Masters of Social Work from Walden University in 2017. Jennifer is a Licensed Independent Social Worker and Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor in the state of Ohio and works as a School Based Mental Health Therapist for South Community, a non-profit in Dayton, Ohio. Her research interests include experiences of marginalized identities, specifically people assigned female at birth with autism and gender variant populations, particularly in the therapy setting.
Jennifer can be reached at [email protected]
Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk
Dr. Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk is a Métis researcher and full-time Instructor at Medicine Hat College in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She has a doctorate in sociology from the University of Calgary where she studied homelessness, housing, health, and identity and a masters in sociology where she studied gender, religion, and paid employment. Her current work focuses on decolonization of identity and the ways in which Métis people negotiate reconnection and identity in their day-to-day lives. Additionally, she has extensively studied poverty and homelessness and the ways in which social support changes during major life events. Alongside her academic work, Kristen engages in community service and scholar-activism, offering her expertise to numerous non-profit organizations specializing in homelessness and housing.
Kristen can be reached at [email protected]
Laura Blauenstein
Laura achieved a Bachelor of Psychology and a Master of Social Work at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is currently working towards licensure as a clinical social worker. She has a background in working with diverse individuals across various settings and with the broader community to promote overall well being. Laura is passionate about critical sexuality studies and strives to apply her sexuality knowledge research into her practice. Laura has many research interests. Her dissertation interests focus on the relationship between communication and attitudinal and personality traits.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurablauenstein/
Instagram: @sexologistlaurablauenstein
Facebook: sexologistlaurablauenstein
Laura can be reached at [email protected]
Lisa Owens
Lisa can be reached at [email protected]
Melanie Reyes
Melanie Reyes, M.A., is pursuing an Experimental Psychology Ph.D. with a Social Psychology concentration at Saint Louis University. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Melanie received an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Florida State University and a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Northern Iowa. Melanie currently conducts research in the Applied Social Psychology lab with her advisor Eddie Clark. Broadly, Melanie investigates predictors of satisfying sexual and romantic relationships, relationship maintenance strategies, and relationship dissolution. Melanie is especially interested in how romantic couples’ communication strategies and sexual satisfaction influence their relational satisfaction. In the future, Melanie hopes to continue developing her program of research by pursuing a career in academia.
Melanie can be reached at [email protected].
Mira Cantrick
Mira can be reached at [email protected]
Nili Gesser
Nili can be reached at [email protected]
Popy Begum
Popy Begum (she/her/hers) is a doctoral student at the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University-Newark, New Jersey. She graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City with a B.A. in International Criminal Justice, and earned the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Research Methods) from the Centre for Criminology, Oxford University in England. Her research broadly focuses on the intersection of race, ethnicity, religion, gender and crime. She has explored the experiences of victims and survivors in forced marriages in the United Kingdom and United States, the role of West African women in human trafficking networks, and most recently, for her dissertation, she conducted a mixed-methods study of Muslim and Hindu sex workers in New Delhi, India using participant observations and in-depth interviews via Respondent-driven Sampling. Her research has been supported and recognized by the Howard League for Penal Reform, the American Society of Criminology, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, the Association of Doctoral Programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice, the Association for the Sociology of Religion, the Religious Research Association, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Popy’s work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, including Trends in Organized Crime, Social Policy and Society, and edited volumes published by Oxford and Cambridge University Presses. She teaches a range of criminal justice courses, including Gender, Crime and Justice, International Criminal Justice, and Crime and Delinquency in Asia at John Jay College and Rutgers University. Recently, Popy was nominated by her undergraduate and graduate students and awarded the Teaching Excellence and Mentoring Awards at John Jay College.
Popy can be reached at [email protected].
Qiyao Pan
Qiyao can be reached at [email protected]
Sally Johnston
Sally Johnston is a doctoral student in the Human Sexuality Department at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Her primary research interests are non-monogamous relationships structures and orientations, as well as eroticism and pleasure for womxn and sexual minorities.
Sally can be reached at [email protected]
Sal ryman
Sal can be reached at [email protected]
Sarah Steele
Sarah can be reached at [email protected]
Shea Graham
Shea can be reached at [email protected]
Alexus Martinez
Alexus is working towards licensure as a marriage and family therapist, specializing in sex therapy. Alexus received their BA in Psychology along with an LGBT Studies certificate from Arizona State University. They hold a MA in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family therapy from Pepperdine University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Human Sexuality from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Alexus’ dissertation focuses on the lived experiences and gender make-up of individuals whose gender expands beyond the binary.
Alexus can be reached at @renegadelovetherapy or [email protected]
Aisha Abimbola Adaranijo
Ayesha can be reached at [email protected]
Allison Grossman
Allison can be reached at [email protected]
Andrea Lewis
Andrea can be reached at [email protected]
Athanasia Platis
Athanasia is a current PhD candidate in Sociology at Georgia State University. Her research focuses on menstruation, sex work, and gendered experiences of medical practices. Beyond sociology, Athanasia is working towards a Public Health graduate certificate, educating others on the tampon tax, and menstrual stigma, as well as performing public sociology via burlesque.
Athanasia can be reached at [email protected]
Brittany Brashear
Brittany is a psychology PhD candidate at the University of West Georgia. She also holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Chatham University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duquesne University. Her dissertation focuses on genderqueer and nonbinary millennials’ use of cultural resources and experiences with gender discourse. Other research interests include identity formation and the history of gender and sex.
Brittany can be reached at [email protected]
Daniel Copulsky
Daniel Copulsky is a Ph.D. student in Social Psychology at the University of California Santa Cruz. His research is focused on nonmonogamy, asexuality and ace spectrum identities, and sexual identity labels. Daniel's writing on intersections between asexual and polyamory communities is available in the Journal of Positive Sexuality and the anthology Expanding the Rainbow. He is currently working on a project about the experiences of people in nonmonogamous relationships during the COVID pandemic. Daniel also serves on the board of directors for the Center for Positive Sexuality.
Daniel can be reached at [email protected]
Draven L. Alexander
Draven L. Alexander is at their most energetic when providing education surrounding Trauma and Systemic Trauma, Consent, Sexuality Studies, Pleasure Activism, Polyamory & BDSM, and Social justice. Draven is a trauma processing therapist who finds passion in supporting people to learn and explore their responses to behaviors from an eclectic mixture of intersectionality, decolonizing trauma-work, and embodied experiences. Draven a life-long learner with a BA in Psychology and a M.Ed. in Counseling from University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Draven is also currently working on their Ph.D. in Human Sexuality through the California Institute of Integral Studies, while simultaneously pursuing an AASECT Sexuality Educator Certification.
Draven can be reached at
Emily Owens-Edington
Emily is a doctoral student at California Institute of Integral Studies in Human Sexuality. Her studies focus on comprehensive sexuality education in the United States and the need to be inclusive, affirming, and intersectional in all Health Education content. She has also been a Health Educator for the last 15 years in K-12, university, start-up, and corporate settings with a focus on content development that is applicable to all learners and all identities. Her current role as a Health Education Instructional Coach allows her the opportunity to provide educators across New York City with professional development experiences that increase student engagement through skills-based instruction. Emily also leads Health Ed professional learning communities where PreK-12 educators of Health, Physical Education, and Wellness professionals share their expertise and resources in an attempt to overcome the barriers of poverty, racism, environmental injustice, and in their school communities.
Emily can be reached at [email protected]
Erielle Jones
Erielle can be reached at [email protected]
Heather Tillewein
Heather Tillewein is the Communications Chair for the LGBTQ Health Caucus for the American Public Health Association. She also serves on the executive committee and on the policy committee for the LGBTQ Health Caucus. Dr. Tillewein also is a Harvard Fellow and is an associate editor for the Harvard Public Health Review. She holds a PhD in Health Education from Southern Illinois University and holds an MPH and BHS from the University of Missouri. Currently, Dr. Tillewein works as an adjunct professor for Austin Peay State University. Her research focuses on health barriers among sexual identity and gender identity populations. Dr. Tillewein also focuses on sexual health and mental health in her research.
Heather can be reached at [email protected]
Javay Frye-Nekrasova
Javay Frye-Nekrasova, M.Ed, also known as The Millennial Sexpert, is a sex educator, sexologist, and pleasure expert. She earned her BA in Media Arts & Design and BS in Hospitality Management from James Madison University. After graduating she began working in the entertainment industry and that was when she developed her passion for sex education. She decided to combine her passion for media and sex education. She earned her Masters of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University. She is a first year in the Human Sexuality PhD program at California Institute of Integral Studies. Javay plans to focus her research on sex work. She has worked in the sexuality profession for years. Her goal as a sex educator is free, comprehensive, inclusive sex education for all. She continuously works towards that goal by combining her media and sex education experience with her sex education webseries, In Bed With a Millennial, which is available on YouTube and IGTV.
Javay can be reached at [email protected]
Jennifer L. Roll
Jennifer L. Roll (she/her/hers) is a first year social work doctoral student at Walden University. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Social Work from Ashland University in 2015 and a Masters of Social Work from Walden University in 2017. Jennifer is a Licensed Independent Social Worker and Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor in the state of Ohio and works as a School Based Mental Health Therapist for South Community, a non-profit in Dayton, Ohio. Her research interests include experiences of marginalized identities, specifically people assigned female at birth with autism and gender variant populations, particularly in the therapy setting.
Jennifer can be reached at [email protected]
Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk
Dr. Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk is a Métis researcher and full-time Instructor at Medicine Hat College in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She has a doctorate in sociology from the University of Calgary where she studied homelessness, housing, health, and identity and a masters in sociology where she studied gender, religion, and paid employment. Her current work focuses on decolonization of identity and the ways in which Métis people negotiate reconnection and identity in their day-to-day lives. Additionally, she has extensively studied poverty and homelessness and the ways in which social support changes during major life events. Alongside her academic work, Kristen engages in community service and scholar-activism, offering her expertise to numerous non-profit organizations specializing in homelessness and housing.
Kristen can be reached at [email protected]
Laura Blauenstein
Laura achieved a Bachelor of Psychology and a Master of Social Work at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is currently working towards licensure as a clinical social worker. She has a background in working with diverse individuals across various settings and with the broader community to promote overall well being. Laura is passionate about critical sexuality studies and strives to apply her sexuality knowledge research into her practice. Laura has many research interests. Her dissertation interests focus on the relationship between communication and attitudinal and personality traits.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurablauenstein/
Instagram: @sexologistlaurablauenstein
Facebook: sexologistlaurablauenstein
Laura can be reached at [email protected]
Lisa Owens
Lisa can be reached at [email protected]
Melanie Reyes
Melanie Reyes, M.A., is pursuing an Experimental Psychology Ph.D. with a Social Psychology concentration at Saint Louis University. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Melanie received an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Florida State University and a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Northern Iowa. Melanie currently conducts research in the Applied Social Psychology lab with her advisor Eddie Clark. Broadly, Melanie investigates predictors of satisfying sexual and romantic relationships, relationship maintenance strategies, and relationship dissolution. Melanie is especially interested in how romantic couples’ communication strategies and sexual satisfaction influence their relational satisfaction. In the future, Melanie hopes to continue developing her program of research by pursuing a career in academia.
Melanie can be reached at [email protected].
Mira Cantrick
Mira can be reached at [email protected]
Nili Gesser
Nili can be reached at [email protected]
Popy Begum
Popy Begum (she/her/hers) is a doctoral student at the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University-Newark, New Jersey. She graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City with a B.A. in International Criminal Justice, and earned the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Research Methods) from the Centre for Criminology, Oxford University in England. Her research broadly focuses on the intersection of race, ethnicity, religion, gender and crime. She has explored the experiences of victims and survivors in forced marriages in the United Kingdom and United States, the role of West African women in human trafficking networks, and most recently, for her dissertation, she conducted a mixed-methods study of Muslim and Hindu sex workers in New Delhi, India using participant observations and in-depth interviews via Respondent-driven Sampling. Her research has been supported and recognized by the Howard League for Penal Reform, the American Society of Criminology, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, the Association of Doctoral Programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice, the Association for the Sociology of Religion, the Religious Research Association, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Popy’s work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, including Trends in Organized Crime, Social Policy and Society, and edited volumes published by Oxford and Cambridge University Presses. She teaches a range of criminal justice courses, including Gender, Crime and Justice, International Criminal Justice, and Crime and Delinquency in Asia at John Jay College and Rutgers University. Recently, Popy was nominated by her undergraduate and graduate students and awarded the Teaching Excellence and Mentoring Awards at John Jay College.
Popy can be reached at [email protected].
Qiyao Pan
Qiyao can be reached at [email protected]
Sally Johnston
Sally Johnston is a doctoral student in the Human Sexuality Department at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Her primary research interests are non-monogamous relationships structures and orientations, as well as eroticism and pleasure for womxn and sexual minorities.
Sally can be reached at [email protected]
Sal ryman
Sal can be reached at [email protected]
Sarah Steele
Sarah can be reached at [email protected]
Shea Graham
Shea can be reached at [email protected]