Baylor Connections

Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa

Dr. Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa is a leading expert on religion across Latin America and the Global South. He joined the Baylor faculty at the start of the 2019-20 season after managing the Pew Research Center’s religious demography projects. In this Baylor Connections, he paints a picture of the impact of religion on Latin American life and culture and shares his Baylor journey.

Amanda Hering

Dr. Amanda Hering applies her statistical expertise to a "once in a generation effort" to improve water treatment in the U.S. Hering, associate professor of statistical science, is an internationally-recognized leader in data sciences and their intersection with the environment. In this Baylor Connections, she shares about how data can help us utilize new paradigms of water treatment and delivery and examines the need for students trained in the data sciences in the years ahead.

Linda Olafsen

Dr. Linda Olafsen, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, researches semiconductors for a variety of applications from her lab in the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative. In this Baylor Connections, she shares how her research advances the search for lasers and other products that are more safe, useful and efficient, and talks about the impact of Baylor’s Tier 1 research vision in the School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Alan Schultz

Alan Schultz’s research takes him deep into the Amazon rainforests of Bolivia, where he studies the Tsimane’, an indigenous people group who have lived a pre-industrial forager-farmer lifestyle for generations. In this Baylor Connections, Schultz, an assistant professor of anthropology, examines the forces of change on the Tsimane’. As the outside world encroaches on their traditional lifestyle, he shares the impact on community, health, families and more.

Robert Darden

Baylor University’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project houses more than 14,000 digital copies of classic black gospel music songs and albums, preserving them for future generations. In this Baylor Connections, Robert Darden, Professor of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media and founder of the Project, shares how black gospel music tells the story of the African-American experience through the generations and examines its underappreciated role in the Civil Rights movement.

President Linda Livingstone and Jason Cook

Baylor University recently partnered with Texas Business Journals for a survey highlighting the insights of Texas business leaders into the state’s economy and attitudes towards industry-university research partnerships. In this Baylor Connections, President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., and Jason Cook, Vice President for Marketing and Communications and Chief Marketing officer, analyze the results and share how Baylor’s research focus drives innovation, uncovers solutions and prepares leaders for the future workforce.

Stephen Reid

Biblical scholar Stephen Reid’s research is an example of the ways modern technology can give voice to individuals who might otherwise go unheard. Dr. Reid, Professor of Christian Scriptures in Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, recently utilized text mining to learn how African-Americans in the 1700s and 1800s interpreted the book of Deuteronomy. Inside University Libraries, Baylor Digital Scholarship offers powerful technologies to enhance research in the digital humanities. Learn more about how Reid’s experience accelerated his research and provided deep insight into the ways African-Americans shared the Bible on the path to emancipation.

Annie Ginty

Stress, and its impact on health, is the broad focus of Annie Ginty’s work. Dr. Ginty, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor, is an Association for Psychological Science Rising Star whose research bridges understanding of the ways the mind and body react to stress. In this Baylor Connections, Ginty defines stress, shares tips for recognizing the body’s response to stress and offers practical approaches to managing the unique stressors that listeners face.