Meet the Team
We welcome faculty to reach out to us directly. If you are interested in corporate research opportunities – either as faculty or a potential partner – feel free to reach out to Kim, Brian, or Kaushik.
Kim J. Patten, MS
Kim Patten is Assistant Vice President for Research Development, at the University of Arizona. She leads a team of research development professionals that excel in supporting faculty in their pursuit of extramural funding from federal, corporate, and foundation sponsors resulting in more than $300 million in awards to campus since 2014. Part of this success is based on a holistic view of research development and the research lifecycle with an emphasis on the societal impacts of research such as the incorporation and promotion of undergraduate research experiences, core community partnerships, and inclusive practices. Prior to joining UA, Patten managed projects and programs in conservation, renewable energy, and distributed data systems both nationally and internationally. As Associate Director at the Arizona Geological Survey she managed and conducted research on a more than $30m portfolio, including Co-PI on a $3.6m National Science Foundation (NSF) project and project manager of a $22m U.S. Department of Energy project. Prior to her work at AZGS, she was Programs Director at a science-based non-profit organization where she helped develop the organization's research portfolio resulting in the organization's first NSF funding.
Connie Gardner
Connie Gardner is a Senior Program Coordinator providing programmatic and administrative support to Research Development Services. She is responsible for RDS events, and assists with the limited submission program and internal funding programs. She brings 15 years experience at the UA and continues to assist with the University's Research mission daily.
Daniel Moseke, MS
Daniel Moseke is the Senior Program Manager, Research Development administering the limited submissions process for the university. He is responsible for supporting the RII internal funding program, dissemination of The Current and Limited Submissions newsletters, and also assists the team with proposal support. Daniel has an MS in Global Technology and Development from Arizona State University and many years of experience across multiple departments at both the University of Arizona and University of Virginia. He has overseen projects, events, and grants for the UVA McIntire School of Commerce, UVA Office of the Provost, the UA parking department, UApresents, UA Chemistry & Biochemistry, and the UA Renewable Energy Network. Previously, he was the Program Coordinator at the UA-led Energy Frontier Research Center providing logistical and administrative support for the Center's staff of PIs, post-docs, students and staff at UA and partner institutions. Daniel is an alum of the University of Arizona, a longtime resident of Tucson and an active volunteer in the local bicycle community.
Ashley Oliveros
Ashley Oliveros is the Coordinator of Research Events responsible for overseeing and supporting RII’s annual schedule of events including faculty engagement and development events, program office visits and other sponsored research events. Ashley has a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from California State Polytechnic University Pomona, and holds a CPCE certification from the National Association for Catering and Events. She has obtained years of experience in event management serving as a Catering Director in Palm Desert, and Business Development Director with a non-profit organization in Tucson.
Research Development Services
Corporate Engagement
Kim J. Patten, MS
Kim Patten is Assistant Vice President for Research Development, at the University of Arizona. She leads a team of research development professionals that excel in supporting faculty in their pursuit of extramural funding from federal, corporate, and foundation sponsors resulting in more than $300 million in awards to campus since 2014. Part of this success is based on a holistic view of research development and the research lifecycle with an emphasis on the societal impacts of research such as the incorporation and promotion of undergraduate research experiences, core community partnerships, and inclusive practices. Prior to joining UA, Patten managed projects and programs in conservation, renewable energy, and distributed data systems both nationally and internationally. As Associate Director at the Arizona Geological Survey she managed and conducted research on a more than $30m portfolio, including Co-PI on a $3.6m National Science Foundation (NSF) project and project manager of a $22m U.S. Department of Energy project. Prior to her work at AZGS, she was Programs Director at a science-based non-profit organization where she helped develop the organization's research portfolio resulting in the organization's first NSF funding.
Brian Adair, PhD
Brian grew up in Tucson, with his first direct exposure to UA's world-class research in the Arizona Materials Laboratory as a high school freshman intern. He returned to Tucson in 2018 to join the University of Arizona to support corporate partnerships in Arizona and beyond. For the two decades in between, he worked at three start-ups, a non-profit contract research company, and an environmental science and engineering consulting firm to address challenges related to clean air, water, and energy. Brian's career evolved from laboratory research and product development, to management of multidisciplinary science and engineering projects, to client development and stewardship. He served as adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a member of the Mecklenburg County Air Quality Commission, and board member of Envision Charlotte. Brian graduated with a BS with honors in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Kaushik Balakrishnan, PhD
Kaushik Balakrishnan is a Research Development Associate focusing on university-wide engagement for corporate partnerships. He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and did his postdoctoral research advancing nanomaterials for energy and sensing applications at the Materials Science Department at Rice University. He subsequently joined the University of Arizona's College of Optical Sciences as an Assistant Research Professor in January of 2012. From January 2016 to June 2017, he was a Program Manager, Research at Arizona State University where he managed the portfolio’s in Transportation, Materials Science, and Sustainability. Dr. Balakrishnan has experience in project management and crafting complex proposals to federal agencies, industry, and foundations. He has also been a PI, Co-I and senior personnel on several federal and industry sponsored research. He has one patent, two book chapters, and more than 30 peer reviewed journal articles and communications that have been cited over 3000 times.
Connie Gardner
Connie Gardner is a Senior Program Coordinator providing programmatic and administrative support to Research Development Services. She is responsible for RDS events, and assists with the limited submission program and internal funding programs. She brings 15 years experience at the UA and continues to assist with the University's Research mission daily.
Global Offsets Program
Todd Shallcross
Todd’s career has included 32 years at Raytheon Missile Systems and its predecessors Hughes Aircraft and General Dynamics, two years as an Offset consultant for small businesses and universities, and four years developing the Defense Offset Program at UA. During the first 15 years at Raytheon, Todd worked in various positions involved with business development, strategic/operational planning, mergers & acquisitions, and discretionary/R&D funds management. For the remaining 17 years, Todd was responsible for all aspects of Land Combat Systems Offset programs worldwide and ultimately was named Director of Strategic Offset Programs & International Development for the Missile Systems business unit. During Todd’s career at Raytheon, he served on a number of company-wide efforts related to product development and capture management process improvement as well as individual capture efforts at multiple business units of Raytheon where his country-specific subject matter expertise was required. Todd received his bachelor’s degree in business management from California State Polytechnic University and later, an MBA.
Todd and his wife, Paula live in Tucson and have four children and four grandchildren.
Mike Messina
Michael Messina’s career includes over 38 years with BAE Systems Platforms and Services Sector, most recently as the Vice President for Industrial Cooperation Programs (Offset). In this position Mr. Messina successfully lead the worldwide Offset/Industrial Cooperation Programs (ICP) across all Business Areas that comprise BAE's Platforms & Services. In this role, Mr. Messina was responsible for setting worldwide export strategy for the Offset requirements of BAE’s worldwide customer base. Responsibilities included the development of Offset plans and solutions, negotiation of Offset Agreements with the customer and successfully implementing those agreements. Mr. Messina formulated and approved Offset risk analysis and was responsible for the performance of Offset contracts within specified budgets. Mr. Messina's career with BAE also includes several years as an International Program Director responsible for marking and program management in selected regions. He served as President of the DIOA (Defense Industry Offset Association) for 7 years and served for many years on the DIOA Executive Committee.
Mr. Messina has an MBA from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from California State Polytechnic University. Mr. Messina is married to Jane and live in Minneapolis. They have two daughters and two grandchildren.
Office of Global Projects
Eric Bergthold
Eric Bergthold is an international development professional with more than 20 years of project and business development experience in over 15 countries in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, including 9 years’ resident experience in Japan, Eritrea, Ukraine, Cambodia and Indonesia. He has extensive experience managing and implementing international projects for donors such as USAID, Danida, the World Bank, UNDP, Chevron and Government-funded grants and contracts. He has proven business development experience including capture planning, business intelligence, proposal management, recruiting and technical writing and played key roles in securing over $500m in federal awards and nearly $5m in non-federal awards. Through his work, he has communicated and collaborated with high-level government actors, multilateral and bilateral donors, civil society leaders, universities, private companies, and others on policy development and project implementation. His international research experience includes organizing and leading research assessments, preparing survey instruments, managing research teams, collecting, cleaning and analyzing data and writing technical reports. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Eritrea from 1995-1997 and an English language teacher in Japan from 1992-1994. He has a M.A. in Applied Anthropology with a focus on Community, Health and Development.
John Magistro
John Magistro is the Senior Business Development Manager in the Office of Global Projects, supporting proposal initiatives with University of Arizona faculty in international development. He holds MA and PhD degrees in development anthropology from Binghamton University and held post-doctoral fellowships at the US Agency for International Development and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. He served four years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin, West Africa, and has more than 20 years of experience in international development serving in various capacities involving academic and applied research, project design and management, proposal writing, and monitoring and evaluation. He has worked across a broad spectrum of governmental, non-governmental, and private sector institutions with multi-sectoral, technical expertise in climate change adaptation and resilience, food security, livelihoods, smallholder production and market systems development, disaster risk management, and natural and water resources management. He previously held a position as Associate Research Social Scientist in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona (2006-2010) where he was responsible for management of a USAID-funded Natural Resources Management and Development Portal (https://rmportal.net/), as well as co-PI and coordinator of a university linkages grant to establish a new Disaster Risk Science and Sustainable Development MSc degree program with Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. He has secured USAID grant awards totaling $36.45m and has worked in over thirty countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
Research Development Services
Courtney Coffey, PhD
Courtney Coffey previously helped develop and submit education-related grant proposals for both federal and private foundations at the College of Education (3 years). After earning a doctorate in cultural anthropology, she directed a binational drug abuse prevention program (funded by SAMHSA) at the Border Health Foundation. Additional experience includes serving as faculty for the Center for Integrative Medicine for 6 years (facilitating a course on cultural awareness for physicians and other health care providers) and managing a clinical internship for pre-med students offered by the Office of Diversity & Inclusion at the College of Medicine. After graduating with a B.A. in English literature, Courtney taught English with the Peace Corps in Sri Lanka, where she encountered applied and cultural anthropologists. Those encounters spurred her to pursue anthropological studies at the University of Arizona, with a focus on gender and contemporary China. At RDS, Courtney supports education, training and diversity proposals.
Rebekah Coşkun, DrPH
Bekah Coşkun is a Research Development Associate specializing in biomedical sciences. She has a diverse sociobehavioral science background in public health, genetics, evaluation, medical anthropology, and policy. She received her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Maternal and Child Health with a minor in Genetics as well as a Post-Graduate Medical Anthropology Certificate from the University of Arizona where she conducted mixed-methods research on reproductive genetics decision-making among pregnant women and reproductive genetic counselors. She completed a National Cancer Institute T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Prevention and Control Health Disparities Training Program where she worked on the implications of direct-to-consumer (at-home) cancer genetic testing on cancer prevention.
Aimee Jo Gibney, PhD
Aimee Jo Gibney serves as a Research Development Associate primarily focused on strengthening extramural research capacity in the areas of health sciences and data sciences. With a PhD in Rhetoric and Linguistics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, she pursued a traditional faculty career path and then switched course applying strengths in technical editing to the field of environmental consulting. Her background in academia was also a natural fit for strategic research and proposal development planning. She joins UA from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, where she served as a curriculum capstone and writing instructor, reviewed proposals for federal sponsors, and developed grant writing bootcamps and other workshops to help advance the university’s research goals. Other disciplines of interest include science and rural communities initiatives, environmental health, informatics, and (learning) Spanish.
Emily Kotay, MPA
Emily has a breadth of experience developing programs in higher education and public management. Prior to joining the Research Development Services (RDS) team in RII, Emily focused on partnership development to enhance international collaborations, and has assisted UArizona faculty and students in applying for the Fulbright program. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, where she taught English and conducted youth development and community engagement projects for more than two years. Within RDS, Emily focuses on international research opportunities and scholarly exchange. Emily holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Holyoke College in cultural anthropology.
Robin E. Richards, PhD
Robin Richards is a Senior Associate, Research Development, specializing in Physical Sciences, at the University of Arizona. He has a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Imperial College London and is a co-inventor on 19 issued U.S. patents. Robin joined UA in 2006 after gaining 20 years of industrial experience in both R&D and the electronic chemicals business. Robin has managed inter-disciplinary basic science and advanced technology collaborations involving government, universities, national laboratories and industry with multi-million dollar annual budgets. Prior to joining Research Development Services he was the Assistant Director for a UA-led Energy Frontier Research Center for 4½ years – funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Marie Teemant, M.A.
Marie Teemant is the Associate, Research Development for Honors & Awards. She assumes this position after a successful graduate fellowship for Research Development Services, supporting the communication efforts of RDS, including The Current and Limited Submissions newsletters. After receiving an M.A. in Art History from the University of Arizona in 2016, Marie continued into the Ph.D. program with a focus on the history of photography. As president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council, Marie was directly involved in restructuring all three grant programs run for graduate students, with a focus on equitable criteria across disciplines at the University of Arizona.