Amanda Masino, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology at Huston-Tillotson University, is a geneticist and environmental educator whose approach to education blends science with community-focused research. She directs HT’s STEM Research Scholars Program and heads an NSF-funded project to infuse research training into HT’s Natural Science curriculum. Her current research focuses on home-health connections and encompasses a resident-focused investigation of affordable housing impacts and the environmental health of our homes in terms of microbial diversity and air quality. She is Executive Director of the Austin Community Data Coalition, a non-profit she co-founded to organize collaborations for community research on affordable housing and environmental health. Amanda also serves as Co-Director of the Dumpster Project, an educational initiative that is transforming a used trash dumpster into a sustainable home as a K-16 learning platform and engagement tool. She advises HT's environmental justice student group Green is the New Black, directs the Environmental Justice academic program, co-founded and coordinates the Building Green Justice Forum, and serves on the City of Austin's Zero Waste Advisory Commission. In the pre-health realm, Amanda serves as faculty co-director of HT's St. David's Foundation Scholars, a pre-health career enrichment program, and as Joint Admission Faculty Program faculty director.