Meet the team
For additional information contact
- Dr. Lonna Atkeson
LCI Director, FSU
latkeson@fsu.edu - Mark Earley
Leon County Supervisor of Elections
vote@leonvotes.gov
Lonna Rae Atkeson
Lonna Rae Atkeson is the LeRoy Collins Eminent Scholar in Civic Education and Political Science at Florida State University where she also directs the LeRoy Collins Institute, a public policy think tank. She is also a board member of the MIT Data and Election Science Board (MEDSL) and the American National Election Study (ANES). Her research focuses on election science, election administration, survey research, public policy, voting rights, public opinion, and political behavior. She has been a consultant to the Department of Defense, the US Election Assistance Commission, the Pew Charitable Trusts,and has served as an expert witness or consultant on several legal cases. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Golisano Foundation, the Thornburg Foundation, the Department of Transportation, the New Mexico Secretary of State, and Bernalillo County, New Mexico. She Received her BA from the University of California, Riverside and her PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Mark Earley
Mark Earley has been serving the voters of Leon County for over 30 years and was elected Supervisor of Elections in 2016. He is currently the President of Florida Supervisors of Elections, Inc. At the federal level, Mark serves on the Executive Committee of the Elections Infrastructure's Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), which advises and supports elections offices nationwide in securing elections. He also serves on the Local Leadership Council of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the national clearinghouse for voting system certifications and election information and best practices. He also has earned both state and national certifications in the field of election administration as a Certified Elections Registration Administrator and a Master Florida Certified Elections Professional. In addition, Mark grips a Mechanical Engineering degree from the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering.
Lisa A. Bryant
Lisa A. Bryant is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at California State University, Fresno. Her research in election administration and voter behavior includes studies on voter registration, voter confidence, voter ID, and how election reforms influence turnout. Other research interests include public opinion, political communication, and gender and representation. She currently sits on the research advisory board for the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and is an editorial board member for the Journal of Election Administration Research & Practice. She received her BA and Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico.
Wendy L. Hansen
Wendy L. Hansen is a professor of Political Science at the University of New Mexico. Her research focuses on public policy broadly, including areas such as campaign finance and voting behavior, with an emphasis on econometric modeling of government, corporate and individual level decision-making. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked for the Institute of Social Research at the University of New Mexico monitoring the spread of COVID-19 infections, reinfections, and vaccinations in NM and nationally. She received her B.A. from Lawrence University and her PhD from the California Institute of Technology.
Yimeng Li
Yimeng Li is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leroy Collins Institute at Florida State University. His research focuses on American politics and quantitative methods. His research in election administration includes voting by mail, provisional ballots, voter confidence, and voting technology. He received his M.Sc. with Distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology.
Kenneth R. Mackie
Kenneth R. Mackie is an assistant professor at Fitchburg State University. His main research examines the relationship between attitudes about climate change policy, political parties, and voting behavior. He is also active in a number of other subject areas including elections, education, federalism, public opinion, and race/ethnicity policy. He received a BA and MBA from Western Washington University, and MS from Florida State University.
Austin Culter
Austin Culter is a third year PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Florida State University and a fellow at the LeRoy Collins Institute. His research focuses on American political behavior and public opinion. His research interests include affective polarization, race and ethnic politics, candidate selection, and partisanship. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Anthropology from the State University of New York at Geneseo, a Master of Arts in political science from The University of Mississippi, and a Master of Science in political science from Florida State University.
Eli McKown-Dawson
Eli McKown-Dawson is an undergraduate political science student and Undergraduate LeRoy Collins Institute Research Fellow at Florida State University. He is also a Fellow with the Institute of Politics at Florida State University and a member of FSU’s Research Intensive Bachelor’s Certificate Program in Political Science.
Carson Cary
Carson Cary is an undergraduate computer science major at Florida State University.
Bill Royal
Bill Royal, owner of Bill Royal Creative, is an award winning voice talent and producer. His work can be heard on TV and radio ads across the country, as well as audiobooks and corporate videos.