Center Members

All faculty, staff, students and alumni, as well as industry and government partners who work at the intersection of technology and creativity (in arts-related fields such as design and performance) are welcome to affiliate with the Center for Creativity and Innovation. Current members and their projects are featured below. If you’re interested in affiliating with the center, please contact the director.

Michael Behle

Michael Behle, an artist, curator, educator and community arts worker, is associate chair of art and design and interim director of Gallery 210@FAB at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Behle’s work has been widely exhibited both across the U.S. and internationally. He is a fellow of Vermont Studio Center and the Community Arts Training Program, offered through the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. In 2012, Behle founded Paul Artspace, a residency program, and in 2014 he co-founded Museum Blue, a project space. Both organizations are in St. Louis. To learn more about Behle, visit his website.

Amy Belfi

Dr. Amy Belfi is assistant professor of psychological science at Missouri S&T. Her work covers a broad range of areas in the fields of music and autobiographical memory, musical imagery, aesthetic judgments of music, and musical anhedonia, which refers to the reduced ability to experience pleasure. Her work in the Music Cognition and Aesthetics Lab examines how music influences our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. To investigate the topics she is researching, Belfi uses a combination of behavioral studies, neuroimaging and psychophysiology. To learn more about Belfi, visit her website.

Jessica Frame

Jessica Frame is a Missouri S&T junior in biology, minoring in chemistry and psychology with an emphasis in cognitive neuroscience, the subject in which she plans to pursue a Ph.D. In the summer of 2022 she completed an internship at the Boys Town National Institute for Human Neuroscience, where she analyzed and presented data on motor oscillatory differences among children with varying degrees of hearing abilities. She works as a research assistant for Dr. Amy Belfi, assistant professor of psychological science, in the Music Cognition and Aesthetics Lab, and for Dr. Jessica Cundiff, associate professor of psychological science, in the Subtle Bias Lab.

Elizabeth Roberson

Elizabeth Roberson is assistant teaching professor of English and technical communications at Missouri S&T. She helps undergraduate students improve their written and visual communication skills; she also helps them develop software skills through the use of technologies including Adobe InDesign, Google Docs and Camtasia. In addition to writing and co-writing several articles for referenced publications and presenting at academic conferences, Roberson received the 2021 teaching award from the College of Arts, Science and Business (CASB), now the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education (CASE), at Missouri S&T.

Robin Verble

Dr. Robin Verble is associate professor of biological sciences at Missouri S&T, where she is also director of the Ozark Research Field Station and environmental science degree program. Her research examines the intersection of humans and their environments; her interests include wildland fires, wildland firefighter safety and mentorship at field stations. She also serves as director of S&T’s art of science summer camp, which engages students in scientific concepts via artistic pursuits conducted through a variety of media. To learn more about Verble, visit her website.

Kyle Wernke

Dr. Kyle Wernke is assistant professor of music, director of orchestras and composer-in-residence at Missouri S&T. Wernke is a composer and conductor whose work was described by composer Douglas Knehans as “ … exemplifying all that is right with quality new music.” His 2017 work, “Burst,” won the American Prize in Composition in 2022. His 2021 cantata, “Da Vinci at the River,” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in music. In 2022, the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education (CASE) at Missouri S&T honored him with an award for innovative teaching.