Educational Background

Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2000 (Human Factors Dissertation)

MBA, Florida Institute of Technology, 1996 (IT Track)

B.S. in Business Administration, University of Central Florida, 1993 (Marketing Major)

Professional Experience

Dr. Deborah Carstens became a faculty member at Florida Tech in the fall of 2003. She was promoted to Full Professor in 2014 (and promoted to Associate Professor in 2008). She is the College of Aeronautics Graduate Program Chair and Professor of Aviation Human Factors with a joint faculty appointment with the College of Engineering & Science. She has over 85 peer-reviewed publications, including three published books and a fourth book under contract. She is the Director of the Human Factors: Aeronautics, Safety, Sociability, Interfaces, Sustainability & Training (HF ASSIST) Lab. She is also funded as the Site Director for the Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility, and Sustainability (PEGASAS) Center of Excellence. Before her current position, she worked as an information systems faculty member for the College of Business for 11 years and was a NASA KSC civil servant from 1992 to 2003. In the fall of 2024, she is on a sabbatical with NASA KSC, working on a human factors study. In her business and aeronautics position, she continued to serve as the Academic Chair over the Online MBA in Project Management through December 2015, http://www.floridatechonline.com/resources/faculty-interviews/deborah-carstens-project-management-faculty/. She currently instructs graduate and undergraduate on-campus and online courses in human factors from human performance to situational awareness, and previously in project management, IT, and new product development. She assists her former department with occasional project management online course developments. 

Dr. Carstens is the PI at FL Tech, working with Purdue University, Iowa State University, and Western Michigan University on FAA grants in "Augmented Weather Information Project" and "Enhanced Hands-Minimized Weather Interfaces for Pilots" during 2019-2023. She was also the PI during 2021-2021 on a Next Step Award for the Transportation Research Board ACRP University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs. In 2020, she worked on a funded DARPA grant. Previously, she was the CO-PI along with ORAU on funded research on aviation integrated risk assessment and accident analysis for leading indicators grant (2018) and psychosocial effects of social media restrictions grant (2017 – 2018). She was a team member on a funded FAA grant on flight deck human factors from 2017 to 2018. During 2016-2018, Dr. Carstens is the PI on a funded FAA effort to identify top airport safety risks. During 2015-2016, she worked on a funded effort to transfer training for UAS operations, assessing how training differences affect an operator's ability to perform UAS operations. During 2014-2015, she worked on a funded effort to optimize safety with flight training abroad. During the 2008-2009 academic year, Dr. Carstens also received funds for the initial stage of the project, which was funded by the Florida Department of Education (DOE) research grant, where she served as the Principal Investigator and Director of the Activity Based Total Accountability (ABTA) Institute. This research continued with her serving as PI on a Small Business Administration grant (2011-2013), working on evaluating the content and usability of government websites. 

Dr. Carstens worked for NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) as a civil servant (1992 – 2003) in project management and human factors engineering research. Her focus as an engineer was to apply human factor principles to improve processes and systems affiliated with several KSC programs, such as shuttle, payloads, and future spaceport operations. She was the PI on several research projects that included the development of human factors task analysis software and a model to predict safety and efficiency bottlenecks in programs’ processes. She was also the Process and Human Factors Engineering (P&HFE) Roadmap Manager responsible for identifying P&HFE technology needs at KSC from 2000 to 2025. Her past NASA position had her serve as the Study Manager over several research studies (>$5M) focused on safety and ergonomics conducted on space shuttle activities for the Industrial Engineering for Safety Program.

She is the faculty advisor for FL Tech's Human Factors & Ergonomics Society (HFES) Student Chapter (formerly Human Factors Professional Association). She is a member of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society (HFES), Space Coast Chapter of HFES with an officer position covering Fl Tech recruitment/events, Computer Systems Technical Group (CSTG), and Healthcare Technical Group (HTG) under HFES, Project Management Institute (PMI), Space Coast Chapter of PMI and previously the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She is active in the International Conference in Engineering and Management Systems (IEMS), serving as Track or Session Chair in Business, Human Engineering, and Human Factors & Cognitive Engineering (2002-Present). In 2011, she also served as Chair of the "Towards a Human-Centered Web" session for the Human-Computer Interaction International Conference. She serves on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Management and Engineering Integration. Dr. Carstens also reviews several journals, encyclopedias, publishers, and conferences and was previously the Managing Editor for the International Journal of Aviation Sciences.

Current Courses

• Interaction Design & Usability
• Advanced Human Factors
• Human Performance 
• Situational Awareness
• Sensation and Perception 
• Aviation Psychology
• Aviation Safety
• Aviation Economics & Fiscal Management
• Directed Research
• Research in Aviation
• Dissertation
• Thesis

Selected Publications

Hight, M.P., Fussell, S.G., Carstens, D.S., & Kok, E. (2024) Airline Pilot Perceptions of Stress and Self-Reported Fatigue: A Cross-Sectional Study. Poster presented at National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS). February 27-28, Daytona Beach, FL.

Aubry, R., Carstens, D.S., Hight, M. (2024, March 3-5). Perceived Stress for Pilots. Proceedings of the 30^th International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems, Orlando, FL. 21-30,.f76c8e_e4610d9121224e6e91ddbb395a09b39a.pdf

Malmquist, S., Carstens, D.S., Dahlstrom, N. (2023). Almost like the real thing - The hidden limits in flight simulation and training. In J. Ferraro (Ed.), Human Factors in Simulation and Training. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group: New York.

Li, T., Carstens, D.S., Wheeler, B. (2023). The Effectiveness of Improving Flight Passengers’ Safety Behaviors by Modifying Auditory Cues. Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors (2023), 13(1), 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1027/2192-0923/a000239

Dailey, G., Perry, O., & Carstens, D.S. (2023). Airport Ice-Olator Task & Error Analysis. 2023 University Aviation Association (UAA) Collegiate Aviation Education Conference. September 27-29. St. Petersburg, FL.

Carstens, D. S., Harwin, M. S., Li, T., Pitts, B. J., Futrell, M., & Caldwell, B. (2022). GA Pilot Perceptions of Speech Systems to Transcribe and Submit PIREPs. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 9(4). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/vol9/iss4/8

Tunc, O.A. & Carstens, D.S. (2022). The Usage of Smart Glass Technology in Airports to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Aviation Facilities, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2020, Clearwater Beach, FL., 22-28.

Blackford, M., Ramp, K., Jackobsen, S., & Carstens, D.S. (2022). Assessing the Usability of a Desktop Simulator for Training Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) Procedures, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2020, Clearwater Beach, FL., 22-28.

Carstens, D.S., Harwin, M., Li, T., Splitt, M., & Olabanji, R. (2022). Accuracy of Commercially-Available Speech Recognition Systems in Identifying PIREP Terminology. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 9(3), https://commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/vol9/iss3/8

Richardson, G.L. & Carstens, D. (2022). Guidelines for Achieving Project Management Success, CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group: New York.

Carstens, D.S., Harwin, M.S., & Li, T. (2021). Increasing General Aviation (GA) Pilot Reports (PIREPs) through Reducing Errors. Journal of Management & Engineering Integration, 14(1), 17-25. https://6179c4c4-3616-4341-bad4-06afeeb22e14.filesusr.com/ugd/f76c8e_6413c6f27d3a4ad3976ae805c283168a.pdf

Carstens, D. S., Miller, J. R., Mahlman, J. A., & Shaffer, M. J. (2021). Internet, Social Media, and Mobile Device Addiction Effects on a Workplace. International Journal of Social Media and Online Communities (IJSMOC), 13(1), 37-50. http://doi.org/10.4018/IJSMOC.2021010103

Johnson, I., Johnson, M., Pitts, B.J., Blickensderfer, B., Brown, L., Ahlstrom, U. and Carstens, D. (2021). Human Factors Research in Weather Hazards Affecting General Aviation Safety. International Symposium on Aviation Psychology (ISAP).

Carstens, D. & Richardson, G.L. (2020). Project Management Tools & Techniques, 2^nd Ed., CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group: New York.

Carstens, D., Pittorie, W., Carroll, M. & Sanchez, P. (2020). Review of Aviation Safety Databases to Identify Information Discrepancies Experienced on the Flight Deck: Implications for NextGen, Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors. doi.org/10.1027/2192-0923/a000192

Carstens, D., Howard, S., Barrie, M., Mahlman, J., Sudharsan, A., Chauhan, B., Bouran, A., Hunt, L., & Egoroff, E. (2020). Application of Tripod Incident Analysis in Aviation, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2020, Clearwater Beach, FL.

Pittorie, W., Carstens, D., & Carroll, M. (2020). Understanding Pilot Decision-Making Based on Weather Source during Preflight. Proceedings of the 21^st International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2020, Clearwater Beach, FL.

Li, T., Wheeler, B. E., & Carstens, D. S. (2020). Examining the Impact of Overhearing In-Flight Cell-Phone Calls on Passenger Safety. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 7(2). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/vol7/iss2/7.

Carstens, D., Mahlman, J., Miller, J., & Shaffer, M. (2019). Mobile Device Espionage, The Journal of Management and Engineering Integration, 12(2), 86-94.

Carstens, D., Deaton, J., Moore, J., Dalli, D., Rebensky, S.L., & Tamilselvan, G. (2019). Unmanned Aerial Systems Transfer of Training. Proceedings of the 20th International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2019, Clearwater, FL, 56-61.

Pierre, S. M., Carstens, D. S., & Deaton, J. E. (2019). Laser Eye Protection and Color Recognition and Discrimination in Aviation. Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors, 9(2), 86–94. doi: 10.1027/2192-0923/a000165  

Pittorie, W., Carroll, M., & Carstens, D. (2019).  Effects of Verbal vs Graphical Weather Information on a Pilot’s Decision Making during Preflight.  Proceedings of the 20th International Symposium of Aviation Psychology.  May 7-10, Dayton, OH, 349-354.

Lindsey S., Carroll M., Carstens D. (2019) Evaluation of the Impact of Mobile VR Interaction Methods on Performance, Preference, and Enjoyment. In: Stephanidis C. (eds) HCI International 2019 - Posters. HCII 2019. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1033. Springer, Cham.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23528-4_55

Carroll, M., Wilt, D.F., Sanchez, P., & Carstens, D. (2019).  Examining pilot decision making in information-rich cockpits.  Proceedings of the 20th International Symposium of Aviation Psychology (ISAP).  May 7-10, Dayton, OH, 73-78.

Mehta, R., Rao, N.A., Labonte, E., Rice, S., Carstens, D. and Gaenicke, S. (2019) Consumers from India and the United States have differing views of flight attendants. International Journal of Aviation Management, 4(3), 147–162.

Carstens, D.S., Doss, S.K. & Kies, S.C. (2018). Social Media Impact on Attention Span, The Journal of Management and Engineering Integration, 11(1), 20-27.

Clark, J. & Carstens, D.S. (2017). The User Experience of Usernames: Username Trends and Preferences. Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2017, Cocoa Beach, FL, 27-34.

Lindsey, S., Carstens, D.S. & Carroll, M. (2017). Presence Level of Low Cost Controllers for Mobile Based Virtual Reality Headsets, The Journal of Management & Engineering Integration, 10(1), 59-63.

Pierre, S., Carstens, D.S. (2017). The Effects of Laser Eye Protection on Color Recognition. The Journal of Management & Engineering Integration, 10(1), 42-47.

Marcoux, A.D., Levin, K.B., & Carstens, D. S. (2016) Human Error Perspectives in Flight Monitoring Envelope Monitoring, The Journal of Management & Engineering Integration, 9(1), 59-63.

Doss, S.K., Carstens, D.S. & Kies, S. (2016). Episodic Social Media Impact on Users, International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 4(3), 273-286.

Savage, J.M., Carstens, D.S. & Zhao, Y. (2016, April). Being Human: A personalized approach to Veteran's Mental Health. Poster presented at the 9th annual Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference, Daytona Beach, FL.

Clark, J. & Carstens, D. (2016, April). Username Trends in single and Multiple User Namespaces. Poster presented at the 9th annual Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference, Daytona Beach, FL.

Carstens, D.S., Winter, S.R. & Deaton, J. (2015). Safety and Human Factors Perspectives in Flight Training. Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2015, Cocoa Beach, FL., 35-40.

Carstens, D.S. & VanLandingham, G. (2015). Through a Glass, Darkly: The Promise and Reality of State Transparency Websites, Online Journal of Applied Knowledge Management, 3(1), 37-50.

Mehta, R., Rice, S., Carstens, D., Cremer, I. & Oyman, K. (2015). A brief intermodal rail network (IRN) scale: Establishing validity and reliability, Journal of Sustainable Development, 8(6), 1-11.

Johnson, K., Carstens, D. & Rice, S. (2015). Airline marketing preferences. Poster presented at the 8th Annual Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference, Daytona Beach, FL.

Carstens, D.S., Kies, S. & Stockman, S. (2015). E-Government Transparency and Citizen Engagement Increasing Accountability. In K. Bwalya and S. Mutula (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Electronic Democracy and Government. Niagara Falls, NY: IGI Publishing, 189-214.

Carstens, D.S., Rodriguez, W. & Wood, M.B. (2014). Task and Error Analysis Balancing Benefits over Business of Electronic Medical Records, International Journal of Electronic Healthcare, 7(4), 331-348.

Carstens, D.S. & Audu, A. (2014). Government Accountability and Transparency Mobile Readiness. Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2014, Cocoa Beach, FL. 1-8.

Doss, S.K. & Carstens, D.S. (2014). Big Five Personality Traits and Brand Evangelism, International Journal of Marketing Studies, 6(3), 13-22.

Carstens, D. S., Kies, S. & Stockman, R. (2014). Achieving Useful Government Accountability and Transparency Websites. In D. Yannacopoulos, P. Manolitzas, N. Matsatsinis & E. Grigoroudis (Eds.), Evaluating Websites and Web Services: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on User Satisfaction. Niagara Falls, NY: IGI Publishing, 19-41.

Carstens, D.S., Richardson, G.L. & Smith, R.B. (2013). Project Management Tools & Techniques, CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group: New York.

Carstens, D.S. & Stockman, R. (2013) Does Socializing Result in Community Passwords?" Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2013, Cocoa Beach, FL.

S. Fiore, Rodriguez, W. & Carstens, D. (2012) uCollaborator: Framework for STEM Project Collaboration among Geographically-Dispersed Student/Faculty Teams, Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 13(2), 84-92.

Carstens, D.S. & Kies, S. (2012) How Helpful is Google+, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2012, Cocoa Beach, FL.

Lee, M., Carstens, D. S. & Malone, L. C. (2011) Discussion forum rubrics: using rubrics to enhance and increase project management students’ participation in online discussions, Journal of Project, Program & Portfolio Management, 2(2), 35-53.

Carstens, D. & Becker, S.A. (2011) A Usability Model for Government Web Sites, Human-Computer Interaction International 2011, poster publication, July 9-14, 2011, Orlando, FL.

Carstens, D. S. & Giguere, V. (2011) Is Your Social Networking Privacy Reliant on Intuitive Interfaces? Proceedings of the Human Computer Interaction International 2011, Orlando, FL. CD-ROM [invited paper].

Becker, S. A. & Carstens, D.S. (2011) An Exploratory Study of State Government Use of Social Media, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2011, Cocoa Beach, FL.

Becker, S. A., Carstens, D. S. & Linton, T. M. (2010) Heuristic Evaluation of State Electronic Government to Promote Usability for Citizens of All Age, The Journal of Management & Engineering Integration.

Rodriguez, W., Fiore, S., DeWelde, K., Carstens, D., Kepuska, V. Z. (2010) Ubiquitous Collaboration (uC) Learning: Connecting the Physical and Virtual Worlds, Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, 2(2), 43-63.

Carstens, D. S., Feizi, S. & Malone, L. (2009) Traveling Abroad? A Usability Assessment of Travel Sales Websites, The Journal of Management & Engineering Integration, 2(1), 17-24.

Carstens, D. S., Becker, S. A. (2009) A Heuristic Study on the Usability of State Government Performance Data Web Sites, Issues in Innovation, 4(1), 15-44.

Carstens, D. S., Patterson, P., Laird, R. & Preston, P. (2009) Task analysis of healthcare delivery system, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 6, 15-27.

Carstens, D. S., Giguere, V. & Quist, J. S. (2009) Elements of Effective Learning: Study of Face-To-Face Versus Podcast Lectures, Journal of Management & Engineering Integration, 2 (1), 9-16.

Rodriguez, W., Fiore, S.M., and Carstens, D. (2009) uCollaborator: 3-D Simulated Platform for Collaborating Visually with Geographically-Dispersed Design Teams, Proceedings of the ASEE-EDGD Mid-Year Conference, Berkeley, CA, January 4-7.

Kepuska, V. Z., Gurbuz, S., Rodriguez, W., Fiore, S., Carstens, D., Converse, P. and Metcalf, D. (2008) uC: Ubiquitous Collaboration Platform for Multimodal Team Interaction Support, Journal of International Technology and Information management, 17 (3/4), 263-284.

Carstens, D. S. and Rockfield, S. (2009). E-Collaboration in Organizations. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology. Niagara Falls, NY: IGI Publishing, 1227-1231.

Carstens, D. S., Barlow, J. and Bean, L. (2009). Knowledge Management in E-Government. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology. Niagara Falls, NY: IGI Publishing, 2361-2367.

Bean, L., Carstens, D., and Barlow, J. (2008). E-Government Knowledge Management (KM) and Data Mining Challenges: Past, Present and Future. In H. Rahman (Ed.), Social and Political Implications of Data Mining: Knowledge Management in E-Government. Niagara Falls, NY: IGI Publishing, 28-41.

Carstens, D. S. and Rockfield, S. (2008) Changing the Human Dimension in Information Security, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2008, Cocoa Beach, FL, 54-58.

Carstens, D. S. (2008). Human and Social Aspects of Password Authentication. In M. Gupta & R. Sharman (Eds.), Social and Human Elements of Information Security: Emerging Trends and Countermeasures. Niagara Falls, NY: IGI Publishing, 1-14.

Carstens, D. S., Riley, L. and Giguere, V. (2007, March) Usability in Podcast Websites, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2007, Cocoa Beach, Fl., 301-306.

Carstens, D. S. and Patterson, P. (2007, March) Planes, Hotels and Automobiles: Website Usability, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2007, Cocoa Beach, Fl., 294-300.

Carstens, D. S. (2006) Error analysis leading technology development, Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 7(6), 525-549.

Carstens, D. S., Malone, L., and Bell, P. (2006) Applying Chunking Theory in Organizational Human Factors Password Guidelines, Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations, 1, 97-113.

Carstens, D. S. (2006) Patient safety technology gap: Minimizing errors in healthcare through technology innovation, Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 3(2).

Kepuska, V., Carstens, D. S., Wallace, R. (2006, March) Leading and Trailing Silence in Wake-Up-Word Speech Recognition, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2006, Cocoa Beach, Fl, 259-266.

Carstens, D. S. (2006) Cultural barriers to human-computer interaction. In S. Marshall, W. Taylor, & X. Yu (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Developing Regional Communities with Information and Communication Technology. Niagara Falls, New York: Idea Group Inc., 146-151.

Carstens, D. S. & Patterson, P. (2005) Usability Study of travel websites, Journal of Usability Studies, 1(1), 47-61.

Carstens, D. S. (2005, July) Human Factors in Medicine: Task and Error Analysis, Proceedings of the Human Computer Interaction International 2005, Las Vegas, NV. CD-ROM [invited paper]

Carstens, D. S., Barlow, J., Patterson, P., Laird, R., and Preston, P. (2005, March) Human factors in medicine, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2005, Cocoa Beach, Fl., 236-242.

Carstens, D. S., Bell, P., Malone, L., and DeMara, R. (2004) Evaluation of the human impact of password authentication practices on information security, Informing Science: The International Journal of an Emerging Discipline, 7, 67-85.

Retnasami, K., Carstens, D. S., Barlow, J., and Lawrence, W. (2004, March) Human factors in medical informatics, Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2004, Cocoa Beach, Fl., 208-212.

Carstens, D. S., and Relvini, K. (2004, March) Process optimization to identify potential human error in flight hardware processing, Proceedings of the 7th Annual Applied Ergonomics Conference. Orlando, FL.

Carstens, D. S., Hollingsworth, A. T., Barlow, J., Bean, L., Hott, D., and Pierce, B. (2004, July) The technology gap in patient safety, Proceedings of the 8th World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, Orlando, Fl., 268-272. [Best Paper Award]

Carstens, D. S. (2003, March) Spaceport Safety & Optimization. Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2003, Cocoa Beach, Fl., 208-216.

Barlow, J., Hott, D., Bean, L., & Carstens, D.S.(2003, April) Automatic detection of leading indicators of plagiarism. Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2003, Cocoa Beach, Fl., 564-565.

Carstens, D. S. (2002, March) Balancing business & ergonomics. Proceedings of the International Conference: Industry, Engineering & Management Systems 2002, Cocoa Beach, Fl.

Carstens, D. S. and McCauley-Bell, P. (2000, February) Importance of human error on logistics information security. Proceedings of the International Society of Logistics Engineer Congress, Orlando, Fl.

Carstens, D. S., McCauley-Bell, P. R., and Malone, L. C. (2000, July/August) Development of a model for determining the impact of password authentication practices on information security, Proceedings of the International Ergonomics Association 2000/Human Factors & Ergonomics Society 2000 Congress. San Diego, CA.

McCauley-Bell, P. R., Carstens, D. S., Wilson, T. N., Grimsley, E. T., and Malone, L. C. (2000, June) Understanding human memory limitations and the impact of password authentication practices on information security. Proceedings of the World Automation Congress, Maui, Hawaii.

National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) John F. Kennedy Space Center. (2000/2001). Development of human factor guidelines for authentication with passwords (John F. Kennedy Space Centers 2000/2001 Report of Research and Technology). Kennedy Space Center, FL: Carstens, D. S.

THESIS & DISSERTATION COMMITTEES:

• Victoria Thorpe (College of Aeronautics), Disaster Resilience in Air Traffic Control: Recovery of Airspace Activity at U.S. Primary Airports that Experience a Catastrophic Hurricane, Doctoral Committee Chair, 2022-Present.
• Amber Berlin (College of Aeronautics), The Relationship Between Sector Complexity and Miles-in-Trail Traffic Management Initiatives, Doctoral Committee Chair, 2021-Present.
• Jack Westbury (College of Aeronautics), Socio-economic variables and their relationships with passenger to population ratio, Thesis Committee Chair, 2020-Present.
• Erin Johnston (College of Aeronautics), The effects of UV and cosmic radiation on crewmember health, Thesis Committee Chair, 2021-Present.
• Alexandre Fiorini de Oliveira Padilha (College of Aeronautics), Fighter Pilot Personal and Career Factors Influencing Air-to-Air Combat Performance, Doctoral Committee Member, 2020-Present.
• Tianhua Li (College of Aeronautics), The Effect of Intensive Auditory Cues on Flight Passengers’ Safe Behaviors, Doctoral Committee Chair, 2019-2020.
• Andrew DaCosta (College of Psychology and Liberal Arts), Normative Data and Clinical Validation of a Virtual-Reality and Eye Tracking Device in Measuring Post-Concussion Neuro-Vestibular Functioning, Doctoral Committee Member, 2020-2021.
• Russell Tokarski (College of Aeronautics), A Conceptual View of Safety Climate in A General Aviation MRO, Doctoral Committee Member, 2019-Present.
• Michael Harwin (College of Aeronautics), Doctoral Committee Member, 2020-Present.
• Shayan Shirshekar (College of Aeronautics), Exploring the Effects of Communication Delays and Individual Differences on Stress during Simulated Space Missions, Doctoral Committee Member, 2019-Present.
• Sarinthree Udchachone (College of Aeronautics), Airline Brand Experience: Passengers’ Experience of the Big Three Air Carriers in the US, Doctoral Committee Member, 2018-2020.
• Yuwen Sun (College of Aeronautics), Safety Climate in Commercial Airlines: Examining the Effect of Safety Climate on Cabin Crews’ Safety Performance, Doctoral Committee Member, 2018-Present.
• Jameen Hilliard (College of Business), The overall impact of Organizational Change Management on front line customer service associates in a call center environment, Doctoral Committee Member, 2019-Present.
• Kerry Prowell (College of Business), Study of Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the Workforce: Ensuring the Long-Term Treatment for Those Employed by the Defense Industry of North Alabama., Doctoral Committee Member, 2019-Present.
• John Mahlman (College of Aeronautics), Runway Incursions: A Multimethod Approach to Understanding the Challenges in Mitigating Vehicle and Pedestrian Runway Incursions, Doctoral Committee Chair, 2018-2019.
• Summer Lindsey (College of Aeronautics), The Effect of Augmented Reality Glasses on sUAS Operations in Various Domains, Doctoral Committee Member, 2019-2020.
• Bhoomin Chauhan (College of Aeronautics), Unmanned Aerial system Integration into the National Airspace System and Airports: Risk Mitigation Technique Using Content Analysis Methodology, Thesis Committee Chair, 2018-2019.
• Ratchada Ruenruoy (College of Aeronautics), Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Examining the Relationship between Factors Influencing eWOM activities and Passengers’ Purchasing Involvement in the Context of Aviation, Doctoral Committee Member, 2018-2019.
• Hani Abdullah (College of Aeronautics), Travel and Tourism Competitiveness and Airline Traffic in the Countries of the World, Doctoral Committee Member, 2018-2019.
• Joan Savage (Human-Centered Design), Socialization of Veterans Using Virtual Reality, Doctoral Committee Member, 2018-2019.
• Goolnoosh Torkashvand (Human-Centered Design), Optimization of Cabin Design for Enhanced Passenger Experience, Doctoral Committee Member, 2017-2019.
• Jarrett Clark (Human-Centered Design), Dual-Task Contextual and Multimodal Interaction in Semi-Autonomous Vehicles, Doctoral Committee Member, 2016-2019.
• Nazif Nuhu (College of Aeronautics), Mitigating Risk Tolerance among General Aviation Pilots: Identifying Factors That Contribute to GA Pilots’ Risk Perception, Dissertation Committee Member, 2016-2019.
• Sébastien Boulnois (Human-Centered Design), Human-Centered Design of a 3D-Augmented Strategic Weather Management System for the Aviation Community, Doctoral Committee Member, 2017-2019.
• Anthony Lolchoki (College of Aeronautics), Impact of Computer Tablets on General Aviation Flight Training, Thesis Committee Member, 2018.
• May Chan (College of Engineering), Development of Adaptable Human Machine Interface (AHMI) for Teleoperation over Time Delay, Thesis Committee Member, 2018.
• Maria Chaparro (College of Aeronautics), Implementation of Music in a Simulated Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Monitoring Task to Alleviate the Vigilance Decrement, Thesis Committee Member, 2018.
• Saad Almesalm (Human-Centered Design), Helping College Students to Manage Stress: A Human Centered Smartphone Application for Stress Relief, Doctoral Committee Member, 2018.
• Jason Herkimer (College of Aeronautics), Perception of Pilot Psychological Health and its Effect on Willingness to Fly, Doctoral Committee Chair, 2016-2018.
• Warren Pittorie (College of Aeronautics), Effects of Verbal vs Graphical Weather Information on a Pilots Decision-making during Preflight, Thesis Committee Chair, 2017-2018.
• Adam Richard Goetz (College of Aeronautics), Demonstration of Head Mounted Displays and its Effects on Situational Awareness, Thesis Committee Member, 2017-2018.
• Tiziano Bernard (Human-Centered Design), Reducing Loss of Control in General Aviation: A Flight Test Analysis of the Pilot’s Attention During Flap Configuration Changes in Traffic Patterns, Doctoral Committee Member, 2017-2018.
• Rian Mehta (College of Aeronautics), Doctoral Committee Member, 2017.
• Summer Lindsey (College of Aeronautics), Evaluation of Low-Cost Controllers for Mobile Based Virtual Reality Headsets, Thesis Committee Chair, 2016-2017.
• Benjamin Remy (College of Aeronautics), Exploring Usability in Web-Based Aviation Weather: An Assessment of the Aviation Weather Center Website, Thesis Committee Chair, 2016-2017.
• Adam Hruszczyk (College of Aeronautics), How Symbol Salience Affects Change Detection Performance in General Aviation Weather Displays, Thesis Committee Chair, 2016-2017.
• Sherisse Pierre (College of Aeronautics), The Effects of Laser Eye Protection on Color Recognition and Discrimination, Thesis Committee Chair, 2016-2017.
• Salim Ait-ouyahia (College of Aeronautics), A Quantitative Study of Employees’ Perceptions of Safety Management System at Air Algerie Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Division, Thesis Committee Chair, 2015-2016.
• Rian Mehta (College of Aeronautics), A Predication Model of Airline Passenger Preference: Identifying factors that predict passenger preference between low cost and legacy carriers, Doctoral Committee Member, 2016-2017.
• Kole Osaretin Uhuegho (College of Aeronautics), Examining the Safety Climate of U.S. Based Aviation Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) Organizations, Doctoral Committee Member, 2016-2017.
• William Michael Park (Nathan M. Bisk College of Business – DBA), The Impact of a Millennial Business Leader’s Emotional Intelligence on Turnover in the Multigenerational Sales Occupational Field, AL, Doctoral Committee Member, 2016-2017.
• Stephanie Galbo (School of Engineering & Computing), A Survey of Impact Analysis Tools for Effective Code Evolution, Thesis Committee Member, 2016-2017.
• Karen L. Newsom (Nathan M. Bisk College of Business - DBA), Business Practices Which Have the Greatest Influence on Retention as it relates to Wired Boomers in the Aerospace Industry in Huntsville, Alabama, Doctoral Committee Member, 2016-2017.
• Sara Katarina Trané (School of Psychology), Give and Take: Validity, Personality Profiling, and Individual Success, Doctoral Committee Member, 2015-2017.
• Natasha Anjani Rao (College of Aeronautics), Trust and Fatigue in Flight Attendants, Thesis Committee Member, 2015-2016.
• Xinpei Lu (College of Aeronautics), Consumer Likelihood to Complain in the U.S. Commercial Airline Industry, Thesis Committee Member, 2015-2016.
• Marne Pomerance (College of Psychology), Investigating How Self-Schema Characteristics Influence the Motivational Orientation and Performance of Individuals within a Work Setting: A Within-Person Approach, Doctoral Committee Member, 2013-2014.
• Abdullah Sadid (College of Aeronautics), A Qualitative Analysis of Aviation Safety in Nigeria with Recommendations for the Future, Thesis Committee Member, 2012.
• Christian Sonnenberg (College of Engineering), Mobile Web Conversion: Dynamic, Autonomous Context-Based Site Generation, Doctoral Committee Member, 2010-2013.
• Jorge Arias (College of Engineering), Platform for Development and Evaluation of Trading Strategies, Thesis Committee Member, 2010-2015.
• Tauhida Parveen (College of Engineering), Migrating Software Testing to the Cloud, Doctoral Committee Member, 2009-2011.
• David Shrader (College of Aeronautics), Usability Test for a Swarm Operator Interface: Monitoring Autonomous Polyagents in a Collaborative Intruder Detection Scenario, Thesis Committee Member, 2009-2010.
• Jeremy Pinchak (College of Aeronautics), Naturalistic Decision-Making of helicopter Emergency Medical Service Pilots; Critical Decisions in Marginal Weather, Thesis Committee Member, 2009.
• Kelly Jacobs (School of Psychology), Emotional Intelligence: Work and Life Outcomes, Thesis Committee Member, 2007.
• David Dunkle (College of Aeronautics), Measuring the Effect of Realism Attributes on Necker Cube Reversal Rates, Thesis Committee Member, 2007-Present.
• Randolph Socin (School of Psychology), Measuring Openness to Experience in the Work Environment, Doctoral Committee Member, 2006-2008.
• Stacey Fehir (School of Psychology), The Repatriate Knowledge Transfer Scale for use in Organizations and the Moderating effects of Personality, Doctoral Committee Member, 2007-2010.
• Patrice Reid (School of Psychology), The role of emotional abilities in the development of cross-cultural competence and their impact on cross-cultural adjustment and job satisfaction, Doctoral Committee Member, 2009-2010.
• Michael McFadden (School of Psychology), issues and solutions for organizations with employees engaged in cross-cultural email communication, Doctoral Committee Member, 2010-Present.
• Raymond Sastraputera (College of Engineering), Discriminating Alerting and Referential Context from Prosodic Features, Thesis Committee Member, 2009.
• Rachael Singer (College of Engineering, Systems Engineering), Oral Comprehensive Exam Participant, 2007.
• Lauren Beaulieu (School of Psychology), The Effects of Response-Independent Delivery of Preferred Stimuli on High and Low Frequency Behaviors in a Clinical Setting, Thesis Committee Member, 2007.
• Lauren Bresnahan (School of Psychology), Applicant Attitudes Towards Paper vs. Internet Recruitment Methods, Thesis Committee Member, 2006.
• Randolph Socin (School of Psychology), The Impact of Faking on the Prediction of Performance: Using Non-Cognitive Measures: A Bootstrapping Analysis, Thesis Committee Member, 2005-2006.
• Tony Nguyen (College of Engineering), Development of a Shared Patient Web-based System for Mentally-Ill Patients, 2004-2005, Thesis Advisor.
• Abdullah Al-Namlah (College of Engineering, Systems Engineering), Process Stability & Capability for HVAAC at the ACM & Semiconductor Plant, Thesis Committee Member, 2004.
• Matthew Monnot (School of Psychology), Frame of Reference and a Sixth Factor on the NEO-FFI, Thesis Committee Member, 2004.
• Multiple Ph.D. Oral Comprehensive Exams, Masters Final Program Examination Committees, etc.

Recognition & Awards

• Awarded in 2023 with the FAA Jimenez Faculty Researcher Award through the PEGASAS COE.
• Awarded in 2023 with the FL Tech Women Inspiring Sucess & Excellence (WISE) Faculty Excellence Award.
• First Place in 2022 for the Airport Environmental Interactions category with its design titled, Implementing Alternative, Renewable Energy Sources for Ground-based Airport Operations, for the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) as faculty adviser for the student team project conducted during Dr. Carstens’ Human Performance 1 course, http://www.trb.org/ACRP/ACRPDesignCompetition.aspx.
• Honorable Mention in 2022 for the Airport Management and Planning category with its design titled, Ethereal, for the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) as faculty adviser for student team project conducted during Dr. Carstens’ Human Performance 1 course, http://www.trb.org/ACRP/ACRPDesignCompetition.aspx.
• First Place in 2021 for the Airport Environmental Interactions Challenge category with its design titled, FlyKey, for the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) as faculty adviser for a student team project conducted during Dr. Carstens’ Human Performance 1 course, http://www.trb.org/ACRP/ACRPDesignCompetition.aspx.
• Honorable Mention in 2021 for the Airport Environmental Interactions category with its design titled, UAS Solutions to Deicing/Anti-icing Waste Management, for the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) as faculty adviser for student team project conducted during Dr. Carstens’ Human Performance 1 course, http://www.trb.org/ACRP/ACRPDesignCompetition.aspx.
• First Place in 2018 for the Runway Safety/Runway Incursions/Runway Excursions category with its design titled, Airport Runway Incursion Preventative System, for the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) as faculty adviser for student team project conducted during Dr. Carstens’ Human Performance 1 course, http://www.trb.org/ACRP/ACRPDesignCompetition.aspx.
• Top Five Nominee for Faculty of the Year by Lambda Chi Alpha (2013)
• Supervisor over Student Workers of the Year Award (2012)
• Project Management Institute (PMI) Space Coast Florida Chapter Volunteer of the Year Award (2011)
• Joan Bixby Award (2011)
• Project Management Professional (PMP) Certificate (2002)
• CompTIA Project+ Information Technology Certificate (2002)
• National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Graduate Fellowship (1999 – 2000)
• Logistics Specialty Award for exceptional achievement in Logistics Management Information Systems by the Society of Logistics Engineers (1999)

Research

Dr. Carstens is the PI at FL Tech on FAA grants consisting of Weather Information Reprsentativeness and Decision Making (2022-2023), Augmented Weather Information Project " during 2019-2022, and a Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS) FAA Center of Excellence management grant (2021-Present). She is also the PI during 2021-2022 on a Next Step Award for ACRP University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs. In 2020, she worked on a funded DARPA project. Previously, she was the CO-PI along with ORAU on funded research on aviation integrated risk assessment and accident analysis for leading indicators grant (2018) Dr. Carstens was the CO-PI along with ORAU on a funded research project on psychosocial effects of social media restrictions during 2017 - 2018. She was a team member working on a funded FAA project on flight deck human factors during 2017-2019. During 2016-2018, Dr. Carstens is the PI on a funded FAA effort to identify top airport safety risks (https://www.pegasas.aero/projects/airport-safety-database-and-analysis).

She also worked on a funded effort on the transfer of training for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operations during 2015-2016.  The effort involves providing UAS operator training in simulated or real-world environments to assess how training transfers and impacts an operator's ability to perform UAS operations in a real-world environment.  During 2014-2015, she worked on a funded effort overseas to optimize human factors and safety aspects of flight training within a flight academy. 

Dr. Carstens was previously awarded, during the 2011-2013 academic year, with federal funding from the Small Business Administration to further her Activity Based Total Accountability (ABTA) Institute research to perform usability and technical analysis of transparency Websites.  She was awarded in 2008-2009 funding through the Florida Department of Education to establish the Activity Based Total Accountability (ABTA) Institute that developed reports identifying the cost of government services throughout the fifty states. Dr. Carstens was also awarded in April 2007 funding through the Academic Information Technology Committee to conduct a study to understand the effectiveness of podcasts as well as potential uses of podcasts in an academic setting that involved the testing of 120 participants. She also received funding in the Spring 2006 to conduct usability testing studies of travel sales websites that included an international human-computer interaction testing component. In 2004 and 2005, she completed two funded healthcare research grants. She was the Principal Investigator of a task and error analysis research study to improve the efficiency of treatment and improve the safety of Marchman (substance abuse) and Baker (mental health) Act patients which were funded by a local healthcare organization. She was also a key player on a Department of Health & Human Services (Agency for Healthcare Research in Quality) grant in which she led the human factors portion of the grant by performing task and error analyses resulting in the identification of a better process flow for patients transitioning from different continuums of care.  For NASA, she was active as Principal Investigator in research on various projects to enhance safety, efficiency, and costs with systems, processes, and operations. 

In her career both at Florida Tech and NASA KSC, she has had over $1.5 million dollars of funded research. She has had an opportunity to work on funded research grants in aviation safety, usability, task analysis, human error, patient safety, learning effectiveness, transfer of training, and government accountability.