2025 Meet Your New Colleagues Stories
Elyse Jay
Assistant Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Start Date: February 17, 2025
A self-described "Long Island girl, born and raised," Jay’s professional life has been one of continuous public service. For 16 years, she worked for Suffolk County government, serving in the Department of Economic Development and Planning (EDP). Her first role was as Deputy Director of the Division of Water Quality Improvement, and then in 2019 she became the Director of the Division of Finance and Administration. Her extensive experience in these areas has prepared her well for her current role in the Dean’s office of SoMAS. As the Assistant Dean of SoMAS Elyse serves as the School’s chief operations strategist—overseeing finances, people, and planning—while serving as the Dean’s second-in-command. Acting as a creative problem-solver and the School’s primary administrative bridge, she helps shape major decisions and drives SoMAS’s mission forward; and Elyse is up for the challenge.
Meet Elyse
Demetri Papagermanos
Instructional Support Technician - Machinist
Start Date: October 10, 2024
A self-described ‘gear head’ who loves to ‘make and fix’ things, working as a machinist at SBU checks all the boxes for Demetri Papagermanos. “It’s just really fun. I forget that it's work,” he says. “Every day, I get to continue to do the things that I liked to do when I was a student here. And I know I’m helping the Physics and Astronomy Department make the world a better place. So it’s great.”
Meet Demetri
Lindsay Bryde
Course Content Accessibility Specialist
Start Date: September 2024
Lindsay Bryde has worn a lot of hats throughout her long and winding career. She was a teacher, project manager, carpenter, accessibility coordinator, and now, she works for CELT - the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. As a Course Content Accessibility Specialist, Lindsay combines her passion for education and accessibility to improve classrooms for all.
Kara Gerstein and Angela Reis
Music Therapist and Art Therapist
Start Date: October 12, 2023
Kara Gerstein and Angela Reis believe in – and get to experience every day at work – the healing power of the arts. As music and art therapists, respectively, in Stony Brook Medicine’s Functional Therapeutic Activities department, these two new colleagues have the gratifying opportunity to put their talents, passion and compassion to work at Stony Brook University Hospital’s psychiatric ward. There they see, firsthand, the difference music and art, in therapeutic settings, can have on patients’ health, happiness and overall wellbeing.
Kylie Zahra
Respiratory Therapist
Start Date: October 10, 2024
Prior to joining SBM full-time, Kylie interned as an equipment technician. In this role, she learned all about the respiratory equipment she would work with in the future. She also really enjoyed the people she worked with, inspiring her to later apply for her current position.
Erin Kluge
Sustainability Coordinator
Start Date: July 10, 2024
Within minutes of introductions, it is clear that Erin is a force to be reckoned with. She shares that she recently received her Master’s in Management from Hobart William Smith, and though this is her first job since graduating, Erin has incredible experience. While a sustainability graduate assistant in grad school, Erin worked on carbon offset projects, leading her alma mater in becoming the eleventh college to reach carbon neutrality. This experience propelled her into her role with Stony Brook, where she supports the university in meeting its sustainability goals.