The ROCK Stars

Maria F. Loffredo Roca, Ph.D., Director, ROCK, is Chair of the Department of Integrated Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. She has her Ph.D. in Media Ecology from New York University, her M.A. in Performing Arts Management also from NYU, and her B.A. in Interpersonal and Public Communication from Purdue University. She is a GreenFaith Fellow and served as the Director of the GreenFaith Inspirations project from its inception in December of 2017 until March of 2020. A founding faculty member of FGCU, Dr. Roca has been recognized for her work with the Professor of the Year Award from Florida Gulf Coast University (1997-1998), two-time recipient of FGCU’s McTarnaghan Award for Excellence in Teaching (2002-2003; 2015-2016), the Faculty Award for Service Excellence (2001-2002), and the Chair Excellence Award (2018-2019). In 2015 she was presented with the Rachel Carson Award for distinguished service to the field of environmental and sustainability education. She has trained with the Center for the Contemplative Mind in Higher Education. She oversees the Roots of Compassion and Kindness (ROCK) project at FGCU, partnering college students with elementary and middle school students in the teaching of compassion, empathy and kindness. She serves on the Board of the RESET SWFL Center and directs RESET’s Earth Moments project. Maria is the mother of one daughter, Alissa, who is a professional opera singer.

Julianna teaches writing and humanities classes for both the Department of Language and Literature and Department of Integrated Studies. Selected to teach one of the pilot classes for the ROCK project: HUM 1020: Understanding Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness, she guides students to connect to themselves through the form of writing and introspection. In addition, Julianna also weaves contemplative practices as either a direct or indirect part of the courses she teaches. She also holds a 120-hour yoga certification and a certification for teaching mindfulness to college-age students. When she is not engaging in her passion of teaching, Julianna is reading, traveling, gardening, adventuring, or spending time with her husband and son. 

Andrea Lynn is FGCU adjunct faculty, a writer, and a citizen scientist working on improving the planet’s health. As a member of the inaugural ROCK pilot team, Andrea is responsible for curriculum design and delivery, pedagogy, and assessment methods for IDS 4930, the upper level pilot course titled, “Roots of Compassion and Kindness,” within which students will interrogate the following central theme: Survival of the fittest, or, of the most compassionate?

Andrea has the training and temperament of a journalist and revels in researching, interviewing, and writing. She earned her MFA in Writing and Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and her BA from Truman State University.