The College of Behavioral and Community Sciences was well represented at the 2025 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) conference, with several students and faculty receiving notable recognitions.
Fawn Ngo (right) receives Outstanding Mentor Award at 2025 ACJS conference
CBCS faculty member Fawn Ngo, PhD, was named the recipient of the 2025 ACJS Mentor Award, a distinguished honor recognizing her dedication to mentoring students in the field of criminal justice sciences. “This award means so much to me because it was the students who nominated me for it. I feel truly humbled and honored to have received it,” Ngo said.
Doctoral student Klejdis Bilali was honored with the ACJS Victimology Section Outstanding Graduate Student Award for her contributions to research in the field of victimology. Additionally, fellow PhD student Emily Walker was selected to participate in the ACJS 2025 Doctoral Summit and received a mini-grant to travel and present her work on youth commercial sexual exploitation in Texas.
During ACJS, Walker was among 45 doctoral students, both from the U.S. and internationally, selected to participate in the doctoral summit, a professional development series for advanced doctoral students. As part of the summit, she presented research on vulnerabilities and geographic profiles of youth commercial sexual exploitation in Texas. This work, titled "Uncovering Youth Trafficking in Texas: Analyzing Prevalence, Vulnerabilities, and Geographic Trends in Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children," was also featured in a panel presentation. In addition, Walker presented co-written chapters from the book "Trauma Bonding and Interpersonal Crimes," by Joan Reid, PhD, professor in the Department of Criminology.
Both Bilali and Walker had the opportunity to present at two distinguished panels. The first, Trauma Bonding and Interpersonal Crimes: Risk Factors, Contemporary Theories, and Insights, explored trauma bonding in various contexts, including human trafficking and child sexual abuse. The discussion was based on book chapters co-authored by Bilali and Walker in Reid’s recently published book. The second panel, Illuminating Human Trafficking: Data-Driven Insights, Legislative Advances, and Multidisciplinary Approaches, highlighted the importance in addressing human trafficking research gaps. The presentations drew from studies conducted at Trafficking in Persons - Risk to Resilience Lab.
“ACJS was wonderful!," Bilali shared, reflecting on the conference experience. "This year, I had the chance to engage with researchers and providers from all over the world. It’s incredible how easily you can connect with others who share your passion and value the work that you are doing."