Outstanding Professional Award
Special Agent David Alexander
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Special Agent David Alexander of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is a practitioner who remains engaged in day-to-day investigative and operational work, applying both traditional policing skills and contemporary intelligence-driven methods.
One of Special Agent Alexander’s most significant contributions has been his leadership in addressing organized retail crime, a threat that is costing communities and businesses hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
He has led efforts to use intelligence-led approaches that target the organized networks behind these crimes. He has worked to coordinate local, state, and federal partners, and these efforts have produced tangible outcomes.
Special Agent Alexander is committed to bridging research and practice, and he actively works with researchers to ensure that academic studies and data-driven insights shape concrete tools, tactics, and training that frontline officers and investigators can use. This practitioner-scholar mindset has strengthened both the quality of investigations and the broader evidence-based culture within Florida’s criminal justice community. In addition to his operational and research contributions, Special Agent Alexander is widely respected for his professionalism, integrity, and willingness to mentor others.
Outstanding Educator Award
Dr. Jodi Lane
University of Florida
Jodi Lane is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law at the University of Florida. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine, in 1998. She worked briefly for RAND Corporation before joining the faculty at UF in August 1999. She has published over 100 research products, including 58 peer-reviewed articles, 2 books, and 2 edited books.
Her work focuses on reactions to crime, including 1) perceptions and attitudes among the public and people involved in crime and 2) policymaker and practitioner policies and practices. Specifically, she studies perceived risk
and fear of crime and conducts evaluation research focused on justice programs, primarily those related to courts and corrections. Since
2020, she, Elizabeth Hartsell, and McKenzie Jossie, with funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, have conducted research on the Marion County (FL) Diversion Drug Court. From 2022-2025, she was Trustee at Large for
the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
She recently ended her co-editorship of the American Society of Criminology Division on Corrections and Sentencing (DCS) Handbook Series. In
November 2025, the DCS honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Since she has been at UF, she has chaired 11 doctoral students to
completion and served on numerous other doctoral committees. Most of these students remain active researchers and contribute to the profession through service, including service to SCJA, which makes her very proud.
Tom Barker Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award
Adams Howard
Clemson University
Adams Howard is a master’s student in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice at Clemson University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Clemson
University in May 2026 and is now pursuing a master’s degree (M.S.) in Social Science.
During her time as an undergraduate student, she was actively involved in the Drugs and Crime Research lab and contributed to several major projects funded by the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security. As a research assistant for the lab, she studied law enforcement deflection, substance use, and illicit drug networks. Her research interests are policing, incarceration, criminological theory, and substance use disorder. She also has an assistantship with the Center for Public Safety Research at Clemson.
Outstanding Masters Student
Addison Midkiff
Clemson University
Addison Midkiff is a second-year graduate student at Clemson University pursuing a Master of Science degree in Social Science. She earned her dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Sociology, with a concentration in Criminology, from Virginia Tech in 2025. At Clemson, she serves as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Clemson Drugs and Crime Research Lab.
Prior to her graduate studies, she worked as an undergraduate researcher at Virginia Tech, where she developed early research skills and conducted research on scam victimization for publication. Currently, her research interests include race and crime, victimology, policing, drug use and deflection, and gender/sexual based violence. Addison is also a member of Alpha Phi Sigma, the national Criminal Justice Society, and Alpha Kappa Delta, the international Sociology Honor Society.
Outstanding Doctoral Student
Amelia Wiercioch
University of Central Florida
Amelia Wiercioch is a doctoral candidate (A.B.D) in the Department of Criminal Justice at
the University of Central Florida (UCF). Her research interests include police accountability,
police culture, and criminal justice theory. Amelia earned dual B.A.s in Psychology and Philosophy from Duke University, after which she received an M.A. in Ethics and Applied Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Since joining UCF in 2023, Amelia has published six peer-reviewed journal articles, two of which she is the lead author, in outlets such as Police Quarterly and Deviant Behavior. Her commitment to translational research is demonstrated through her contribution to six technical reports, five of which were produced as part of her assistantship with the Loss Prevention Research Council. Amelia’s original research project, “What makes a ‘good’ police officer? A quantitative analysis of police perspectives,” earned her second place at UCF’s College of Community Innovation and Education Research Impact Showcase in Spring 2026.
Her dissertation extends this research, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the craft of policing. Amelia is also dedicated to leadership and service, as illustrated by her tenure as a doctoral student ambassador for the criminal justice department and as President of UCF’s Criminal Justice Graduate Student Association. In these roles, she contributed to recruitment efforts, led fundraisers for the department and the broader community, and organized student events such as K-9 demonstrations and court tours.
Springer Outstanding American Journal of Criminal Justice Article
Crimmigration in the wake of Title 42’s Summary Expulsions.
Bryan Holmes
Florida State University
Student and Untenured Faculty Travel Award
Since 2021, SCJA has offered travel awards to support undergraduate and graduate students, as well as untenured faculty, by covering a two-night stay at the conference hotel. Applicants must be SCJA members, serve as lead authors on a conference paper or poster, and demonstrate how attending will enhance their careers. Preference is given to those enrolled in Southern region schools.
This Years Recipients:
Students
Samuel Agboola, University of Mississippi
Olaniran Akintunde, Florida International University
Rebecca Angela, Ruiz University of California, Irvine
Shelby Gilbreath, University of Mississippi
Haley Hamm, University of West Georgia
Eliza Jackson, American University
Aaron Sivilay, University of Central Florida
Kaitlyn Stearns, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Shelby Vaughn, University of Alabama
Trinity Velez, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Faculty
Clayton Drummond, Western Carolina University
Annabelle Frazier, University of Southern Mississippi
Megan Trafford, University of Kentucky
Maryann White, Georgia Gwinnett College
Heidi Williams, Virginia Tech