Meet Our Team

Specialist Acquisitions Editors

Todd R. Armstrong

Publisher - Communication, Journalism, and Media Studies

Todd has more than 30 years of experience in the academic publishing industry, working for companies such as SAGE, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall/Pearson, Cengage/Wadsworth, and W.W. Norton. Having worked in acquisitions, management, marketing, sales, and production, he has a thorough understanding of the full breadth of the academic publishing business. He is a member of the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Textbook and Academic Authors Association, and numerous regional communication associations. Todd holds degrees in English and history from The College of William & Mary.

Seidy Cruz

Publisher - Foreign Languages

Seidy has worked for Cognella since 2002, serving as a senior acquisitions editor for several years before transitioning into her current role as a publisher of foreign language for Cognella. Seidy holds a B.S. in political science and a minor in French literature from the University of California, San Diego. After graduation, Seidy worked at San Diego Dialogue, a think-tank focused on issues affecting the border region. Her passion for inclusive communities and sound public policy led her to work at the Institute of the Americas. She now feels fortunate to combine her love for academic publishing and her drive to bring awareness to issues affecting the Latinx community and Latin American studies in her role with Cognella.

Kassie Graves

Publisher - Social Work, Counseling, and Human Services

As Senior Vice President, Editorial, Kassie oversees the Cognella Academic Publishing imprint and manages Cognella’s specialist acquisitions and field acquisitions editors. She also leverages her personal knowledge within the fields of social work and human services to sign engaging and effective texts in the discipline. Kassie brings a wealth of expertise to Cognella with over 20 years of experience in the publishing and marketing industries. Prior to joining the team, she served as an associate director, publisher, and acquisitions editor for SAGE Publications and received Editor of the Year awards in 2011 – 2014. She is a recipient of The Counselors for Social Justice ‘Ohana Award from the American Counseling Association. Kassie holds a B.A. in journalism from California State University, Northridge, and an M.B.A. from California Lutheran University.

Carolyn Henderson Meier

Publisher - Criminology and Criminal Justice

As the publisher for criminology and criminal justice at Cognella, Carolyn is charged with signing and promoting texts that meet the needs of today’s faculty and students in this dynamic marketplace. With over 20 years of experience in the discipline, Carolyn has worked with many of the field’s foremost authors and subject matter experts to produce highly successful textbooks and ancillaries. In addition to being an award-winning editor, during her career in publishing Carolyn has also worked in marketing, sales, and manuscript development. Carolyn graduated Magna Cum Laude/Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University with a degree in English.

Amanda Martin

Executive Publisher - Nursing and Health Sciences

As the executive publisher for the nursing and health sciences portfolio at Cognella, Amanda works diligently to understand the biggest challenges facing faculty and students in today’s higher education environment across the health disciplines. She then works with new and seasoned authors to develop meaningful solutions to ease those challenges. Amanda has 15 years of experience in healthcare publishing spanning sales, acquisitions, product development, and product management roles. Prior to joining Cognella, Amanda worked at Goodheart-Willcox, where she was responsible for building a healthcare portfolio, and at Jones & Bartlett Learning, where she led the nursing and medicine portfolios to significant growth before coming to serve as JBL’s VP of Product Management. Amanda holds an M.P.A., a B.A. in political science, and is certified in product management (PMC-VI).

Field Acquisitions Editors

Christina Brown

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, and Southern Florida

Christina brings experience in teaching, content marketing, and academic publishing to her role as an associate acquisitions editor with Cognella. She is responsible for signing titles in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, and Southern Florida. Christina holds a bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in performing arts from California State University, Channel Islands. She also holds a master’s degree in American studies from California State University, Fullerton. She is passionate about signing timely, innovative titles across many disciplines.

Scott De Herrera

Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Northern Florida, Alaska, and Hawaii

Scott brings more than 10 years of experience in academic publishing to his role as an associate acquisitions editor with Cognella. He is passionate about signing innovative textbooks across a variety of disciplines that connect scholarship and creative expression, inspire curiosity, and enlighten readers nationwide. Scott holds a B.A. in creative writing, with minors in both English and marketing, from the University of Arizona. He also holds an M.B.A. from the Eller College of Management. Scott is responsible for signing titles in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Northern Florida, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Peaches diPierro

Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C.

Peaches began her career in publishing as an intern at Cognella in 2017. She later became an independent contractor for Cognella, performing a variety of assignments, including conducting peer reviews, writing up review analyses, conducting image research, and performing special assignments. In 2020, Peaches joined the academic publishing team as an associate acquisitions editor. She is responsible for managing projects in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. Peaches holds a B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mieka Portier

Supervising Senior Acquisitions Editor

California, Minnesota, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia

Mieka joined Cognella in 2008 as an acquisitions editor on the Cognella Custom team, partnering with professors, departments, and programs to create customized course materials. In her current role, Mieka assists in hiring, training, and supervising members of the field acquisitions editors team. She also works with authors and editors in California, Minnesota, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia to publish engaging readers and thought-provoking original manuscripts. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of California, Davis.

John Remington

Managing Acquisitions Editor

Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island

With more than 36 years of experience in the academic publishing industry, John brings an abundance of knowledge and expertise to his role as managing acquisitions editor with Cognella. Over the course of his career, he has served in a number of capacities, including sales representative, sales manager, bookstore liaison, and technology specialist with Pearson, Key College, and Content on Demand. Since 2010, John has served as a senior acquisitions specialist and executive editor with Cognella and, in doing so, has discovered a passion for the editorial side of higher education publishing. John oversees the field acquisitions editors team and signs new projects in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Angela Schultz

Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and New Jersey

Angela is a senior field acquisitions editor who manages Cognella projects in Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and New Jersey. She began her career in higher education publishing in 1998 with Macmillan, where she worked on technology-related trade books. Over the course of her career, Angela has honed her skills across the industry, gaining experience in developmental editing, marketing, cover design, copyediting, and in-depth editing. She holds a B.S. in business administration from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Project Editors

Dani Gradisher

Dani Gradisher is an interactive ebook specialist who loves working with authors to combine traditional text with innovative interactive content. She has been with Cognella since 2017 and has served as a custom production assistant, licensing associate, and project editor for the Cognella Academic Publishing, Cognella Active Learning, and Cognella Custom imprints. Dani also has teaching experience at the middle school, high school, and university levels. She holds degrees in English and Spanish from the University of California, Davis.

Kaela Martin

In her role as project editor with Cognella, Kaela Martin manages the editorial phases of revision projects. She brings more than four years of experience in academic publishing to her role, including previous positions as an intern at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and an editorial assistant at Plural Publishing. Kaela taught English abroad in France and holds a B.A. in English and French literature from the University of California, San Diego.

Gem Rabanera

Gem Rabanera brings nine years of experience in academic publishing to her role as project editor with Cognella. Her previous roles include editorial and production work for journals and PreK-12 educator professional development at SAGE Publications, as well as project editor work on medical books for Plural Publishing. Gem holds a B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Amy Smith

With nearly seven years of experience in the publishing industry, Amy Smith brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her role as project editor with Cognella. She has a strong background in publishing textbooks in diverse fields of study including culinary arts, construction management, HVAC systems, and communications, to name a few. Additionally, Amy has worked in editorial, manuscript editing, and production capacities in previous professional roles. She holds a B.A. in English with a concentration in publishing studies from Illinois State University, as well as a certificate in Essentials of Project Management from the University of Chicago.

Skyler Van Valkenburgh

With their four years of publishing industry experience, Skyler Van Valkenburgh is thrilled to be a project editor with Cognella. She has held previous editorial and project editorial roles with John Wiley and Sons before coming to Cognella in 2023. Skyler holds a B.A. in communications from Marist College and an M.S. in publishing from Pace University.

Management

Kassie Graves

Senior Vice President, Editorial

As the senior vice president of editorial, Kassie oversees the Cognella Academic Publishing imprint and manages Cognella’s specialist acquisitions editors. Kassie also leverages her personal knowledge within the fields of social work and human services to sign engaging and effective texts in the discipline. Kassie brings a wealth of expertise to Cognella with over 20 years of experience in the publishing and marketing industries. Prior to joining the team, she served as an associate director, publisher, and acquisitions editor for SAGE Publications and received Editor of the Year awards in 2011 – 2014. She is a recipient of The Counselors for Social Justice ‘Ohana Award from the American Counseling Association. Kassie holds a B.A. in journalism from California State University, Northridge, and an M.B.A. from California Lutheran University.

John Remington

Managing Acquisitions Editor

With more than 36 years of experience in the academic publishing industry, John brings an abundance of knowledge and expertise to his role as managing acquisitions editor with Cognella. Over the course of his career, he has served in a number of capacities, including sales representative, sales manager, bookstore liaison, and technology specialist with Pearson, Key College, and Content on Demand. Since 2010, John has served as a senior acquisitions specialist and executive editor with Cognella and, in doing so, has discovered a passion for the editorial side of higher education publishing. John oversees the field acquisitions editors team and signs new projects in Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts.

Carrie Baarns

Senior Manager, Revisions and Author Care

Carrie identifies, signs, and develops revisions and new editions of Cognella titles, while also overseeing a team dedicated to providing the highest level of care to Cognella authors. Previously, she worked at SAGE Publishing in various editorial roles. Carrie holds a B.A. in English from California Lutheran University and a Certificate of Professional Editing from University of California, Berkeley. When not working, Carrie is usually weightlifting, skateboarding, making dichroic glass art, or having extensive discussions with her cats about their spelunking adventures in her cabinets.