Mitchelson's Memo
This is certainly not our first rodeo. We’ve coped with hurricanes before. My first semester at ECU (fall 1999) was accompanied by Hurricane Floyd and its horrible devastation. ECU has responded in each case with care, with expert assistance, with research, and with community service. Our collective response to Florence will be no exception.
As you know, most of the real damage occurred to our south. About 16 percent of our students are residents of the most affected counties (not including Pitt). The digital impact form that Dean of Students, Dr. Lynn Roeder, and her team provided to students has been very useful. The number of students that completed the impact form is about 2,000. About 41 percent (over 650) indicated major damage to the home, 44 percent indicated minor damage, and about 14 percent had accessibility issues. This is an undercount because some students and their families had no access to the internet and had no idea that a form even existed. A few had no idea that we had reopened for classes Wednesday, September 19. The stories coming out of the southern and eastern counties are heart-wrenching.
Faculty and staff have shown tremendous compassion for the situation faced by so many of our students. Thank you for that. I could not be more pleased with ECU’s organized response to Florence. I thank Vice Chancellor Golden, Dr. Sharon Paynter, and the Division of Research, Economic Development, and Engagement for designing the response and providing us a platform to volunteer our time and to give our money to a worthy cause. If you have not already done so, please go to https://florencerecovery.ecu.edu/. Here, you can offer up your community service, expertise, and/or funding. The Students’ Treasure Chest fund assists with giving emergency grants directly to students.
In the longer term, I continue to fret over the region’s persistent difficulties (poverty, educational and health disparities, net out-migration, etc.) and what this most recent blow from Mother Nature might mean. ECU’s Rural Prosperity Initiative is targeted at reversing these negative trends and it could not be more important on the heels of Hurricanes Mathew and now Florence. Thank you for all that you do to support student success, public service, and regional transformation. We will not be deterred from our Pirate mission.
GIVING BEYOND FLORENCE
Want to give to organizations helping Florence victims or want to give throughout the year? Consider donating through the State Employees Combined Campaign (SECC). This is a way for you to give a one-time donation or a regular payroll deduction to your organization of choice. All participating organizations are non-profits that rely on good citizens like you to continue doing their good work in the community. Ninety percent of your contribution goes straight to the charity, with no additional administrative fees. Your contributions are tax-deductible. In return for your pledge, you will be entered into a weekly raffle until the conclusion of the campaign on November 9. To search charities and to learn more about SECC, CLICK HERE. Please contact your division representative to pledge today.
PUBLIC SERVICE
East Carolina University had been hard at work helping eastern North Carolina recover after Hurricane Florence. Through its Hurricane Florence Recovery website, ECU has received 38 nonemergency assistance requests, including 29 individual, eight community and one business request. In total, 537 students, faculty, staff and community members have volunteered through Monday, September 24, totaling 817 volunteer hours. Additionally, the university has raised more than $4,000 toward hurricane recovery efforts. Learn more about how you can help HERE.
EFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES
Students told College STAR that they appreciate the way some ECU faculty provide multiple means of representation to increase student opportunities for learning. Check out this comment submitted by a former student of Dr. Scott Williams in the Department of Interdisciplinary Professions:
"Dr. Scott Williams uploads weekly modules in his online course that include a video to give a brief overview of the topic and assignment. He also includes a written message in the module. It could be about an upcoming project, happenings in the week, or a word of encouragement. Even though this is an online course, Dr. Scott Williams' videos and messages make the course more personable."
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
The Office of Global Affairs will hold its annual study abroad fair on Monday, October 15th from 11am-2pm outside Mendenhall Student Center. The fair will highlight the over 200 options available to students wishing to study abroad on ECU-approved summer, semester, or full year programs. We would again like to thank the strong support we have received this year from faculty and staff. Last year, over 700 ECU students participated in international curricular and co-curricular activities.
This fall, the Office of Global Affairs and Career Services have partnered on a distinct program focused on assisting ECU’s international students with the career development process in the U.S. and abroad. The International Career Preparation Series will provide an introduction to ECU Career Services and cover topics including, internship and job search strategies, resumes and cover letters, interviewing skills, visa requirements for employment after graduation, and how to leverage work experiences in the U.S. into employment opportunities abroad.
ECU’s Language Academy, the University’s own intensive English program, is now able to offer degree-seeking ECU students who need extra support in English the opportunity to enroll in ECULA courses at the discounted rate of $300 per semester per class. Students can choose from courses in Reading, Writing, Grammar, and/or Listening/Speaking. Please note that these courses are intended for non-native speakers of English only.
The Office of Global Affairs is working with COAD 1000 instructors to introduce ECU and the American university experience to international high school students in 15 countries. The Global Discussions program is designed to both stimulate our students’ interest in other cultures and introduce ECU to U.S.-bound students through the use our award winning Global Classrooms and interactive link sessions
ACADEMIC OUTREACH, CONTINUING & DISTANCE EDUCATION
The Office of Continuing Studies has recently been renamed the Office of Academic Outreach, Continuing & Distance Education. This new title better captures the full array of the work that this office does. You can visit their website HERE.
Academic Outreach, Continuing and Distance Education is pleased to announce that the Options website has been migrated to Word Press and will now be known as ECU Online. The new site will continue to offer the same great resources to the prospective and current distance education (DE) student populations. Please take a look at the ECU Online website and let us know if you have any questions.
Additionally, the DE Student Services email addresses have been updated to more closely align with ECU Online. The prospective DE student email account is now online@ecu.edu (formerly options) and the current DE student email account is onlineservices@ecu.edu (formerly OCS).
A new resource is now available for prospective and currently enrolled students considering the option of online learning. Online Learning 101 was developed by the UNC System as an introduction to learning online. A series of modules have been designed, to help prepare students to succeed as an online student. For more information, CLICK HERE.
OFFICE FOR EQUITY AND DIVERSITY
ECU has once again been named a leader in diversity and inclusiveness and has been awarded the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award for the seventh year in a row. This years' award winners focused on aspects of inclusion such as gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ, disability, and veteran status. Six universities within the UNC system received the HEED award this year. Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity, LaKesha Forbes, said, "Receiving this award for the seventh consecutive year recognizes the continuing efforts and successes of our collective work around diversity and inclusion. We strive to maintain an increasingly diverse and welcoming environment for our faculty, staff and students. Diversity is strength and inclusion leads to excellence, and we are strong in our endeavor toward excellence.” Read the full article HERE.
College Updates
COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
Study abroad programs organized by Faculty from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures during summer 2018 helped 81 students to get international experiences abroad: 15 students visited La Rochelle, France; 48 students went to Granada, Spain; 12 students visited Berlin, Germany; and 6 students enjoyed the Camino de Santiago, Spain. Please CLICK HERE to find new opportunities for 2019.
Ernie Marshburn (Geography, Planning and Environment) has been appointed as Chairman of The National Boating Safety Advisory Council.
Three graduate students from the Department of Geological Sciences were awarded research grants from the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America. Laura De Sousa, Tanner Eischen, and Cody Shell each received $900 to support their research projects.
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
The College of Business recently unveiled its Wall of Honor on the third floor of Bate. The Wall of Honor celebrates and publicly acknowledges more than 500 donors who have given at least $5,000 to the college through December 31, 2017, and who have laid the foundation for future College of Business students. On hand for the unveiling were former Dean Rick Niswander, Business Advisory Council Chair (ECU trustee) Mark Copeland, former Dean Stan Eakins and Interim Dean Paul Schwager.
During a recent Collegiate ECHO Marketing Challenge sponsored by Fossil watches, two student teams walked away with silver and bronze recognitions. The team of Jared Ballew, Nicholas Barnes, Alex Parsons and Lindsey Shambeau took silver for the video advertisement to consumers category. The team of Christopher Garver, Jorge Lozada, Justin Myers, Madison Rayfield and Alison Winslow took bronze for market research. Students were challenged to create an integrated omni-channel marketing campaign to drive Fossil Q Smartwatches sales using all Fossil marketing channels. The campaigns were developed to increase awareness, drive traffic and sales for the target audience of 18- to 35-year olds. The student teams were advised by Dr. Christine Kowalczyk.
The Miller School of Entrepreneurship will host BrainSTORM, a Make-a-thon focused exploring problems that victims and first responders encounter during disasters, creating ideas to solve those problems, and then prototyping solutions. All ECU students and faculty are invited to participate in the October 4 event, which is scheduled for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Innovation Design Lab off Jarvis Street. For more information, contact David Mayo.
The College of Business awarded two endowed professorships to current college faculty. Dr. Brad Karl, an associate professor in the College’s Department of Finance and Insurance, is now the IIANC-NCSLA W. Kurt Fickling Distinguished Professor in Risk Management & Insurance. Dr. Mike Harris, director of the College’s Miller School of Entrepreneurship, is now the Fielding Miller Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurship.
Dr. Ying Liao, an associate professor in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, will collaborate with Dr. Yulong Li of Simmons University to conduct a first-of-its-kind study that will empirically examine engagement in the direct selling industry. Among many findings, the study is expected to provide a better understanding of the workplace behaviors of millennials so that executives can be more prepared to motivate and manage this increasingly larger segment of the labor force.
The Third Edition of Tourism Policy and Planning by the School of Hospitality Leadership’s Dr. David Edgell has been published. Among many topics related to strategic tourism planning and policy, Dr. Edgell looks at a new topic that focuses on policies regarding terrorism and its impact on tourism. The second edition of Tourism Policy and Planning was recently published in Chinese.
The Student Accounting Society participated in the North Carolina Association of CPA’s annual “Day of Service.” Thirteen students cleaned up a two-mile stretch on 264 between the Agri Supply store and DSM Pharmaceuticals. SAS will post photos for a social media contest.
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
In 2016, the North Carolina Association for Colleges and Teacher Educators (NC-ACTE) initiated the Student Teacher of the Year Award. Ryanne Hilliard (B.S. Mathematics Education, B.A. Mathematics) was selected to represent ECU in the 2018 awards process. Ms. Hilliard was recently selected as one of 10 state finalists for the award. The winner will be announced at NC-ACTE’s Fall Forum in Raleigh, NC on Thursday, October 4, 2018. Ms. Hilliard is currently teaching at Farmville Central High School in Pitt County, NC.
Jennifer Lovett (Middle Tennessee State University), Allison McCulloch (UNC-Charlotte), Charity Cayton (East Carolina University), and Hollylynne Lee (North Carolina State University) have been awarded $1.8 million for five years as a part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education grant. The team will rely on research focused on students’ reasoning to create, refine and study video-enhanced materials to use as curriculum materials for preservice high school mathematics teachers. These materials will give those teachers authentic engagement with students learning mathematics. The research will then continue to investigate ways preservice teachers are able to examine, make sense of, and plan interactions with students solving algebraic tasks with technology. The materials produced will be available to university faculty and other teacher professional development providers.
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
Senior Caroline Harris will represent ECU and the Industrial Distribution & Logistics program during the November Material Handling Equipment Distributor Association (MHEDA) Women in Industry Conference. After attending MHEDA’s annual conference, where ECU was one of five universities that participated, Harris was personally invited by MHEDA CEO Liz Richards to attend the November event.
During the September 2018 Red Hat Training Partner & Instructor Conference, ECU was recognized twice. Lee Toderick, for the second year in a row, won the Red Hat Academy (RHA) Instructor of the Year award. ECU won the inaugural RHA of the Year award. Toderick was recognized for many reasons, including teaching more than 300 students each year. ECU also was recognized for numerous reasons, such as having the highest number of students who take the certification exam.
Dr. Kanchan Das, an associate professor in the Department of Technology Systems, was awarded the best track paper for the 2018 Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) Washington, D.C. Conference. The title of his award-winning paper is "Integrating Lean, Green, and Resilience Criteria in Designing a Sustainable Food Supply Chain."
The College of Engineering & Technology is the proud home of four NAO humanoid robots. The students in the Cognitive Computing Research Lab will use the robots for research on personalized learning, development of conversational chatbots, natural language understanding and image understanding.
Five current and former students will present papers to more than 4,000 leading researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and leaders in health care and industry during the October 2018 Biomedical Engineering Society annual meeting in Atlanta. College participants include Justin Syers (BS), Mara Thompson (grad student), Jules Zapanta (grad student), Daniel Pearce (senior) and Marcus Moody (senior).
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS & COMMUNICATION
Ken Bova (metals) co-taught two sessions at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, last summer. One session focused on applications of his torch-fired liquid enamel process, which was developed with the support of a College of Fine Arts and Communication Creative Research and Activity award.
During the summer, Gabriel DiMartino (trumpet) played as a member of the North Carolina Brass Band, the new music group Fifth Bridge at Virginia Commonwealth University, the Advocate Brass Band, the Syracuse University Brass Ensemble and the DiMartino-Osland Jazz Orchestra in concerts at the Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, Kentucky, and with Rodney Marsalis and the Philadelphia Big Brass in Spring, Texas, and at the Eugene, Oregon, Bach Festival. He also taught at the University of Kentucky Summer Trumpet Institute.
Rebecca Dumlao’s book, “A Guide to Collaborative Communication for Service-Learning and Community Engagement Partners” is available for pre-order through Amazon. In other news, NC Campus Compact selected Dumlao and one other educator to serve a one-year term as Engage Faculty Scholars. The honor supports the integration of service-learning and community engagement in teaching, research and service. On October 2, she’ll deliver a workshop, “Collaborative Communication and Conflict Management” at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference in Minneapolis.
“Gravity of Reality,” by Robin Haller (textiles), was awarded second place at the “Complexity 2018” exhibition held in conjunction with the Complex Weaver’s Biannual Conference in Reno, Nevada.
Greg Hurley (Suzuki strings pedagogy) was a conductor and string technique coach at the Stringfield Music Camp held at Meredith College in Raleigh this past summer.
David Ingram (ballet) produced two choreographic world premieres (“Tafos” and an excerpt from “Great Expectations”) and premiered a new dance film, “ákro,” at the Fort Wayne Ballet’s annual Progressions concert. At the Barriskill Dance Theatre School of Durham, he premiered choreography entitled “Metaméleia.” He served as a guest artist for programs with Fort Wayne Ballet, Kingsport Guild of Ballet and Greenville Civic Ballet.
Stephen Ivany (trombone) was soloist with the Triangle Area Youth Brass Bands at Meymandi Concert Hall. He played second trombone with the North Carolina Symphony for the John Williams Movie Music Concert at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh. Ivany also served as faculty at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan in July.
Ericka Johnson (health communication) has work in press with the Journal of International Women’s Studies (“The priming of Arab - Israeli stereotypes: How news stories enhance or inhibit stereotypes”) and the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management (with a co-author, “The face tells all: Testing the impact of physical attractiveness and social cues of spokesperson on message effectiveness”). She was named a fellow of the 2018 cohort of the Lillian Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication. The organization is affiliated with the Commission on the Status of Women, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. With a colleague, she presented “Instagramming social presence: A test of social presence theory and heuristic cues on Instagram sponsored posts,” at the annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in Washington, DC.
Jay Juchniewicz (music education) published “An Examination of Music Student Teaching Practices” in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education.
Professors Brian L. Massey and Cindy Elmore (journalism) produced a refereed chapter, “Freelancing in Journalism,” for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication in June.
Jennifer-Scott Mobley’s (dramaturgy) review of Paula Vogel’s “Indecent” appeared in the June issue of Theatre Journal, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. In other news, Mobley served as curator of the Jane Chambers Feminist Playwriting Contest, sponsored by the Woman and Theatre Program and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. The winning play, “Queens,” by Martyna Majok, rose from almost 400 submissions which were vetted by 25 readers from around the country. Majok is the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner for another one of her plays, “The Cost of Living.” Mobley directed a staged reading of “Queens” at the annual ATHE conference in Boston in August and conducted a talkback with the playwright and ATHE membership. Mobley participated in a roundtable at the Women and Theatre Conference at Boston Playwright’s Theatre, “Celebrating a Legacy, Empowering Future Generations: The 35th Anniversary of the Jane Chambers Award.” With her co-editor, Maya Roth, she submitted part I of the twin set anthology of “Award Winning Plays from the Jane Chambers Prize.” Volume One is titled “Lesbian and Queer Plays from the Jane Chambers Prize.” This volume is expected to print with No Passport Press by December 2018.
Douglas Moore-Monroe (clarinet) served as Woodwind Coordinator and Instructor at Interlochen Arts Camp at Interlochen, Michigan. He performed Amanda Harberg’s Suite for Woodwind Quintet and Johannes Brahms’s Trio in A minor for clarinet, cello, and piano with artist colleagues on faculty at Interlochen.
Heather Muise (printmaking) was accepted into several national juried exhibitions, including “The Printed Image 7,” in Topeka, Kansas, and “Tarot: The Fool’s Journey,” in San Diego, California. She was invited to participate in a national juried print exchange, “A House Divided.” The collection will be exhibited in Loveland, Colorado.
Cat Normoyle’s (graphic design) chapter, “Motion Design in the Context of Place,” appeared in “The theory and practice of Motion Design: Critical perspectives and professional practice,” edited by R. Brian Stone and Leah Wahlin. Normoyle’s newest body of work explores nature as a mediator for making. The process-driven work includes 2D/3D/motion as well as analog and digital media. Some of this work is in exhibition now in “Horn Island 34” at Memphis College of Art in Tennessee.
Gina Presson (journalism) was selected to return to Teachapalooza at the Poynter Institute in June. In related news, she received one-on-one Edius editing software training with the lead trainer for U.S. newsrooms. Additionally, she continued to record audio for WEDU’s Quest and SciTech Now.
Josh Raftery (photography) received the gallery director’s honorable mention for juried work in the A Smith Gallery Photographic Arts exhibition, “Forgotten,” in Johnson City, Texas.
Dindy Reich’s (foundations) mixed media wall piece “186,” a part of the “ I.M.A.G.I.N.E. Peace Now” exhibition, traveled to the Center of Art and Design at Marysville University in St. Louis, Missouri, during April and May.
Lisa Beth Robinson (foundations) has work in exhibition in “The Space Between” at the Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, through September. Her work was included in the national juried exhibition “Paper Tiger,” through Los Angeles’ LAVA Projects and in the national group exhibition “Visions,” at the Riverfront Arts Center in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Robinson served as the juror for the national exhibition of “Book As Art” for the Decatur Arts Alliance of Decatur, Georgia. She co-curated and printed work addressing the issue of gun control in a national letterpress portfolio entitled “Enough is Enough.”
Sachiyo M. Shearman (communication) co-authored a chapter, “I have to text my classmate in China!: Use of New Media in Intercultural Communication Classes toward Multidimensional Learning” in the text “Reconceptualizing New Media and Intercultural Communication in a Networked Society.”
Dan Shirley (voice) joined the faculty of the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts in June, teaching applied voice, theatre arts and music theory in an intensive program for high school students.
Raychl Smith and Jay Juchniewicz (music education) led a summer professional development series for music education faculty at Appalachian State University where they shared best practices for implementing the edTPA with music education majors.
Jarrod Williams (tuba/euphonium) performed at the International Fellowship of Conductors, Composers, and Collaborators at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in June. He served as faculty at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan, in July.
Christine Zoller (textiles) taught Shibori dying at a two-week workshop at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Her work was included in the faculty exhibition throughout the summer.
COLLEGE OF HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Kristin Coleman, a senior public health studies major concentrating in community health with a minor in economics, was one of 15 accepted into the 2018 FACETS program in Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During the six-week summer program in Boston, Coleman conducted research on delayed health care among low-income populations because of costs, bills and insurance. She created a poster to present at the end of the program and took courses in biostatistics, epidemiology, and social and behavioral sciences. She also learned more about graduate school, took an intensive GRE prep course and attended evening lectures. Coleman’s HHP faculty mentor is Dr. Deeonna Farr.
Dr. N. Yolanda Burwell has received the School of Social Work 2018 Distinguished Faculty Legacy Award. Burwell has been a faculty member of the leadership training program of the N.C. Rural Center for 24 years. She served as an assistant professor at ECU, teaching courses in social work policy, human behavior and macro practice. She also was the director of the undergraduate program for four years. Her academic research focused on social welfare history in African-American communities, empowerment strategies and social work in rural communities. Burwell will be honored at the school’s annual Alumni and Friends Celebration on Friday, October 26, at the Greenville Hilton.
The Department of Kinesiology’s fitness walking/dog walking class developed and taught by Dr. Melanie Sartore-Baldwin will be featured in the fall 2018 issue of Bark. This follows a recent story in The New York Times, and a planned story in O, The Oprah Magazine. Dr. Sartore-Baldwin’s research also has been presented and published in peer-reviewed publications. The department is in its fifth year of a collaborative partnership with the Pitt County Animal Shelter. Students actively engage with shelter dogs through physical activity in a service learning, designated fitness walking course.
Jane Jarrett, instructor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, recently received N.C. Environmental Education Certification and was featured in the Educator Spotlight on the N.C. Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs website. She partnered with the ECU Community School to create interactive nature boxes for the student garden. The story can be read HERE.
HONORS COLLEGE
Recently, Honors College sophomore and EC Scholar Jay Li competed in the national Army Expeditionary Technology Search (xTechSearch). As the CEO of JaybirdENR, LLC, Jay was selected as one of 125 entrepreneurs to pitch his business to the directors of the Army Research Labs and other on-duty soldiers. After preparing trial pitches and participating in group engagement practices, Jay advanced through the concept proposal phase and performed outstandingly in the second phase at the Boston Department of Defense facility. Although he did not advance to the third phase, Jay plans to continue with his project development by collaborating with EC Scholar freshmen Marco Agostini and Elliott Paul in the future. Jay was assisted through this process by several ECU faculty and staff members, including Dr. Ted Morris, Dr. Todd Fraley, Dr. Wayne Godwin, Dr. Jason Yao, Dr. Zhen Zhu, Mr. Jim Menke, Mr. Joe Gaines, Mr. John Cinnamea, Dr. Sharon Paynter, and Dr. Pamela Hopkins.
The ECU Honors College Early Assurance Program in Nursing offers select students guaranteed entry into the College of Nursing graduate programs upon completion of their undergraduate degree. Morgan Braxton is the first Honors College student to pursue this program. Morgan is in the BSN to PhD program, with a concentration in leadership. This December marks the completion of her first year in the program. Morgan works part time as a Research Assistant with the College of Nursing in addition to working on the Pediatric unit at Vidant Medical Center. During her time as a Research Assistant, Morgan has worked closely with Dr. Kim Larson, the Director of the Honors College Early Assurance Program in Nursing. In addition to her work with Dr. Larson, Morgan has enjoyed the opportunities afforded in this position to conduct her own research.
Most notably, through her role as a Research Assistant, Morgan was able to assist Dr. Larson on a recent article published in the Journal of Transcultural Nursing. Their article, “In Sickness and Health: Views on Child Health From a Mayan Village,” studies the indigenous ways of explaining both health and illness in a Mayan village. Among other insights, the article reveals the Mayan people’s perception of health and illness, and the steps that can be taken to respond to the specific health disparities presented.
When asked what she plans to do following her program completion Morgan responded, “I'd love to develop children's health resources and education in low-income countries. I know there is such a need for that, and it's something I have always been passionate about. I don't know specifically what it will look like yet, but I know that this program will be instrumental to me achieving that goal!” Morgan is highly motivated and passionate about serving the underserved. She is an exemplary representative of ECU, The Honors College, the Early Assurance Program in Nursing, and the entire nursing community.
INTEGRATED COASTAL PROGRAMS
Dr. Reide Corbett, the new Dean of Integrated Coastal Programs, was interviewed by Washington Post to provide context to possible impacts of Florence on the Outer Banks. Read the article HERE.
Dr. Reide Corbett was also a panelist at a recent screening and discussion of the film “Tidewater: Water is rising, land is sinking, and the military is here to stay.” The focus was on the risk presented by sea level rise to national security in the Southeast and how we can build resilience in North Carolina’s military and coastal communities.
Dr. David Griffith, Dept. of Coastal Studies, had an article accepted to Human Organization (the journal of the Society for Applied Anthropology). The article focuses on a rapid ethnographic assessment conducted in 2016 of fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico coast five years after the Deepwater Horizon blowout of 2010. Interviews with fishermen in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana elicited information on their individual and collective experiences with the disaster, including their perceptions of the lingering consequences of BP’s “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” strategy—or attempts by the corporation to sink the oil to the bottom with dispersants. Focusing on the embodiment of clean-up efforts in individuals, communities, and marine habitats, this article reports that no community visited was completely spared the effects of the spill, although its impacts were clearly uneven based on proximity to the spill and political economic responses to the spill.
Drs. Cindy Grace-McCaskey (ANTH), Scott Curtis (GEOG), Siddhartha Mitra (GEOL), and Stephen Moysey (GEOL) have all been selected to participate in the first annual National Science Foundation sponsored, Coastlines and People (CoPe) national workshop from September 25 - 28. The workshop is being held in 3 locations nationally, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Diego. The goal of the 3-day workshop is to identify the research needs and the optimal structure for research initiatives on coastlines and people.
Dr. Andy Keeler, ECU founding faculty member in the Department of Coastal Studies and research partners, Dr. Dylan McNamara (UNCW) and Dr. Jennifer Irish (Virginia Tech), recently released an article in The Conversation that highlights findings from their work on coastal adaptation. The work combines economics, coastal geomorphology, and engineering to examine real estate market responses to engineered shoreline protections and perceived risk to properties in the Outer Banks and other mid-Atlantic coastal communities. Read the article HERE.
The Coastal Studies Institute partnered with NOAA’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Research (NCCOS) and NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary on a research cruise aboard NOAA’s R/V Nancy Foster. The goal of this project is to conduct ecological characterizations of shipwrecks and hardbottom, rocky reef seafloor and habits in the Southeast US Atlantic waters to guide ecosystem management and ocean planning.
John McCord, Assistant Director of Engagement & Outreach, and David Sybert, K-12 Education Specialist, The Coastal Studies Institute has been awarded a $5,000 grant from Dominion Energy North Carolina to create and offer educational programs focused on energy literacy and environmental stewardship. CSI’s project will take place during the 2018-2019 school year and target 8-12 grade Physics, Physical Science, Earth and Environmental and AP Environmental Science classes in northeast North Carolina. It will focus on developing students’ awareness and critical thinking skills related to energy, explore consumer-available energy technologies and their respective local and global impacts, and expose students to new and emerging renewable energy development to create informed future consumers and decision makers.
Mike Muglia, Research Associate at CSI, recently deployed a waverider research buoy in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 12 miles east of Nags Head, NC. The research buoy provides near real-time data on wave height, speed and direction as well as sea surface temperature data. This is the second waverider buoy deployed and operated by CSI. The second buoy is located eight miles southeast of Oregon Inlet. The data from both these buoys provide valuable information on the wave field off the northern Outer Banks both inshore and offshore and are part of the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy program, a collaborative research program coordinated by CSI and ECU. Data for buoy #243 and buoy #192 are available for the public.
ECU and CSI will host the traveling exhibit “Rising” at the Coastal Studies Institute on the ECU Outer Banks Campus beginning at 6PM on October 10, 2018. This multi-media exhibit combines oral history, photography and science while highlighting the challenges of living in a changing coastal environment. The exhibit opening will coincide with a panel discussion and facilitated community conversation surrounding community adaption in the face of coastal change. The exhibit opening, and panel discussion is part of the ongoing “Science on the Sound” Lecture series hosted monthly by Coastal Studies Institute. The exhibit and panel discussion are co-hosted with the UNC Institute for the Environment’s Outer Banks Field School.
Dr. Rachel Gittman, Biology and CSI, has been awarded two grants from NOAA and USFWS, in collaboration with the NC Coastal Reserve, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, and Sandbar Oyster Co., to design, construct, and monitor the performance (oyster recruitment, marsh stabilization and protection) of restored oyster reefs using novel materials and designs in the NC NERR Rachel Carson Reserve, Back Sound, Beaufort, NC.
Dr. Rachel Gittman also co-authored a paper in Frontiers in Marine Science. The paper focuses on a study conducted over 5 years to test the hypothesis that temperature can influence trophic interactions via predictable effects on the metabolism of ecothermic consumers in the Galápagos Islands, an equatorial upwelling region, where water temperatures are highly variable and nutrient availability is thought to control primary production and standing algal biomass. The results of the exclusion experiment indicate that herbivores had a large effect on macroalgal biomass, even during intense upwelling. The results suggest that in shallow subtidal habitats across the Galápagos archipelago, grazing pressure increases with temperature, potentially resulting in reduced algal biomass when upwelling is weak and greater algal biomass when upwelling is strong and water is cold; an alternative explanation for widely observed association between upwelling intensity and algal biomass.
ACADEMIC LIBRARY SERVICES
The Blackbeard 300 Queen Anne’s Revenge Traveling Exhibition will be at Joyner Library’s Janice Hardison Faulkner Gallery from October 8 – November 29, 2018. Come to Family Fun Day from 10:30-1:30 on Saturday, October 20 and enjoy free activities for kids.
Grants & Contracts
August 2018
Award Title: Toward a Multi-Scale Theory of Coupled Human Mobility and Environmental Change
Principal Investigator: David Griffith, Anthropology, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: University of Florida
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Award Title: Greene County Summer Program
Principal Investigator: Mary Farwell, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: Greene County Schools
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Award Title: The Application of Iron-Oxidizing Bacterial Mats for Benzene Contaminant Remediation: An Environmental Study
Principal Investigator: Erin Field, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: Sigma Delta Epsilon Graduate Women in Sciences (GWIS)
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Award Title: Ciguatoxin detection and model predictions for use in fisheries management in Puerto Rico
Principal Investigator: Joseph Luczkovich, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: University of Puerto Rico Sea Grant College Program
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Award Title: PRIMER (Pre-transfer interventions, mentoring, and experiences with research): Using multilayered interventions to improve transfer student success
Principal Investigator: Heather Vance Chalcraft, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
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Award Title: Oyster reef restoration in Back Sound, Rachel Carson Reserve, Beaufort, North Carolina
Principal Investigator: Rachel Gittman, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP)
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Award Title: PCS Phosphate Effluent Monitoring and Water Quality in the Pamlico River Estuary, NC
Principal Investigator: Enrique Reyes, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: PCS Phosphate
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Award Title: Solid-state NMR Structural Characterizations of Polymorphic Transthyretin Amyloids
Principal Investigator: Kwang Lim, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
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Award Title: Stigma and Health Consequences of Delayed Mental Health Treatment among Air Force Pre-Retirees
Principal Investigator: Jessica Ford, Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences
Sponsor: The Society for Military Psychology
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Award Title: GEAR UP NC Aspire and Senior Day
Principal Investigator: Tarrick Cox, Enrollment Services, Academic Affairs
Sponsor: University of North Carolina General Administration (UNC GA)
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Award Title: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Principal Investigator: Paul Gemperline, Graduate School, Academic Affairs
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
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Award Title: Information Assurance Scholarship Program (2012-2013)
Principal Investigator: Charles Lesko, Technology Systems, College of Engineering & Technology
Sponsor: Department of Defense (DOD)
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Award Title: CITE # 482 - 8D training for IDX
Principal Investigator: Merwan Mehta, Technology Systems, College of Engineering & Technology
Sponsor: Beaufort County Community College
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Award Title: Chugai antibody and mouse muscle contraction
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Brault, Kinesiology, College of Health & Human Performance
Sponsor: Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
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Award Title: DanceAbility in the Public Schools & on Campus: Performance Festivals
Principal Investigator: Bomna Ko, Kinesiology, College of Health & Human Performance
Sponsor: First Presbyterian Church of Greenville
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Award Title: Greenville Police Athletic League Graduate Assistant Partnership 2018-2019
Principal Investigator: Clifton Watts, Recreation & Leisure Studies, College of Health & Human Performance
Sponsor: City of Greenville Police Department
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Award Title: Understanding Postadoption and Guardianship Instability for Children and Youth Who Exit Foster CareStatement of Work (ECU)
Principal Investigator: Kevin White, School of Social Work, College of Health & Human Performance
Sponsor: University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee