PROVOST'S MESSAGE
Interim Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
As the semester draws to a close and spring gives way to summer, I am fully aware that this represents my last opportunity to share with you via this First Monday newsletter. Of all the messages I want to convey about the incredible experience that has been serving as the Provost at East Carolina University, the most important one is how grateful I am to have had this opportunity. I am grateful to have engaged with a wider array of faculty and staff and to have learned about the transformative work of our academic programs. I am grateful to have been afforded the chance to work with university leadership and to help our university live its institutional commitments of public service, student success, and regional transformation. And, I am grateful for the trust and support Pirate Nation has provided as we have navigated some of the most difficult circumstances in our institution's 115-year history.
The work we all do is truly transformative work. I know my own story is one of personal transformation, as I grew from a young black man working in tobacco fields in South Carolina to college student, to teacher, to academic, to higher education leader. The very journey I have been on with you for almost three years is the culmination of years of advocacy and support from mentors, teachers, colleagues, and leaders. That is why I am grateful for the opportunity to have served this institution as Provost. The mission I have had the honor to help forward and enact is very close to my own lived experience. The work we do touches on the types of experiences that have allowed me to serve as Provost.
And that is my parting message and charge to you all: Continue to advocate and support our students in ways that will transform their lives. Continue to find new and engaging ways to reach a broad range of students with a wide array of lived experiences. Never forget the power of the work you do and the appreciation of those who are positively influenced by it.
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BY THE NUMBERS
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AROUND ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
PIRATE ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER
Collaboration and partnerships across campus are essential to providing academic support services for ECU students. The Department of Engineering is an example of a collaborative relationship that supports tutoring services at the Pirate Academic Success Center (PASC).
Sponsored by the Department of Engineering, tutors serve at the PASC and assist Engineering students in the increase of their mastery of Engineering curriculum. With the assistance of Dr. Chris Venters, the PASC has hosted Engineering tutoring for several years.
Departments that desire Fall 2022 tutoring services for specific courses should contact Dr. Elizabeth Coghill, PASC director. Tutor recommendations by faculty are welcomed by email or by completing a Tutor Nomination Form.
The Pirate Academic Success Center will provide summer tutoring for ECU undergraduates. Course tutoring will begin on Tuesday, May 17 and will be offered for both summer sessions.
ACADEMIC ADVISING
Elizabeth McAllister has received the Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) National Leadership Honor Society Keating Award, presented for outstanding student advocacy. This is the highest honor for an ODK Faculty or Staff member who is an active member in the ECU Circle and demonstrates the ideals of ODK in their work environment and throughout their life.
Elizabeth has two degrees from ECU. Starting professionally at ECU in 1993, Elizabeth served in Undergraduate Admissions and then as an Academic Advisor before moving into her current role as Director of Pre-Professional Advising in 2010.
Over the last 12 years, she has greatly expanded services and programs provided to pre-professional students and served as the faculty advisor for multiple student organizations. Most notably, she coordinates the Health Professions Committee, coordinates the Primary Care Physician Shadowing Program, implemented and oversees the Professionalism Certificate Program, and sends weekly e-mail newsletters with relevant opportunities targeted to various pre-professional populations. She also established the Kaplan Partnership which provides significantly reduced rates for Kaplan Test Prep courses to ECU students and alumni. As a member of the ECU Advising Collaborative, she serves as the liaison for all communication among the group, is Chair of the Advising Awards Committee, maintains the Advising and Pier websites, and serves on multiple committees related to enrollment and retention. In 2019, Elizabeth was recognized by the ECU Advising Collaborative as “Outstanding Advising Administrator.”
OFFICE OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS
This summer marks the first time in three years that ECU will run an abbreviated slate of study abroad programs. 300 students are expected to attend universities abroad or travel with faculty on one of 17 short term programs over the next three months. The ECU Tuscany campus in Certaldo Alto, Italy will also resume normal operations, hosting 27 students during each of two summer sessions.
Twenty-four future Pirates have been recruited as the inaugural cohort of ECU’s Global Fellows Program. This new initiative from the Office of Global Affairs is designed to position high achieving students for success in today’s global, multicultural economy. The program includes a study abroad scholarship, globally focused programming and mentoring, and multiple resume-building opportunities.
The 7th Annual Global Issues Conference (GIC) was held virtually from April 5 - 8. The GIC is a virtual student research conference open to students from ECU and our GPE partner universities around the world. Forty-seven papers were accepted, representing 14 partner institutions in 11 countries. ECU students Vedika Modi, Rylie Warren, Marguerite Hemedinger, Alexander Teodorescu, and Soumya Kamath presented their original research and engaged in a moderated cross-cultural dialogue. Session topics included intercultural interactions, physical and mental health, education, the environment, food security and supply chains, gender, globalization and international politics, and media and business. Authors of the best presentations, including four ECU presenters, have been invited to submit their papers to a special conference proceedings edition of the Global Partners in Education Journal.
OFFICE FOR EQUITY & DIVERSITY
Diversifying graduate school pathways is central to our commitment to maximize student success and diversify our student body as we live out our mission to be a “national model for student success, public service, and regional transformation.” In keeping with that commitment, the Office for Equity and Diversity has been working collaboratively with both internal and external academic leaders to develop partnerships for graduate school pathways with Fayetteville State University (FSU) and, more recently, with the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNC-P).
In keeping with their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between ECU and FSU, memorialized on October 15, 2021, formally established plans for the two universities to collaborate around developing pipelines and pathways linking FSU’s undergraduate students to ECU’s professional and graduate programs. Led by the Office for Equity and Diversity, ECU and FSU have successfully established four Early Assurance Agreements into ECU graduate programs in: (1) fine arts in the College of Fine Arts and Communication; (2) kinesiology’s sport management program in the College of Health and Human Performance; (3) biology in the Harriot College of Arts and Sciences; and (4) network technology in the College of Engineering and Technology. These early assurance agreements outline criteria and requirements that will guarantee admission of FSU students into ECU’s graduate programs as well as ways both schools agree to collaborate around providing experiential learning opportunities and best practice programming for student success, retention, and transition into graduate programs. FSU hosted ECU for a joint meeting in Fayetteville on March 30, 2022 to formalize these agreements. Next steps involve a summer research program designed to engage FSU undergraduate students with ECU’s graduate faculty and programs.
Additionally, ECU and UNC Pembroke have been in discussion to explore the possibility of initiating a similar relationship designed to support initiatives, including to: 1) expand graduate pipelines and pathways from UNC-P to ECU, 2) develop mutually beneficial research, scholarship, public service and other creative activity opportunities, and (3) examine the potential for partnership opportunities regarding shared experiences for students, faculty, and staff. The two universities signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize this partnership during a joint meeting on Thursday, April 7, 2022 on ECU’s campus. Next steps will involve joint working group meetings at the departmental level with both campuses to further explore academic program connections and opportunities to collaborate – initially focusing on disciplines in the Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, College of Fine Arts and Communication, School of Dental Medicine and College of Nursing.
ACADEMIC OUTREACH AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
Kaitlyn Jones, Assistant Director of Testing Services in Academic Outreach and Distance Education (AODE), received the Outstanding Staff Award for Academic Affairs. Vice Provost Allen Guidry presented the award and recognized that Kaitlyn ensured that Testing Services remained open to provide services during a time of increased demand with reduced staff because of the pandemic. Described by colleagues as indispensable and committed, Kaitlyn brings creative, data-driven solutions to complex problems, and is an advocate for staff and their well-being.
Leslie Spain, Accountant for AODE, became the first person in AODE to complete the university’s Leadership Development Academy (LDA). The LDA “prepares academic leaders with essential leadership skills through sessions that help participants leverage inherent strengths.” Leslie was able to meet with the current university leadership and gain valuable knowledge on topics ranging from leadership theory to inner workings of leadership in higher education. She highly recommends that any individual who desires to take on more of a leadership role within the University seek out admittance into the LDA program. Leslie was also inducted into the Servire Society, for the fifth straight year, completing 50 or more volunteer hours as the Staff Advisor for the Board Gaming and Table Top Society student group and raising money for W.H. Robinson Elementary School.
OFFICE OF RESEARCH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & ENGAGEMENT
New Director of Undergraduate Research Announced
Following a university-wide search, REDE is pleased to announce Dr. Tuan Tran will head Undergraduate Research at ECU beginning this summer. Tran came to ECU in 2005 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology where he initiated his research program in the Behavioral Neuroscience lab. In 2007, Tran became the Director of the Multidisciplinary Studies Program in Neuroscience. Dr. Tran was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011 and began his service as Associate Chair of Psychology and on the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. He has been an integral part of other department and college-level undergraduate education-focused committees over the years.
Dr. Tran has long valued the important impact that undergraduate research experience provides students towards their personal and career growth and how faculty mentorship of students has a direct corollary with enhancing faculty productivity. Under his leadership with the Program in Neuroscience, it has witnessed tremendous growth in size, reach, and opportunity for a diverse population of students. A hallmark and continued strength of the program is the enthusiasm by research faculty on both the main and west campuses to mentor undergraduate neuroscience students. Over 70 undergraduates have been mentored in his research lab, many of whom have launched careers in biomedical science, medicine, and the social sciences. Dr. Tran's efforts in advancing student professional development through research experience was realized when he became a recipient of the 2015-2016 ECU Teacher-Scholar Award.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Tran on his new role.
New Disclosure Requirement; Training Available
Investigators pursuing federal funding are now required to disclose a broader range of collaboration involving foreign entities beyond what has previously been required in Biosketches and Current and Pending Support. See Undue Foreign Influence for details on these new regulations.
To assist our research community, REDE has made available a new training program on this topic through CITI. The training will be available after May 4, 2022. Faculty without a CITI login should set up an account with their ECU email address. While any investigator may take this training, it is required of all faculty submitting proposals to NSF, NIH, or DOD on or after June 1, 2022. Please reach out to Mary Farwell if you have questions.
I-Corps@ECU: Making Your Discovery Real
The I-Corps@ECU summer cohort kicks off May 13 with a program and resources overview session. I-Corps@ECU trains faculty, staff, post docs, students and others to assess ideas, innovations and research and helps to turn them into new products, services or ventures. I-Corps@ECU uses proven methods in customer discovery and lean launch. Teams in the STEM disciplines are eligible for up to $5,000 in funding to support customer discovery and/or proof of concept efforts. Register by May 9 to participate in the summer cohort. To learn more, click HERE or contact the Office of Licensing & Commercialization.
Continued Education Opportunities
- Spring Pharma Conference, May 10 & 11, ECU Life Sciences & Biotechnology Building, 1st Floor. The ECU Spring Pharma Conference offers two days of information sharing, topical discussions, and networking with fellow pharma professionals. Contributors include regional subject matter experts, vendors, and invited speakers. In addition to the General Program, attendees can choose between 18 targeted presentations delivered in smaller breakout sessions.
- National Computers & Writing Conference, May 19-21, Main Campus Student Center. In collaboration with the Department of English, the University Writing Program and the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, ECU’s Continued Education Program invites you to participate in this year’s conference focusing on practicing digital activism. View the complete schedule and register online HERE.
- NC Bioneer Venture Challenge, May 23, 1-6PM. ECU will host the challenge for the eastern region of the state. The NC Bioneer Venture Challenge helps biotech entrepreneurs and pioneers bring life sciences innovations to the marketplace in North Carolina. The three regional finalists are Amalgent Therapeutics, LLC, BioEphx, LLC, and BioNaTec, LLC. The winner of the regional challenge will receive $20,000 and advance to the statewide challenge.
Find a full list of current and upcoming conferences, courses and programs available through Continued Education HERE.
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COLLEGE UPDATES
ARTS & SCIENCES
The college is pleased to announce Dr. Anne Spuches, associate professor of chemistry, as the 2022-2027 recipient of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Advancement Council Distinguished Professorship in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “I am honored and thrilled to have been chosen as the THCAS Advancement Council Distinguished Professor in Natural Sciences and Mathematics,” Spuches said. Read more HERE.
Robert Driver, a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Program in Biology, Biomedicine, & Chemistry (IDPBBC), was elected Chair of the Graduate Student Advisory Council for the Society for the Study of Evolution. The Society for the Study of Evolution is one of the most preeminent organizations in the world that seeks to promote the study of biological evolution and the integration of the various fields of science concerned with evolution.
Carol Gause, a master’s student in the Department of Biology, recently received a grant from the Carolina Bird Club and the Frances Peacock Scholarship for Native Bird Habitat from the Garden Club of America. Gause will use the funds to support her work on how land management affects the breeding success, dispersal and population genetics of a threatened freshwater marsh bird, the King Rail.
Dr. Thomas Eamon, associate professor in the Department of Political Science, received the Richard Caswell Award from the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources at a banquet in Raleigh on April 12. The award was presented to Eamon for his more than 45 years of employment with the state of North Carolina.
Congratulations to Jynx Pigart-Coleman, a Biology and Psychology alumna (’20), who has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. She will attend Arizona State University in the fall, pursuing her doctoral degree in biology with a concentration in biology education.
Dr. Shahnaz Aziz, associate professor of psychology, has received a $451,053 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her research project, “Association between workaholism and fasting glucose/insulin, insulin sensitivity, and lipids.” Aziz’s study breaks new ground by investigating the relationship between workaholism and specific metabolic outcomes such as insulin sensitivity, hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. This line of research, in collaboration with co-investigators Dr. Darrell Neufer (East Carolina Diabetes & Obesity Institute, Brody School of Medicine) and Dr. Karl Wuensch (Psychology), will set the basis for future studies that will establish how workaholic behavior may contribute toward the development of type 2 diabetes. In addition, this grant will provide strong conceptual and hands-on training to undergraduate students in interdisciplinary sciences.
BUSINESS
Carolina Chicken and Waffles won the fifth annual Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. The Greenville-based company won monetary and in-kind services totaling $15,000 and another $15,000 in optional equity investment. Jamerus Payton, a current MBA and hospitality management certificate student, is the Carolina Chicken and Waffles owner. He plans to "scale up to bigger and better things and hit major markets and underserved markets here in eastern North Carolina." For more information, click HERE.
School of Hospitality Leadership students recently collaborated with Taylor's University out of Malaysia on a hospitality simulation. The simulation focused on strategic management and skillset optimization while working with software products to deliver training, knowledge transfer and real-time simulations. Students drilled down on cutting-edge aspects of the hotel industry, which prepared them to enter the workforce upon graduation.
Over Spring Break, the Risk Management and Insurance Program took a group of students on a "Spring Leadership Adventure" to Atlanta. Their first stop was the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) in South Carolina, where they toured the IBHS laboratory. The students were then treated to a lovely dinner by Mr. & Mrs. Dave Leonard in Atlanta, Georgia. On the second day, the students received a personal tour of RSUI, where Mr. Leonard served as CEO for many years. Senior leaders from RSUI, including new CEO Phillip McCrorie, visited with the students and shared lots of wisdom and tips for career success. That afternoon, the group toured the Atlanta office of AmWins, hosted by Mr. Nick Abraham. This trip was sponsored by the Wholesale and Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA).
Risk Management and Insurance Junior Filmon Futsum of Charlotte, North Carolina, applied and received a WSIA Diversity Foundation Internship/Scholarship offered to diverse students interested in careers in the wholesale, specialty, and surplus lines insurance industry. The internship/scholarship program is designed to promote diversity in the areas of race, gender, sexual orientation and disability and to influence meaningful progress in the diversity of the industry's talent pipeline. Over the summer, Futsum will intern with Fortune 500 company Markel. He'll receive a $5,000 academic scholarship for the next academic year upon the successful completion of the internship.
Accounting's Dr. Doug Schneider recently presented during ECU's Financial Services Workshop April 20. Participants included most anyone at ECU who is involved in processing transactions and financial reporting. Schneider prepared a formal presentation centered around the theme of customer service.
EDUCATION
At the Chancellor’s Awards for Service, Dr. Vivian Covington received emeritus status for her significant contributions to the university through her long and distinguished record of service, dedication, leadership and innovation.
Dr. Guili Zhang received the university’s faculty Diversity and Inclusion award, which honors individual and team efforts for a more inclusive campus. Dr. Zhang (second from left) has been an international and national leader on diversity, equity and inclusion for more than 15 years and serves on the American Evaluation Association board, where she wrote the organization’s anti-racism statement.
Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity recognized Dr. Louis Warren (center) by making him an official brother of the fraternity and creating a leadership award in his honor that will be given every year to a brother who shows true leadership. Dr. Warren is the fraternity’s campus advisor and served as the Grand Chapter Advisor from 2017-2020.
Two library science students were awarded the prestigious Primary Sources Teaching Fellows fellowship, based at the Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC-Chapel Hill and funded by a national IMLS grant. Amy Dillon (left) and Michelle Wolfson (right) will receive stipends to participate in a five-week online training program and three-day workshop this summer on the UNC-CH campus.
ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
Dr. Teresa Ryan, associate professor and director of engineering research in the Department of Engineering, was named ECU’s recipient of the UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award for 2022. She received the honor during ECU’s annual University Teaching Awards ceremony on April 21. Ryan and her team of students have been conducting acoustic research for the Office of Naval Research that supports the larger question of understanding the detectability of surface craft.
CET hosted its Spring Social and STEM Showcase on April 7. Part of the Community Building in STEM Series through THRIVE@ECU, the event highlighted the college’s programs while helping to build gender equity and reduce bias in STEM disciplines. Students and faculty displayed items, operated robots and provided lab tours and refreshments to guests from across campus.
The Department of Construction Management hosted Blockfest outside the Science and Technology Building on April 8. Teams competed using a variety of bricks and blocks to build outdoor seating areas, walls, fire pits and other creations — all in about three hours. The competition puts all the students’ skills to the test, from design and site preparation to hands-on construction.
More than two dozen teams of engineering students showcased their senior capstone projects during a symposium on April 18 at the Main Campus Student Center. Projects varied in scope, but all provided the students real-world experience, whether it was working to help those with disabilities, support historical research, fix multimillion-dollar military aircraft or affect the environment. Read more HERE.
FINE ARTS & COMMUNICATION
School of Art and Design alum Reid Beaman and his co-author/brother Ryan Beaman were on campus April 25 to talk about their pathway and work to publishing their first comic The Stretcher Bearers. The Beaman Brothers have been creating comics since their youth, and have recently published their first graphic novel, The Stretcher Bearers, from Dead Reckoning. The Stretcher Bearers tells the unforgettable tale of a young soldier Maxwell Fox, trying to save the lives of wounded soldiers and keep the men he’d formed a bond with alive in his unit of American stretcher bearers. But in the “war to end all wars,” no one was safe.
School of Art and Design MFA student Loraine Scalamoni received first place in the 14th Annual Wilmington Arts Association Juried Spring Show for “Between Two Worlds,” a 40” x 30’ oil on canvas.
School of Art and Design Professor Nanyoung Kim (art education) was awarded a one-person show of her photos and ceramic works for The In Art Gallery, a virtual national/international gallery. Her exhibit is titled The Healing Journey to Romanesque Churches France, Italy, and Spain.
School of Art and Design Associate Professor Borim Song (art education, featured above, center) received the 2022 Outstanding Teaching Award from the Art Education Technology Group, National Art Education Association (NAEA). The award ceremony was held at the NAEA annual convention in New York City.
School of Art and Design Associate Professor Lisa Beth Robinson had solo exhibition at Longwood University in February. The exhibition title was “Everyone is From Somewhere: Climate Migration and Sea Level Rise.”
Congratulations to Drs. Adrienne Steiner and Ginny Driscoll who were recently awarded $14,900 by the UNC System for therapeutic instruments and educational materials for the new Music Therapy Clinic.
School of Communication junior Sydney Gilmore (public relations) won second place in the East Carolina University’s Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge on Wednesday, April 6! Gilmore’s business is called Syd Vicious Ink, where she creates and publishes adult coloring books. The book series is called “Unorthodox Faces,” and it is intended for older audiences looking to alleviate and expel stress through coloring. Gilmore received $10,000 for second place and received a Red Shark Digital deal for $5k. Red Shark Digital, a local marketing firm, will help Gilmore with marketing plan for her coloring books.
In April, School of Music second-year Master of Music student Michael Brotherton received an Honorable Mention for his performance at the North American Baroque Trumpet Competition.
School of Music senior Guy Divon (music therapy) received the Student Research Poster Award for his poster presentation on “The evaluation of hearing levels through different classifications of ECU Students and Faculty” at the Southeastern Region of the American Music Therapy Association conference in late March.
ECU Storybook Theatre performed its first live performance in over two years, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane based on the book by Kate DiCamillo and dramatized for the stage by Dwayne Hartford. This was the first performance since COVID before a live audience which included 350 Pitt County School children, teachers, and the general public on March 25th at Wright Auditorium and at the Turnage Theatre in Washington, N.C. on March 26.
HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Dr. Charles Humphrey, a professor in health education and promotion, was quoted in The Washington Post in an article on climate and the environment: Backed-up pipes, stinky yards: Climate change is wrecking septic tanks.
HHP held a recognition night for scholarship recipients and for Dr. Katherine Swank and Dr. Jerry McGee to be inducted into the HHP Wall of Fame. For the academic year 2021-2022, HHP awarded approximately $158,000 in scholarships to 112 students. The students in attendance were publicly recognized for their individual scholarship and scholarship name. Donors also were in attendance for the event.
The Healthcare Delivery Research Program in the National Cancer Institute asked Dr. Kristin Black, assistant professor in health education and promotion, to lead a scoping review and the project is entitled, “Systemic Racism in Cancer Care Research Initiative." The goal of this project is to systematically assess the scientific landscape of systemic racism in cancer care delivery across the cancer continuum, and to identify opportunities to support observational and interventional research in this area.
Dr. David Loy in the Department of Recreation Sciences is leading a movement to update accessible parking icons on campus. A ceremonial event on main campus received local news coverage and is featured in this story on the ECU Now blog.
HONORS
The Honors College awarded the 2021-22 Faculty Mentor Award to Dr. Michael Baker in the Department of Psychology and Dr. Sinan Sousan in the Department of Public Health for their work with Honors students.
Honors College junior Amrina Rangar received two awards at the Chancellor’s Service Awards. The first was the student Diversity and Inclusion Award. She also received the NC Campus Compact Community Impact Student Award.
Honors senior Amanda Powell received an Honorable Mention for her NSF Graduate Research Fellowship application with all her reviews being excellent.
Dr. Diane Majewski, director of programming and special projects, will graduate from the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce Leadership Institute this May. She will also be inducted as the new president of the Undergraduate Scholars Program Administrators Association in June.
Fifteen of our Honors College students and alumni received awards at the 2022 RCAW awards. On the graduate level, Marianna Congema won the social sciences poster award and Jocelyn Bayles Dixon received the award for her education oral presentation. The undergraduate poster winners were Hannah Coalson (biomedical science), Hannah Haynes (community engagement), Hannah Dixon (education), Skyler Hall (fine arts), Sarah March (human health), Imani Riddick-Cherry (humanities), Hunter Pigg (interdisciplinary innovations), and Shae Malham (social sciences). The undergraduate oral award winners were Jennifer Painter (biomedical sciences), Zachary Pakulniewicz (engineering), Alexander Teodorescu (humanities), Evan Martschenko (fine arts), and Luke Fogarty (human health).
Several of our students received awards from ECU’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi. The PKP Outstanding Senior Student was awarded to Elliot Paul and the PKP Graduate Fellowship was awarded to Shaelyn Raleigh.
Honors students Hannah Bolick and Shaelyn Raleigh received the Truist Leadership Center Excellence in Student Leadership award. This award recognizes those who have shown exemplary skills or achievement in campus leadership, made a positive community impact or helped to address a significant NC problem.
INTEGRATED COASTAL PROGRAMS
Integrated Coastal Programs is pleased to announce Dr. Stuart (Stu) Hamilton as the next Chair of the Department of Coastal Studies. Dr. Hamilton joins ICP from the Tidewater region of Virginia. Most recently, Dr. Hamilton was an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director, both in the Department of Geography and Geoscience, at Salisbury University. ICP and the Department of Coastal Studies are excited to begin this new chapter with Dr. Hamilton and extend greatest thanks to interim chairperson Dr. Sid Mitra.
Postdoctoral Scholar Zaid Al-Attabi (Dept. of Coastal Studies) participated in Research and Creative Achievement Week - RCAW 2022. He gave a virtual presentation for his work on Monday, April 4, in the Postdoctoral Scholar Poster Presentation category. His presentation was entitled, “Evaluating the impact of inter-tidal wetlands on storm surge flooding and damages in Galveston Bay: Case Study of Hurricane Ike.”
The Marine Fisheries Ecology Lab at CSI (PI: Jim Morley, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Biology; Asst. Scientist, Coastal Studies Institute) hosted the 35th annual Tidewater Chapter conference of the American Fisheries Society, which is the largest fish and fisheries scientific society in the U.S. The event took place at the Coastal Studies Institute, where an evening research-poster social took place, and Jennette's Pier on the Outer Banks, which hosted two days of scientific presentations and an evening banquet (pictured above). Over 100 students, faculty and fisheries professionals were in attendance, arriving from North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. Jim Morley will serve as president of the chapter for the next year, until the 2023 meeting in Maryland. The ECU students and faculty represented our program well!
In April, Dr. David Lagomasino (Dept. of Coastal Studies) brought his class to the coast for the day for a lesson on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Dr. Andy Keeler and colleagues have had a new article accepted for publication in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. The article is entitled, “Buyouts with Rentbacks: A Policy Proposal for Managing Coastal Retreat.”
ICS Ph.D. student Samantha Farquhar has been offered an Officer position in the Coast Guard Reserves pending a 5-week leadership training and boot camp this summer.
Dr. Cindy Grace-McCaskey (Dept. of Anthropology and Coastal Studies Institute) and Dr. Linda D’Anna (Coastal Studies Institute) recently co-chaired a session at the Society for Applied Anthropology’s annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. The hybrid session, titled Doing Community-engaged and Participatory Research during a Pandemic, brought together 5 papers on the challenges and lessons learned in conducting community-based research during disruptions like COVID-19. With many of the typical methods used for community engagement off the table, the presenters in the session discussed how they changed and improvised research approaches in reaction to constantly shifting restrictions across a range of research topics, from fishing communities to coastal resilience to palliative care. Drs. Grace-McCaskey and D’Anna presented on their NSF Coastlines and People funded effort (with co-authors: PI Dr. Randall Etheridge, co-PI Dr. Raymond Smith, and ICS PhD student Kyra Hagge) to bring ECU engineering students together with local residents to improve designs for flooding and water quality restoration projects in the Lake Mattamuskeet watershed of Hyde County, NC. Some of the papers will appear in a special issue of Human Organization forthcoming this fall, for which Drs. Grace-McCaskey and D’Anna are guest editors. John Sabin, ICS PhD student working with Dr. Grace-McCaskey, also presented at the meeting on his proposed dissertation research, Socio-Ecological Restoration at the Boundary: An Interdisciplinary Investigation of Managed Wilderness in South Florida.
Capt. George Bonner, director of the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program and a retired member of the Coast Guard, was recently appointed by Governor Cooper to the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission. “I am honored to serve on the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission (NCMAC) and support the NCMAC vision to make North Carolina the most military-friendly state in the United States. From my experience in the U.S. Coast Guard, whole of community engagement is critical to mission success of military installations. The NCMAC provides an important role in community affairs, installation sustainability, and improving quality of life for military members and their families,” shares Bonner.
ICS Ph.D. students Kyra Hagge and Genevieve “GG” Guerry, along with their team members from Duke University, received an award from The Coastal Society. They received the President's Award for the initiative to launch a well-organized, informative, and entertaining podcast series that exemplifies the TCS mission. The group will also soon be releasing their next segment which will be in memory of their fellow ICS Ph.D. student Anja Sjostrom.
Faculty and staff from the Coastal Studies Institute, along with folks from Jennette’s Pier, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), successfully deployed four wave-powered desalination prototypes just off of Jennette’s Pier in early April as part of the Waves to Water Prize DRINK Finale. The deployment and device testing period were the culmination of CSI’s two years of involvement with the multi-year competition. Learn more on the prize, the deployment and testing, and the winners.
ECU Semester Experience at the Coast students recently had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Catherine Edwards from UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. She visited with Dr. Mike Muglia’s (Dept. of Coastal Studies, Coastal Studies Institute) class to talk about her hurricane research and ocean gliders. The two pictured were recently recovered offshore of NC by Captain Reed Meredith on the Kahuna. The gliders were part of a Navy Research/SECOORA funded collaborative project to gather water temperature and salinity observations that were assimilated into hurricane models to improve intensity forecasts. They flew in the Sargasso Sea with sail drones several months during hurricane season.
Integrated Coastal Programs has awarded the Mary Ferebee Howard Scholarship in Marine Studies to three students, Lindsay Wentzel (Maritime Studies), Daniel Schaefer (Maritime Studies), and Madeline Johnson. The scholarship is awarded each year to full-time ECU students focused on coastal and marine sciences. Areas of study include, but are not limited to: Biology, Geology, Geography, Economies, Sociology, Anthropology, or History. Recipients must show potential in the marine science field, involvement in extracurricular activities, evidence of good citizenship, and community involvement.
LIBRARIES
Charlene Loope has joined Academic Library Services as the Head of the Colonel Richard M. and Betty Debnam Hunt Teaching Resources Center. Loope was formerly the Head of Middle School at Norfolk (Va.) Collegiate School, an independent school for students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 12. She has been a professional librarian for more than 17 years, including 10 years of administrative experience overseeing libraries and instructional technology.
National Poetry Month recognition in the Faulkner Gallery included some students reading their original works. The 11 participating students were: Ashley Mills, Owen Starr, Alex Pickins, Kaitlin Butler, Lauryn Hopkins, Liz Wynne, Thekra Hindi, Rieneke Ausherman, Cassandra Marjoram, Blake Rose and Ryan Winter. English Department associate professor Amber Thomas said: “Performance is part of poetry. Many of the poets in the course have been with me for years. I've been working with them since they were freshmen, so we've been together a long time and this is really an accumulation of a lot of work.”
A bookbinding class for members of the Friends of the Library was held and led by Larry Houston, rare book conservator. The sewn board binding method was used for guests to bind their own creative and colorful book. More on the event and the Friends of the Library is available HERE.
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