Islander Faculty Receive R&I Research Grants
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Faculty at the Island University continue to display excellence and innovation through research projects ranging in topic from molecular biochemistry to French literature. The Division of Research and Innovation (R&I) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi supports faculty research through various internal funding opportunities.
Through its internal funding program, R&I provided grants to 24 faculty members from across campus for the upcoming 2019-2020 academic year. Grants are awarded to support research, scholarship, and creative activity that include student engagement in research, interdisciplinary or collaborative projects, and support for research infrastructure.
“These awards provide faculty members with the time, resources, and space to conduct important, innovative research,” said Dr. Ahmed Mahdy, Vice President for R&I. “These projects often lead to external funding, community engagement, and other research synergy that further the goals of the community, university, and the students who come here to learn.”
Faculty researchers receiving R&I 2019-2020 awards include:
Research Enhancement Awards
- Dr. Kelly Bezio, Assistant Professor of English, received $5,000 for her research titled, “Literary Canons, Forms of Conduct, and the Lieutenant Nun.”
- Dr. Kevin Concannon, Associate Professor of English, received $2,900 for his research titled, “Chicana Globalisms.”
- Dr. Sharon Derrick, Assistant Professor of Forensic Anthropology, received $2,105 for her research titled, “A Novel Method to Augment Personal Identification in the Medical Examiner Setting.” The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Blair Sterba-Boatwright, Professor of Mathematics.
- Dr. Iltai Kim, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received $5,000 for his research titled, “Nanoscale Thickness Measurement of Liquid Thin Film in Lubricant Impregnated Surface.”
- Dr. Scott King, Associate Professor and Chair of Computing Sciences, received $717.03 for his research titled, “Fall Detection Using Indoor Localization.”
- Dr. Patrick Larkin, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, received $5,000 for his research titled, “Clonal Architecture and Population Fitness in the Seagrass Halodule wrightii.”
- Dr. Daniel Maitland, Assistant Professor of Psychology, received $9,980 for his research titled, “The impact of Loneliness on Neuroendocrine Resilience.” The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Miguel Moreno, Associate Professor of Psychology, and Dr. Heather Webb, Associate Professor of Kinesiology.
- Dr. Peter Moore, Professor of History, received $2,500 for his research titled, “Carolina’s Lost Colony: A Borderlands History of Stuarts Town, 1680-1686.”
- Dr. Debra Plowman, Assistant Professor of Curriculum, Instruction and Learning Sciences, received $4,954 for her research titled, “Relationships Between Middle School Math Teachers’ Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching and Mathematics Instruction.”
- Dr. Scott Pool, Assistant Professor of Music, received $5,000 for his research titled, “Recording Project: Music for Unaccompanied Bassoon.”
- Dr. Mohan Rao, Associate Professor of Decision Sciences, received $5,000 for his research titled, “Data Science Models and Methods to Analyze and Predict Student Retention and Graduation.”
- Dr. Brandi Reese, Assistant Professor of Microbial Ecology, received $5,000 for her research titled, “Development of High Throughput Culturing Technique to Target Uncultivated Microorganisms.”
- Dr. Sandrine Sanos, Associate Professor of Modern European History, received $3,500 for her research titled, “The Horror of History: Violence, Exile, and Gender in Cold War France.”
- Dr. Jennifer Sorensen, Assistant Professor of English, received $4,950 for her research titled, “Chapter on Sylvia Plath from Printing Women: Female Authorship in the Modernist Marketplace.”
- Dr. Doyeon Won, Associate Professor of Sport Management, received $4,970 for his research titled, “Examining the Role of Sport Activities in the Adaptation of Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Internationals.”
Texas Comprehensive Research Fund Program Awards
- Dr. Tianxing Chu, Assistant Professor of GIS and Engineering, received $20,000 for his research titled, “Mobile Geospatial Sensing for 3D Campus Survey and Indoor Localization.” The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Michael Starek, Associate Professor of Geospatial Systems Engineering.
- Dr. Byung Lee, Assistant Professor of Engineering, received $19,946 for his research titled “Advanced Human-Technology Interaction Design in Wearable Activity Tracking Devices for Maximizing Health Benefits.” The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Junfei Xie, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, and Dr. Toyin Ajisafe, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology.
- Dr. Jai Prakash, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, received $17,500 for his research titled, “Development of Bio-Inspired Water Oxidation Catalysts for H2 Production for Energy Applications.”
- Dr. Feiqin Xie, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, received $19,992 for his research titled, “Hurricane Boundary Layer Study with In-situ and Satellite Measurements.”
Texas Comprehensive Research Fund Postdoctoral Support Awards
- Dr. David Portnoy, Assistant Professor of Marine Biology, received $30,000 for his research titled, “Characterizing Sex-Determining Regions in Southern Flounder and other TPWD Hatchery Species.” The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Shannon O’Leary, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Life Sciences.
- Dr. Edward Proffitt, Professor in the Department of Life Sciences, received $30,000 for his research titled, “Analysis of Erosion and Subsidence in Texas Coastal Wetlands.” The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Carolyn Weaver, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Life Sciences.
Research Equipment and Infrastructure Awards
- Dr. Mohamed Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Geophysics, received $6,652 for the acquisition of ENVI (Environment for Visualizing Images) software. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Kirk Cammarata, Associate Professor of Biology, Dr. Michael Starek, Associate Professor of Geospatial Systems Engineering, and Dr. Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Professor of Engineering.
- Dr. Wei Xu, Assistant Professor of Marine Biomedical Science, received $20,000 for his project titled, “Establishing a Platform for Fundamental Protein Analyses with UVP ChemStudio Bioimaging System.” The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Frauke Seemann, Assistant Professor of Marine Biomedical Science.
- Dr. Lin Zhang, Assistant Professor of Marine Chemistry, received $27,896.50 for the acquisition of a discrete analyzer for nutrient analysis.
