EMU Today

YPSILANTI – Eastern Michigan University faculty members will pursue a rich assortment of research, scholarly and creative projects or activities this summer under a series of awards approved Thursday, June 18 by the EMU Board of Regents.

The wide range of topics includes areas such as vehicle security, hunting cyber threats, and personality’s role in successful aging.

The Summer Research/Creative Activity Awards are intended to encourage and support the endeavors of full-time tenured or tenure-track EMU faculty during the summer months (May-August) by providing stipends of $12,000 for outstanding proposals in lieu of summer teaching assignments.

Faculty may apply in teams. Each team member is allowed to request a full award, but each benefiting member must submit a full electronic application.

The 43 Summer Research Awards for 2020 include the following faculty members, listed alphabetically along with their academic department and project topic.

Mohammed Noraden Alsaleh, Information Security and Applied Computing. “Automated and Provable Hypothesis Investigation for Cyber Threat Hunting.”

Eamonn Arble, Psychology. “Contributions of Personality to Successful Aging.”

Cassandra Barragan, Social Work) “Trauma Informed Complementary Health Interventions for Veterans with PTSD.”

Kimberly Barrett, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology. “Violations, Extractions, & Penalties in the Petroleum Industry: Testing the Treadmill of Crime.”

Adam Briggs, Psychology. “Effectively Training Behavioral Technicians at EMU’s Autism Collaborative Center Efficiently: A Sequential Analysis.”

Jonathan Carter, Communication, Media, and Theatre Arts. “Public Media, Private Screens: Exploring the Rise of Intimate Mass Media.”

Sean Xiangdong Che, Information Security and Applied Computing. “A Digital Twin Simulation Approach for Vehicle Security Research.”

Chong Man Chow, Psychology. “Supportive Weight Talk in Mother-Adolescent Daughter Relationships: Implications for Weight Status, Weight Management, and Body Image.”

Michael Doan, History and Philosophy. “Writing a Book on the Philosophy of James Boggs.”

Margaret Dobbins, English Language and Literature. “Aesthetically Disgusting: Rudyard Kipling in the Age of Decolonization.”

Cory Emal, Chemistry. “Initial Investigations into Core Modifications of Inhibitors of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 (PAI-1).”

Ryan English, Visual & Built Environments. “Hand Made: Design, Development, and Creation of a New Sculpture.”

Bradley Ensor, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology. “Archaeological Investigations of Coastal Communities at the Camaronera Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico.”

Xianghong Feng, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology. “One Journal Article, One External Grant Proposal, and One Short Ethnographic Film: Entrepreneurialism, Local Governance, and Family Relations in a Tourism Context in China.”

Catherine Gammon, Health Promotion and Human Performance. “Exploring Physical Health, Wellbeing, and Cognitive Function Among Preschoolers, Young Adolescents, and College Students.”

Maria Luz Garcia, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology. “The Road Home: The Effects of Immigration in Maya Communities in Guatemala.”

Sarah Ginsberg, Special Education). “Peer Mentoring to Improve Peer Reviews.”

Rob Halpern, English Language and Literature. “My Augustine.”

Jenni Hoffman, Nursing. “An Innovative Community/Public Health Nursing Virtual Simulation: A Mixed Methods Study.”

Khairul Islam, Mathematics and Statistics. “Confidence Interval Estimates of the Average Time 15 Years and Older Spend per Day by Engaging in Physical Activities in the United States.”

Brandon Johnson, Music and Dance. “Composition, Performance, and Recording of an Original Musical Score, for Choir, String Quartet, Lighting, and Narrator(s).”

Andrii Kashliev, Computer Science. “Storing and Querying Provenance Data in Big Data Databases.”

Myung-Sook Koh, Special Education. “Teacher Efficacy in Classroom Management and Discipline: The Comparative Perceptions and Perspectives of Korean Teachers and Students.”

Jamie Lawler, Psychology. “A Longitudinal Study of the Development of Self-Control in Early Childhood and Its Implications for Socioemotional Development and Mental Health.”

Elizabeth Loomis, Nursing. “A Shared Decision-Making Tool for Opioid Prescribing Following Cesarean Delivery: An Initiative to Decrease the Reservoir of Opioids in the Community.”

Cynthia Macknish, World Languages. “Writing a Book Entitled, Reflecting on Academic Service-Learning in TESOL.”

Andrew Mansfield, Engineering. “Initial Investigation of the Supercritical Combustion of Acetic Acid - A Pathway to Alternative Energy.”

Alexandros Maragakis, Psychology. “Pediatric Primary Care Training for Anxiety, Depression, and Neurobehavioral Disorders.”

Salar Mesdaghinia, Management. “Stopping Business Misconduct.”

Paul Price, Biology. “Mixed-Culture Fermentation in Antibiotic Discovery.”

Pejman Rezakhani, Visual & Built Environments. “Development of a Dynamic Data- Driven Project Scheduling and Resource Allocation Model for Effective Project Management Under Uncertainty."

Renuka Roche, Health and Human Service. “A Qualitative Study of Current Rehab Practices for Muscular Dystrophies: Views and Experiences of Rehab Professionals.”

Jodonnis Rodriguez, Accounting and Finance. “The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Diversity on Small, Publicly-Traded Companies.”

Gabriel Rudebusch, Chemistry. “Building Functional Metal-like Molecules.”

Ken Saldanha, Social Work. “Farmworkers and the 2020 Census: Enhancing and Researching Their Participation.”

Joel Schoenhals, Music and Dance. “Chopin at Home: Reviving Techniques from the Golden Age of the Piano.”

Rachel Schroeder, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology. “Allergic to Life, It's Not a Joke: The Lived Experience of the Stigmatization and Unbelievability of Mast Cell Disease.”

Hannah Seidel, Biology. “Imaging Pre-Replication in Stem Cells Using Expansion Microscopy.”

Macarthur Lamar Stewart, Engineering. “A Prototyping Method to Evaluate 3D Printed Prosthetic Leg Sockets.”

Amanda Stype, Economics. “An Examination of the Determinants of Veteran Use of VA Care, Community Care, and the Implications for the MISSION Act.”

Weitian Tong, Computer Science. “Build a Smarter City Via More Efficient Communication Networks.”

Christina Topolewski, Social Work. “Examination of the Rewards of Aging Parental Caregivers of Adult Children with Autism.”

Stephanie Wladkowski, Social Work) “Evaluating a Protocol for Live Discharge from Hospice.”

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves nearly 18,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.