Latest Faculty Accomplishments
News
AWARDS
Dr. Kevin L. Giovanetti (Professor, Physics and Astronomy) received a 2015 Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology at the 26th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning. Giovanetti was nominated for creating a technology-infused learning environment, allowing JMU students to gain an innovative, first-hand experience that will carry over into their professional careers.
Shelly L. Hokanson (Assistant Professor, Media Arts and Design) received the Solo Best of Competition award at the 2015 Broadcast Education Association Faculty Interactive Multimedia Competition for her Wildlife Center Patient Care App.
GRANTS (awarded in March)
Dr. Marta K. Bechtel (Associate Professor, Biology) received $138,342 from Harvey Mudd College to characterize both gene and protein expression changes in the cornea model.
Kimberlee Hartzler-Weakley (Director of Children and Youth, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) received $151,714 and $17,852 from the Virginia Department of Education to provide supplemental educational services to the children of migrant farm workers in collaboration with local school districts and to assess language and educational experience and progress of individual students.
Dr. S. Keith Holland (Assistant Professor, Engineering), Dr. Kyle G. Gipson (Assistant Professor, Engineering), Dr. Justin J. Henriques (Assistant Professor, Engineering) and Dr. Robert L. Nagel (Assistant Professor, Engineering) received $450 from VentureWell to train students to be the drivers of change through the implementation of a new Innovation Leadership minor.
Dr. S. Keith Holland (Assistant Professor, Engineering) and Dr. Justin J. Henriques (Assistant Professor, Engineering) received $11,742 from the American Woodmark Corp. to perform time-motion studies of the cabinetry installation process, collect data regarding the common installation procedures, statistically analyze the resulting information and identify areas for potential process of product improvements based on the results.
Dr. Robert A. Kolvoord (Dean, Integrated Science and Engineering) received $198,180 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to support the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science and Education for 2015 and 2017.
Dr. Ian A. Muehlenhaus (Assistant Professor, Integrated Science and Technology) received $80,651 from the National Science Foundation to identify design principles and develop algorithms for creating easy-to-read flow maps with curved flow lines to increase the geographic literacy of the general public.
Dr. Cynthia R. O’Donoghue (Head, Communication Sciences and Disorders) and Christy L. Ludlow (Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders) received $40,857 from the National Institutes of Health to provide the essential diagnostic and measurement tools to define the spasmodic dysphonia population for future biomarker studies and to support clinical trials comparing new treatments for the disorder.
Dr. Stacey L. Pavelko (Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders) received $3,217 from the Virginia Department of Education to develop quizzes to assess learning of speech language clinicians using the Sampling Utterances and Grammatical Analysis Revisited (SUGAR) method of obtaining a language sample via web-based modules.
Jamie Rice (Graduate Student, Counseling and Supervision) received a $20,000 fellowship from the National Board of Certified Counselors Foundation, which covers living expenses, education and professional develop costs for Rice to go to conferences and network with others in her field. The grant was first given in 2012, and goes to 23 doctoral-level fellows across the country each year.
Dr. Kenneth R. Rutherford (Director, Center for International Stabilization and Recovery) received $125,000 from the U.S. Department of State to provide a training opportunity and additional staffing support for PM/WRA.
Dr. Brenda M. Ryals (Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders) received $35,192 from the American Auditory Society to support the editor-in-chief of the Ear and Hearing Journal.
Dr. David A. Slykhuis (Associate Professor of Middle, Secondary, and Mathematics Education) received $200,000 from the Virginia Department of Education to sponsor three academies (physical science, earth science and biology) at the 2015 Content Teaching Academy: Augmenting Science and Special Educator Teams and two academies for Adapted Physical Education.
Dr. Kristen E. St. John (Professor, Geology and Environmental Science) received $49,761 from the Consortium for Ocean Leadership Inc. to provide minority-serving institution (MSI) faculty and students with immersive paleoclimate instruction, using authentic ocean core data, and mentored research experiences, for the purposes of enhancing scientific literacy and options for integrating research-based, data-rich ocean and climate curricula for MSI faculty and students.
Dr. Rhonda M. Zingraff (Associate Dean, College of Health and Behavioral Studies), Cheryl L. Henderson (Co-director and Instructor, Training and Technical Assistance Center) and John T. McNaught (Co-director and Instructor, Training and Technical Assistance Center) received $30,000 from the Virginia Department of Education to continue to assess needs and services provided to consumers in Region 5 following each consultation and training event provided by the Training/Technical Assistance Center's staff. Zingraff, Henderson and McNaught also received $60,625 from the Virginia Department of Education to provide direct instruction, models and opportunities to practice skills associated with self-determined behavior beginning at the elementary level and continuing through the student’s educational career.
HONORS
Dr. Jason T. Haraldsen (Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy) and Dr. Keigo Fukumura (Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy) were chosen as the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Scholars for 2015-17. This is only the second time that two professors from the same university were chosen for the honor.
Dr. W. Christopher Hughes (Professor, Physics and Astronomy) was chosen as the 2015 College of Science and Mathematics Madison Scholar. Hughes is one of five people in the college of Science and Mathematics to have been recognized as both a Madison Scholar and a Distinguished Teacher.
Dr. Gina M. MacDonald (Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry) is one of 50 faculty from primarily undergraduate institutions accepted into the Cottrell Scholar program. The program offers faculty attendance to the Cottrell Scholar Conference in Tucson, potential for career advancement awards and invitations to participate in the activities of the CS Collaborative, a cross-disciplinary network of Cottrell Scholars who work in teams on educational projects with potential high impact.
Dr. C. Steven Whisnant (Head, Physics and Astronomy) was awarded the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship. The award is given to faculty who demonstrate dedication to research and engage students in a creative and scholarly environment.
PRESENTATIONS
Dr. Thomas R. Adajian (Associate Professor, Philosophy) presented a paper, "Some Thoughts, Some of Them Peircean, About Argument Diagrams," at TRiP 2015: Pictures and Proofs (the Three Rivers Philosophy Conference 2015) at the University of South Carolina on March 20.
Haley Ann Athey (Graduate Student, Communication and Speech Disorders) presented “Listening Fatigue at Adverse Signal to Noise Ratios” at the American Academy of Audiology Annual Convention in San Antonio, March 25-28.
Michelle Gerringer (Graduate Student, Communication and Speech Disorders) presented “The Effect of EphA4 Signaling Mutations on Auditory Function” at the 2015 American Auditory Society's Scientific & Technical Conference in Phoenix, March 5-7.
Sarah Lynn McClements (Graduate Student, Communication and Speech Disorders) presented “Release from Masking: Behavioral and Physiological Masking Level Differences” at the American Auditory Society Annual Scientific and Technology Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., March 5-7.
Allison Grace McGrath (Graduate Student, Communication and Speech Disorders) presented “Test-Retest Reliability of Wideband Absorbance Measures in Young & Old Adults” at the American Academy of Audiology Annual Convention in San Antonio, March 25-28.
Ryan Prusator (Graduate Student, European Union Policy Studies) presented “A portrait of the new Italian NEPs: Women, young, and. …revolutionary?” at the European Union Studies Association Conference in Boston, March 5-7.
Mandy Robertson (Graduate Student, Communication and Speech Disorders) presented “The effects of aging on wideband acoustic immittance” at the American Academy of Audiology Annual Convention, San Antonio, March 25-28.
Margaret Schmelzinger (Graduate Student, European Union Policy Studies) presented “Exploring variation in MEPs Adoption and use of Twitter as a representation tool” at the European Union Studies Association Conference in Boston, March 5-7.
Sarah Sheppard (Graduate Student, University Recreation) presented “The emotionally intelligent team” at the NIRSA National Conference 2015 in Grapevine, Texas, March 30-April 2.
Seng Mun Wong (Graduate Student, Communication and Speech Disorders) presented “The Effects of Laryngeal Vibrotactile Stimulation on Swallowing Frequency in Dysphagic Patients: A Pilot Study” at the Dysphagia Research Society Annual Meeting 2015 in Chicago, March 11-15.
PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Erica J. Lewis (Assistant Professor, Nursing) published a video, “Relationship of Adverse Events and Support to RN Burnout,” in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality. The study examined “second victims,” who are RNs harmed from their involvement in medical errors. This study found a relationship between RN involvement in preventable adverse events and two types of burnout: emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.
Dr. Stephen P. Marrin (Associate Professor, Integrated Science and Technology) published a research article, "Improving Intelligence Studies as an Academic Discipline," on the online research journal, Taylor and Francis Online.
Dr. John W. Ott (Professor, Art, Design and Art History) published essays in the book “Darren Waterston, Filthy Lucre,” which explore the parallels between the excesses and inequities of the Gilded Age and the social and economic disparities of our own time. Ott will also present his work on May 16 in a roundtable discussion, “Stories of Art and Money,” for the opening day of the exhibition "Peacock Room REMIX" at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Michael L. Stoloff (Interim Associate Dean, The Graduate School), Megan Rodgers Good (Graduate Student, Assessment and Measurement), Kristen Smith (Graduate Student, Assessment and Measurement) and Dr. JoAnne Brewster (Professor, Graduate Psychology) published an article, “Characteristics of Programs That Maximize Psychology Major Success,” in Teaching of Psychology.
SERVICE
Dr. Mark C. Rankin (Associate Professor, English) was named editor of the scholarly journal Reformation, a leading English-language journal that publishes original research in Scholarship of the Reformation era.
