2025 Summer Grant Recipients
Dr. Mohammed Adjieteh (Department of Mathematical Sciences)
Dr. Mohammed Adjieteh, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, received summer funding to support his project "Quantile Least Squares for Robust-Efficient Fitting and Validation of Loss Models."
Dr. Nancy Asen (Department of Chemistry & Fermentation Sciences)
Dr. Nancy Asen, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry & Fermentation Sciences, received summer funding to support her project "Structure-function Relationship and Application of Oilseed Protein Isolates or Concentrates Derived from Fermentation-assisted Extraction."
Dr. Brooke Burrows (Department of Psychology)
Dr. Brooke Burrows, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, received summer funding to support her project "Bridging and Bonding during Hurricane Helene: The Influence of Politics, Religion, and Social Class on Disaster Relief Efforts."
Dr. Anna Daftuar (Department of Interdisciplinary Studies)
Dr. Annu Daftuar, assistant professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, received summer funding to support her project "A Critical Reading of Transnational Adoption Laws in India."
Dr. Seth Grooms (Department of Anthropology)
Dr. Seth Grooms, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, received summer funding to support his project "The Lumbee River Archaeology Project (LRAP)."
Dr. Grooms is an archaeologist who works in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. He uses methods from geoarchaeology, landscape archaeology and chronological modeling and interprets the resulting data within a theoretical framework comprising traditional anthropological theory as well as Native American philosophies developed by contemporary American Indian scholars.
Grooms is the Director of the Lumbee River Archaeology Project (LRAP). The LRAP pursues research topics, cultural heritage management issues and community education initiatives in collaboration with the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
Dr. Thomas Gross (Department of Psychology)
Dr. Thomas Gross, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, received summer funding to support his project "Connecting Prevention-focused Measurement and Educator Social/Emotional/Behavioral Data-use Training Scholarship."
Dr. Peaches Hash (Department of English)
Dr. Peaches Hash, assistant professor in the Department of English, received summer funding to support her project "Teaching Arts-Based Research Book Proposal."
Dr. Anna Holleman (Department of Sociology)
Dr. Anna Holleman, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, received summer funding to support her project "Religion as a Source of Support and Struggle for LGBTQ Family Formation."
Dr. Holleman's research and teaching interests include religion, health, inequality and research methods. She received an M.Div. from Duke University Divinity School before receiving her Ph.D. from Duke University. Dr. Holleman's research focuses on how religion and inequality interact as social determinants of health, as well as how religious organizations and leaders respond to larger societal sources of inequality. Her current projects investigate how congregational leaders address racial inequality in their preaching and organizational leadership, and how religious institutions provide (or fail to provide) welcoming and affirming spaces for members of the LGBTQ community. Her work has been published in JAMA Psychiatry, Social Science & Medicine, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and Sociology of Religion, among other outlets.
Dr. Yeganeh Madadi (Department of Computer Science)
Dr. Yeganeh Madadi, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, received summer funding to support her project "Humanoid Robots Powered by Large Language Models to Enhance Communication with Autistic Children."
Dr. Brad Phillis (Department of History)
Dr. Brad Phillis, assistant professor in the Department of History, received summer funding to support his project "Descended Equally from Royal Seed: Crusade and the Counts of Flanders, 1071-1204."
Dr. Christoph Schmitz (Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures)
Dr. Christoph Schmitz, assistant professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures, received summer funding to support his project "Research Summer Grant: Peter Weiss & Dietmar Dath."
Dr. Nazia Sharmin (Department of Computer Science)
Dr. Nazia Sharmin, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, received summer funding to support her project "Modeling Adversary Intentions in Network Security: A Framework for Proactive Threat Detection and Defense."
Dr. Rashmi Singh (Department of Mathematical Sciences)
Dr. Rashmi Singh, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, received summer funding to support her project "Impact of Professional Development on Math Story Framework in Elementary Prospective Teachers' Lesson Design."
Dr. Elizabeth Trudeau (Department of Sociology)
Dr. Elizabeth Trudeau, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, received summer funding to support her project "Providing Services for Male Survivors."
Dr. Trudeau is a sociologist who researches how our social identities affect our experiences with social problems, crime, and the criminal-legal system. She previously studied and taught in the Midwest at the University of Notre Dame and Carleton College before coming to App State. Her work has examined survival sex work, how women navigate feminist/anti-feminist identities and the U.S. anti-human-trafficking movement. Her current projects are investigating how gender, race, sexuality and other identities affect the way victims of crime are discussed in public media and treated as sympathetic or unsympathetic by the public. She is passionate about teaching in these areas as well as in methodology with the goal of helping students understand and use social data in any career they choose.
Dr. Adelya Urmanche (Department of Psychology)
Dr. Adelya Urmanche, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, received summer funding to support her project "Girls Just Want to Have Fun(ding)."
Dr. William Wang (Department of Geography & Planning)
Dr. William Wang, assistant professor in the Department of Geography & Planning, received summer funding to support his project "Resilience and Resistance of Riparian Vegetation to Drought: Insights from the Upper Tennessee River Basin."
Dr. Wang earned his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Connecticut. His research focuses on GIScience, climate change, hydrology, land use and land cover change and health geography. Wang's current work investigates the impact of drought events on riparian vegetation health, the integration of machine learning in flood modeling and human migration patterns driven by flooding. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, including Scientific Reports, Geo-spatial Information Science, Earth Science Informatics and International Journal of Geographical Information Science.
Prior to joining Appalachian State, Wang was an assistant teaching professor at Mississippi State University and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Idaho, where he contributed to an NSF EPSCoR-funded geospatial modeling initiative. He has also been actively involved in professional service as a guest editor for multiple journals and a reviewer for numerous scientific publications. Wang teaches courses in GIScience, environmental remote sensing and geospatial technology. He has also advised graduate students and led initiatives to expand GIS education.
Dr. Zhiyuan Yao (Department of Geography & Planning)
Dr. Zhiyuan Yao, assistant professor in the Department of Geography & Planning, received summer funding to support her project "Assessing Public Transit Transfer Performance Using GTFS and Ridership Data in Boone, NC."