2023 Summer Grant Recipients
Dr. Ashley Adams (Department of Biology)
Dr. Adams is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology. Summer funding will support her project "A Trait-Based Framework for Understanding Plant Responses to Altered Precipitation Regimes."
Adams earned her Ph.D. in Ecology at Colorado State University. Before joining the faculty at Appalachian in 2023, she completed postdoctoral work studying plant community responses to rangeland compost additions at University of Oregon.
Adams researches how ecosystem functions are governed by plant and soil biodiversity, particularly focusing on soil invertebrates. She aims to improve understanding of how ecosystems respond to management under global changes, and the role that both above and below ground communities play in regulating ecosystem resilience.
To learn more about Adams, visit her profile.
Dr. Michael Eng (Department of Philosophy & Religion)
Dr. Eng is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy & Religion, as well as a faculty affiliate with the Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies program in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. Summer funding will support the writing of an article-length essay, titled “Sounds of Subjection: Black Thinking’s Maternal Call in Fred Moten’s Heideggerian Poetics.”
Eng earned his Ph.D in Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture from Binghamton University. Eng's research is situated in the intersection of contemporary continental aesthetic theory and philosophies of difference. His book, The Scene of the Voice: Thinking Language after Affect (SUNY Press, 2023), recovers the question of language in the work of philosopher Martin Heidegger and post-Heideggerian continental thought in order to critically respond to the recent affective and aesthetic turns in contemporary theory.
To learn more about Eng, visit his profile.
Dr. Tinghao Feng (Department of Computer Science)
Dr. Feng is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science. Summer funding will support his project “A Semi-Intelligent Approach for Epileptic Seizures Detection using EEG Brain Signals.”
Feng earned his Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, specializing in data science and visual analytics. He has published several papers in leading academic journals and conferences. Feng is also an active research community member, serving as a reviewer for several top-tier conferences and journals.
One of Feng's notable research projects was the development of a semi-intelligent method for epilepsy detection using electroencephalogram (EEG) data. The project addressed the challenge of accurately diagnosing epilepsy, which can be difficult even for experienced neurologists. Feng's method involved creating a system that leveraged the expertise of doctors and nurses who had no prior experience with machine learning. The system allowed them to label abnormal EEG patterns and provide feedback on auto-detected results. The resulting AI model showed promising results in detecting abnormal EEG patterns, demonstrating the potential of machine learning to support healthcare professionals in diagnosing and treating neurological disorders.
Outside of his academic work, Tinghao is also an accomplished guitar player who enjoys playing a variety of genres. He believes music is a powerful tool for self-expression and enjoys sharing his talents.
To learn more about Feng, visit his profile.
Dr. Robert Freeland (Department of Sociology)
Dr. Freeland is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology. Summer funding will support his project “Cultural Misconceptions and the Gender Wage Gap.”
Freeland earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from Duke University. His research and teaching interests span social stratification, social psychology and quantitative methods. Freeland's research centers on exploring how subjective aspects of society like status, identity and cultural meanings affect inequality by gender, race and class.
To learn more about Freeland, visit his profile.
Dr. Mohammad Ali Javidian (Department of Computer Science)
Dr. Javidian is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science. Summer funding will support his project “Performance Debugging in Software Systems through the Lens of Causality.”
Javidian earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina. His research interests include classical/quantum causal inference and probabilistic graphical models for decision making under uncertainty. His research seeks to develop theoretically sound, reliable and scalable Causal AI/ML approaches with applications in computer systems and healthcare.
To learn more about Javidian, visit his profile.
Dr. Hye Sung Kim (Department of Government & Justice Studies)
Dr. Kim is an assistant professor in the Department of Government & Justice Studies. Summer funding will support her project “Developing Proposals for the Korea Foundation's Policy-Oriented Research Program Grant and NSF Security and Preparedness (SAP) Grant.”
Kim earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Rochester. Her research areas include political behavior and the political economy of development, addressing the questions in ethnic politics and conflict processes in sub-Saharan Africa and Northeast Asia. Prior to joining App State in 2022, Kim was an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Winthrop University.
Kim's work has been published in Electoral Studies, Political Research Quarterly, Journal of Modern African Studies, Social Science Quarterly, Africa Spectrum, The Extractive Industry and Society and Habitat International, among others. Her book manuscript, titled Political Power and the Logic of Co-Ethnic Marginalization in Africa, is forthcoming from Routledge.
To learn more about Kim, visit her profile.
Dr. Paul Lucas (Department of Government & Justice Studies)
Dr. Lucas is an assistant professor within the Department of Government & Justice Studies. Summer funding will support his project "Measuring the Successful Operation of Veterans Treatment Courts Through Their Adherence to the 10 Key Components: An Exploratory Examination."
Lucas' project aims to develop a validated survey instrument measuring Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) adherence to the 10 Key Components. Treatment courts are non-adversarial courts which utilize therapeutic jurisprudence and effective intervention to target the criminogenic needs of court participants in order to reduce the likelihood of future criminal justice system involvement.
Lucas earned his Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Lucas' areas of expertise are criminal courts, problem-solving courts, program evaluation and criminal justice policy. He has experience working with a variety of different treatment courts across the United States and, in addition to other on-going research projects, is currently the principal investigator for two federally funded program evaluations involving the Ellis County Felony Drug Court (23rd Judicial District, KS) and the Forsyth County Veterans Treatment Court (21st Judicial District, NC).
To learn more about Lucas, visit his profile.
Dr. Jessica Martell (Department of Interdisciplinary Studies)
Dr. Martell is an assistant professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. Summer funding will support her project “Greenwashing and the Global Pastoral.”
Martell received her Ph.D from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She specializes in literature, food, film and the environment. Her book, Farm to Form: Modernist Literature and Ecologies of Food in the British Empire (University of Nevada Press, 2020), investigates the relationship between the industrial food of the empire and the emergence of literary modernisms in Britain and Ireland.
To learn more about Martell, visit her profile.
Dr. Raja Rahim (Department of History)
Dr. Rahim is an assistant professor in the Department of History. Summer funding will support her project “Our Ball, Our Game: The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the History of Black College Basketball in the United States, 1912-1992.”
Rahim received her Ph.D in History from the University of Florida. As a social and cultural historian, she specializes in African American history, 20th century U.S. history, sport history and oral history. She also focuses on public history and digital humanities.
To learn more about Rahim, visit her profile.
Dr. Kelly Ann Renwick (Department of Interdisciplinary Studies)
Dr. Renwick is an assistant professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. Summer funding will support her project "Food Insecurity and Health Inequity among the Latinx Community in the North Carolina High Country."
Renwick has an interdisciplinary background in health geography formed at the crossroads of human geography, epidemiology, and the social determinants of health. She received her Ph.D. in Geography from McGill University, and her doctoral work focused on the influence of low social support, a weak sense of belonging and living alone on premature mortality and hospital length of stay among aging Canadians.
Renwick's research interests include global and population health, the impacts of food insecurity on health outcomes, global health and climate change and health inequalities among vulnerable and marginalized populations. She is currently collaborating with researchers from Meredith College to understand rates of food insecurity, the usage of food assistance programs, and diet-related poor health outcomes (e.g., obesity and diabetes) among Latino/a/x communities in the North Carolina High Country. Her overarching research objectives are to improve access to healthy food and reduce food-related health disparities.
Renwick is a global citizen and has enjoyed traveling to many parts of the world, including her places of origin, Canada and Grenada, as well as Puerto Rico, Ireland and the British Isles, western Europe, Kenya, India, Nepal and Thailand. Today, Dr. Renwick is active in the community and is an advocate for community-supported agriculture. She is on the board of directors for Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, a non-profit dedicated to building an equitable and sustainable local food system in North Carolina’s High Country.
To learn more about Renwick, visit her profile.
Dr. Todd Stincic (Department of Biology)
Dr. Stincic is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology. Summer funding will support his project “Sex Differences in Energy Balances.”
Stincic earned his Ph.D in Neuroscience from Florida State University. His research focuses on neuroendocrinology.
To learn more about Stincic, visit his profile.
Dr. Peter Thompson (Department of Government & Justice Studies)
Dr. Thompson is an assistant professor in the Department of Government & Justice Studies. Summer funding will support his project “Armed Conflict and Maternal Health Outcomes in Africa: A Geospatial Analysis.”
Thompson earned his Ph.D in Public Policy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His research and teaching interests are African Politics, forced displacement, development, climate change and violent conflicts (including climate change-induced conflicts).
To learn more about Thompson, visit his profile.
Dr. Xiaofei Tu (Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures)
Dr. Tu is an assistant professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures. Summer funding will support work on his book manuscript, titled “Women’s Autobiographies and 20th Century Chinese Revolution (1921-1949)."
Tu's book investigates the intersection of the personal and political lives of some of the women activists in China's Communist revolution (1921-1949) from their own narratives and perspectives. Relying on testimonies, eye-witness accounts, and memoirs, his project tries to answer questions about the role of gender in the power hierarchy of the Chinese Communist movement, and women's negotiations of subjectivity and identity in public and private spheres in the midst of the rapid social change and turmoil.
Tu received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Syracuse University. His research focuses on East Asian cultures and societies. His current scholarship examines the interaction between political ideologies and popular cultures. His most recent publication is a monograph titled “Japanese Idols Go to China: Cultural Adaptation and Nationalism” (Lexington Books, 2022). The book situates the Chinese acceptance of Japanese popular culture, specifically the intriguing and sometimes awkward relationship between the “idol” groups AKB48 and SNH48, within the broad context of nationalist ideology and international relations in East Asia.
To learn more about Tu, visit his profile.
Dr. Matthew Wright (Department of Sociology)
Dr. Wright is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology. Summer funding will support his project “Intergenerational Relationships among Older Cohabitors.”
Wright earned his Ph.D in Sociology from Bowling Green State University. He joined App State in 2020 and primarily teaches courses on families, aging, research methods and statistics.
Wright's research, which has appeared in Journal of Marriage and Family, Journals of Gerontology, Demography and Journal of Health and Social Behavior, examines the implications of family change in later life, with a focus on marriage, divorce and cohabitation. His current projects examine the well-being and social relationships of older cohabitors and adults who have experienced divorce after age 50. Another line of research investigates family attitudes among older adults, both in the U.S. and internationally, and how they have changed over time.
To learn more about Wright, visit his profile.