Accolades
2021 Research Grants and Funding
Anthropology
FEB Dr. Keri Brondo, professor and department chair in the Department of Anthropology, was awarded $20,000 from the National Geographic Society for her project “Fishing Livelihoods & Lionfish Markets in Utila Keys.”
Biological Sciences
AUGUST Kelly Miller, student in the Department of Biology (mentor, Dr. Emerson Bowers), was awarded $1,342 from the American Ornithological Society for her project “The effect of coloration on mate choice and reproductive allocation in a wild bird population.”
AUGUST Ashley Coleman, student in the Department of Biology (mentor, Dr. Emerson Bowers), was awarded $1,057 from the Tennessee Ornithological Society for her project “Sex Allocation and Heritability of Maternal Care in Carolina Wrens (Thyrothorus ludoviscianus).”
JULY: Dr. Shawn Brown, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $12,575 from Mississippi State University with the Mississippi Department of Agriculture & Commerce for his project “Sweet potato as a natural energy food prebiotic to improve health and endurance.”
JULY: Dr. Bernie Daigle, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $99,965 from the U.S. Army Research Office for his project “KnowledgeAssisted Multi-omic Biomarker Identification for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.”
JULY: Dr. Thomas Sutter, professor and Feinstone Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology, was awarded $179,375 from the National Institutes of Health for his project “A core transcription factor complex of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.”
MAY: Dr. Thomas Sutter, professor and Feinstone Chairman of Molecular Biology in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $50,000 from the National Institutes of Health for his project “A core transcription factor complex of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.”
FEB Dr. Duane McKenna, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $271,634 from Texas A&M University with the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “Multidisciplinary Approach to Baioacoustics: Integrating phylogenomics, biophysics, and functional genomics to unravel the evolution of hearing and singing in katydids, crickets, and allies.”
CERI
August Dr. Eunseo Choi, associate professor of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $52,128 from the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) for his project “Viscoelastic numerical modeling of crustal deformation in the Korean Peninsula after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.”
AUGUST Dr. Mitchell Withers, associate research professor of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $201,159 from the United States Geological Survey for his project “Operation of the Mid-America Integrated Seismic Network 2020-2024-CERI.”
JULY: Dr. Eunseo Choi, associate professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI), was awarded $443,830 from the National Science Foundation for his project “Elements: Developing an integrated modeling platform for tectonics, earthquake cycles and surface processes.”
FEB Dr. Chris Cramer, research professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $94,482 from the U.S. Geological Survey for his project “Alaska Lg Tomography, Ground Motion Intensity Correlation Equation Development, and Subduction and Crustal GMM Alaska Regional Adjustments.” FEB Dr. Thomas Goebel, assistant professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $76,642 from the U.S. Geological Survey for his project “Experimental Constraints on Preparatory Processes and Seismic Velocity Changes before Induced Slip: Collaborative Research between the University of Memphis and University of California Berkeley.”
Chemistry
JULY: Dr. Xuan Zhao, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, was awarded $475,000 from the National Science Foundation for his project “Catalytic H2 Evolution by Molecular Cobalt Complexes with Pentadentate Ligands in Aqueous Solutions.”
JULY: Dr. Tomoko Fujiwara, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, was awarded $68,919 from Texas Tech University with the National Science Foundation for her project “CPS: Small Inkjet Printed Flexible Electronic CPS with Context-aware Events of Interest Detection.”
MAY: Dr. Nathan DeYonker, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, was awarded $79,837 from Q-Chem Inc with the U.S. Department of Energy for his project “Online Nexus for Quantum Mechanical Cluster Modeling of Proteins and Enzymes.”
FEB Dr. Paul Simone, associate professor and Chair in the Department of Chemistry, was awarded $18,582 from Foundation Instruments, LLC for his project “Development and Evaluation of the TotalTHM-NOW.”
City and Regional Planning
MARCH Dr. Charles Santo, associate professor and department chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning, was awarded $575,537 from Memphis Housing and Community Development with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for his project “Digital Inclusion in South City.”
Computer Science
AUGUST Dr. Thomas Watson, assistant professor of the Department of Computer Science, was awarded $7,617 from the National Science Foundation for his project “CAREER: Structural Communication Complexity.”
MARCH Dr. Amy Cook, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded $299,333 from the National Science Foundation for her project “IUSE: EHR: Improving TA Feedback Quality in Introductory Computer Science Courses.”
Criminology and Criminal Justice
JULY: Dr. Randolph Dupont, professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, was awarded $45,000 from the City of Memphis Police Department for his project “City of Memphis Police CIS.”
MAY: Dr. James McCutcheon, associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, was awarded $117,650 from the City of Memphis Police Department with the U.S. Department of Justice for his project “Policing Innovation Strategies.”
Earth Sciences
August Dr. Daniel Larsen, professor of Earth Sciences, was awarded $24,748 from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for his project “Geologic mapping of the Resting Springs SW and Tecopa NW 7.5' quadrangles, California: Investigation of a significant Quaternary paleoclimate record and geologic controls on modern groundwater resources.”
Institute for Intelligent Systems (IIS)
AUGUST Dr. Leah Windsor, research assistant professor of the Institute for Intelligent Systems, was awarded $450,000 from the National Science Foundation for her project “Language Across Cultures: The Communication Styles of World Leaders.”
AUGUST Dr. Gavin Bidelman, professor of the Institute for Intelligent Systems, was awarded $46,036 from the National Institutes of Health for his project “Neural bases of successful auditory learning.”
Philosophy
AUGUST Deborah Tollefsen of the College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded $79,564 from the John Templeton Foundation for her project “Honest Organizations.”
Physics and Materials Science
JULY: Dr. Firouzeh Sabri, professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Material Sciences, was awarded $61,032 from Oak Ridge Associated Universities for her project “ODRD University partnership.”
Psychology
AUGUST Daniel Gabriel, psychology student (Dr. Nicholas Simon, mentor), was awarded $37,112 from the National Institutes of Health for his project “The Role of Orbitofrontal Cortex in Risky Decision-Making.”
AUGUST Samuel Acuff, student in the Department of Psychology (mentor, Dr. James Murphy), was awarded $36,775 from the National Institute of Health for his project “Integration of Electrophysiological and Behavioral Economic Models of Reward Among Heavy Drinking Emerging Adults.”
AUGUST Dr. Kathryn Howell, associate professor of the Department of Psychology and director of Child and Family Studies Research, was awarded $112,500 from The Urban Child Institute for her project “Promoting Health and Well-being in Children and Families: Expansion of a Prenatal Intervention Program.”
AUGUST Dr. Philip Pavlik, associate professor of the Department of Psychology and affiliate of the Institute for Intelligent Systems, was awarded $431,594 from the U.S. Department of Education for his project “Using Adaptive Practice to Improve Recall and Understanding in Postsecondary Anatomy and Physiology.”
JUNE Dr. Helen Sable, associate chair of Educational Initiatives and associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, was awarded $285,908 from the National Science Foundation for her project “REU Site: Memphis Neuroscience Techniques and Research Training (NeuroSTART) Program.
JULY: Dr. John Sabatini, distinguished research professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Intelligent Systems, was awarded $46,602 from the Education Testing Service with the U.S. Department of Education for his project “Exploring and Assessing the Development of Students' Argumentation Skills.”
MAY: Dr. Deranda Lester, research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology was awarded $2,000 from Psi Chi for her project “Examining Whether Oxytocin Treatment Can Reverse Behavioral and Neurochemical Phenotypes Associated with Drug Abuse.”
JULY: Dr. James Whelan, clinical health research professor in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $180,000 from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for his project “Gambling Treatment Services FY22.”
Public and Nonprofit Administration
AUGUST Dr. Elizabeth Gillespie, assistant professor in the Department of Public and Nonprofit Administration, was awarded $4,567 from the Assisi Foundation of Memphis for her project “Empowering "Chief Everything Officers" to Fundraise Effectively.”
Social Work
AUGUST Dr. Susan Elswick, associate professor of the Department of Social Work, was awarded $17,400 from United Way of Greater Memphis for her project “ACES Building Stronger Brains Tennessee.”
AUGUST Dr. Elena Delavega, professor of the Department of Social Work, was awarded $60,000 from Church Health Center of Memphis for her project “Improving Behavioral Healthcare for the Latinx Community in Memphis.”
AUGUST Dr. Susan Elswick, associate professor of the Department of Social Work, was awarded $195,000 from The Urban Child Institute for her project “School Mental Health Access to Resources through Teletherapy (SMART) Research, Training, and Treatment Center.”
AUGUST Dr. Susan Neely-Barnes, professor, director, and chair of the Department of Social Work, was awarded $615,768 from Health Resources and Services Administration for her project “Memphis Social Work Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (MSW-SDS).”
JUNE Dr. Andrea Pirkey, post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Social Work, was awarded $9,250 from Compass Community Schools for her project “HERO Training Program: Compass/UCI Pilot.”
MAY: Dr. Seok Won Jin, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, was awarded $10,000 from the University of Memphis Foundation for his project “Assessing Disparities in Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination in the MidSouth.”
APRIL Dr. Minhae Cho, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, was awarded $13,519 from the Regents of the University of Minnesota with the Annie E. Casey Foundation from her project “Moral Injury in Youth and Young Adults
MARCH Dr. Melissa Hirschi, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, was awarded $107,000 from NAMI Tennessee with the U.S. Department of Justice for her project “Evaluation of NAMI-TN Rural CIT Expansion.”
Sociology
JULY: Dr. Wesley James, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and director of the Center for Community Research and Evaluation, was awarded $15,000 from the A Step Ahead Foundation for his project “ASAF Evaluation.”