Research Notes
College of Science and Mathematics
Research in Panama’s Rainforest
Professor of Environmental Geography John Van Stan is collaborating on a research project in Panama’s tropical rainforest to determine how the roughness of tree bark affects the ability of ants to forage for food resources. To conduct the research, Van Stan is using an instrument he invented as a graduate student called the LaserBark automated tree measurement system, which is used to scan trees. He is collaborating with University of Louisville professor, Stephen Yanoviak, on the five-year National Science Foundation project. Preliminary results from a recent research trip to Panama indicated that ant species’ ability to forage for critical resources in tree canopies is limited by bark roughness.
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Duo Collaborated on Textbook
Political Science professors Darin Van Tassell and Patrick Novotny have published the new textbook, Listening, Looking, Living: Qualitative Research Political Science, which incorporates qualitative research methods into the study of political science. Van Tassell and Novotny combined their own research experiences and classroom work together in a book that is an accessible, engaging and student-friendly introduction to the work of qualitative research. Focusing on interviewing (listening), participant observation (looking), and ethnography (living), the book introduces students to each of these methodologies and some of their basic techniques, then takes students through a review of some of the leading works in the field of political science that are based on each of these approaches.
College of Business Administration
Joint Research Project
Faculty in the Center for Forensic Studies in Accounting and Business are launching a joint research project with the Inspector General’s office for the State of Georgia. The project will gather data on the current efforts in state agencies to prevent exposure to fraud and related controls across state agencies. The report will be produced annually and will include reported cases of documented instances of fraud, waste and abuse and will identify the effectiveness of controls in place to prevent and detect fraud.
College of Health and Human Sciences
Radzyminski New Chair of GANDD
Professor and Chair of Nursing Sharon Radzyminski has been named chairperson of the Georgia Association of Nursing Deans and Directors (GANDD). Radzyminski currently serves as vice-chair of GANDD and will take over the chair position in August 2014. The nursing organization is committed to educating registered nurses by providing quality undergraduate and graduate education, leading-edge research and excellence in nursing practice.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health
Studying Attitudes Toward Teen Pregnancy
Professors Helen Bland and Bridget Melton, along with Master of Public Health student Krystina Johnson, examined adults’ attitude toward teen pregnancy in a rural Georgia county. The study determined that while abstinence is the main teen pregnancy prevention method taught in the county high school, most adults in the community did not think abstinence programs were sufficient in preventing teen pregnancy or teaching responsible sexual practices. More research is needed on what types of sexual education programs parents would find acceptable to be taught in schools.
College of Education
Eagle QuaRC
Georgia Southern’s qualitative research community, Eagle QuaRC, has already held its third workshop since its inception in fall 2012, and interest is gaining across campus. Created by College of Education professors Christopher Brkich and Robert Lake, Eagle QuaRC is a community of faculty from different disciplines interested in conducting, supporting and exploring opportunities for qualitative research.
Qualitative researchers look at the “story” behind the numbers. “Numbers are absolutely everywhere,” said Brkich. “They’re important, but they don’t tell the whole story,” he continued. “When exploring the richness of human experience and in telling the story of that experience, sometimes it makes more sense to focus on a few images or the words of a few individuals to present a powerful and compelling account,” he said. For example, Brkich explained, a statistical analysis of painkiller consumption by addicts undergoing treatment may be important for the medical community, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. “The numbers don’t say anything about how or why the patients became addicted or what their experiences of addiction have been like,” he said. Additional faculty responsible for organizing Eagle QuaRC are COE’s Tracy Linderholm and Amelia Davis, Katy Gregg of CHHS and April Schueths of CLASS. The faculty organizers are discussing a fourth event to be held this spring or next fall.
Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology
Research Grants Awarded
Professor of Mechanical Engineering Mujibur Khan was awarded a $153,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will enable Khan to acquire electrospinning equipment that will enhance the capabilities of the emerging group of nanotechnology researchers at Georgia Southern. The equipment will be used in a wide variety of research projects: from generating new avenues for lightweight ultra-tough hybrid fibers, cancer therapeutics, biocompatible nanofibers and multifunctional materials, to developing antimicrobial coatings and compounds with extraordinary thermal, mechanical and biological properties.
The Allen E. Paulson Chair of Renewable Energy at Georgia Southern was awarded a $360,000 Research for Undergraduates (REU) grant from the NSF. Valentin Soloiu, Ph.D., will use the funding to support summer research opportunities for engineering undergraduate students from across the United States in the field of Renewable Energy and Biofuels Combustion in Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) over the next three years. The grant will provide financial support to 10 students for 10 weeks each summer from 2014 to 2016, to conduct research on campus.