13 faculty members chosen as 1st Summer Research Fellows
Thirteen faculty members at Austin Peay State University have been chosen as awardees in the first Summer Faculty Research Program (SRFP), a new initiative to encourage the development of research/creative activity projects at the University.The SFRP awards up to $5,000 for selected proposals by tenured or tenure-track faculty to develop a research or creative activity project that should place them in a better position to seek external funding.
Thirteen faculty members at Austin Peay State University have been chosen as awardees in the first Summer Faculty Research Program (SRFP), a new initiative to encourage the development of research/creative activity projects at the University.
The SFRP awards up to $5,000 for selected proposals by tenured or tenure-track faculty to develop a research or creative activity project that should place them in a better position to seek external funding.
“By increasing the number of external grants, APSU will have more money to operate and reward faculty who continue engagement in scholarly activity,” said Dr. Dixie Dennis, associate provost of Grants and Sponsored Programs. “Specific to the teaching focus at APSU, results from research studies indicate that faculty who engage in research and creative activities are better teachers.”
Also hoped through the SFRP is that some of these faculty research and creative activity projects will involve undergraduate and graduate students.
“The benefit of more faculty being engaged in research attracts faculty to APSU who also enjoy being engaged in research,” Dennis said.
The names of the awardees were announced during a congratulatory dinner April 5. Faculty members selected as SRFP participants and the titles of their research are the following:
Dwayne Estes, College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Biology, “Eastern North American Wild Gingers (Asarum canadense; Aristolochiaceae: How Many Species Do We Really Have?”
Christopher Gentry, College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Geosciences, “Quantifying the Growth Response of Pinus ponderosa in Managed and Unmanaged Stands, Mount Rushmore National Monument, South Dakota, USA”
Rebecca Johansen, College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Biology, “Describing Diversity of North American Freshwater Fishes: The Fantail Darter Species Complex”
Matt Kenney, College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, Department of Political Science, “The Politics of Economic Development in Haiti: A Case Study of the Haitian Coffee Industry”
Suta Lee, College of Arts and Letters, Department of Art, “Survivors of Cultural Revolution: A Visual Dialogue”
Jiang Li, College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, “Distributed Remote Sensing Image Information Mining with Dryad Engine”
Meagan Mann, College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Chemistry, “Determination of the Biochemical Effects of Lavender and Tea Tree Oils”
Sergei Markov, College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Biology, “Biodiesel Generation from Microalgae in Photobioreactor”
Justin Oelgoetz, College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Physics, “Modeling the He-like X-ray Emission Spectroscopy of Transient, Photoionized Plasmas Using a Piecewise, Linear Multistep Method”
Barbara Peterson and Benita Bruster, College of Education, Department of Teaching and Learning and Department of Educational Specialties, “Using Focus Groups to Examine Reflective Practice”
Billy Renkl, College of Arts and Letters, Department of Art, “Manuscripts, Documents, and Deeds of Trust”
Gail Robinson-Oturu, College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music, “Clarence Cameron White: From Clarksville Born to International Prominence”
Three offices — Academic Affairs, Grants and Sponsored Research and the College of Graduate Studies — are funding the new SRFP program.
In the Fall 2010 semester, the 13 awardees will showcase their work to the community and University.
For more information about APSU's new Summer Research Fellows Program, call Dennis at (931) 221-7415 or e-mail her at dennisdi@apsu.edu. -- Melony Shemberger