2020 EOSA Scholars
The following faculty members have been selected to participate in the 2020 Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy program.
Assistant Professor, College of Fine Arts and Communication | duggang19@ecu.edu
Building from an education in fine arts and fashion and fibers and surface design, Duggan’s work has been supported by the N.C. Arts Council, Art on the Atlanta Beltline, Artspace PopUp, and exhibitions at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Flanders, and Lump, and Garis & Hahn. Duggan constructs installations and objects that combine techniques of traditional fiber work with disparate materials to expose physical and social tensions. She embraces and pushes expectations of traditional fiber work to question inequalities within contemporary performances of gender and exhibitions of power, most exemplified by rape culture and exploitations of labor. Duggan has taught at Georgia State University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Texas.
Associate Professor, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences | goodwilliec@ecu.edu
As an associate professor of biology at ECU, Goodwillie explores innovative ways to teach undergraduate biology, including service learning and course-based research approaches. In recent years, she became interested in the integration of arts and science in education. This interest stems in part from her training in the arts before beginning her career as a biologist. Two years ago, she began a project with Patricia Clark, professor of ECU’s Theatre Education and Youth Theatre to work with biology and theatre undergraduate students to develop and present a play for youth about trees. As part of EOSA she is collaborating with Gabe Duggan in the ECU Fine Arts Department, they are expanding on the idea to include other arts — visual, musical and dance — to inspire interest and learning about plants and nature. Goodwillie continues to build awareness with music, dance, and theatre educators. Working together with numerous campus and community partners they plan to present an exciting interactive art/science event, that will be evaluated to determine learning and attitudes about science and nature.
Heather L. Panczykowski
Assistant Professor, College of Allied Health Sciences | panczykowskih17@ecu.edu
Heather Panczykowski has been an occupational therapist since 1991 and has been in academia since 2000. She has a great deal of clinical experience in the areas of pediatrics, developmental disabilities and older adults. Panczykowski’s community outreach began prior to coming to ECU in 2017. Community outreach is very important to herand her research at ECU became an extension of her desire to help others. Her research prior to EOSA focused on the efficacy of occupational therapy in equine assisted activities in the development of executive function and social skills in children with emotional and behavioral disorders. EOSA has afforded Panczykowski the ability to establish two pivotal community partners to develop an equine facilitated psychotherapy (EFP) support group for parents of children with disabilities. This research will investigate the impact of this program stress, anxiety, and resilience of parents using both self-report assessments and the physiological measure of heart rate variability. EOSA assists Panczykowski in melding both her teaching and research objectives to support communities in eastern North Carolina.
Vanessa Pardi
Assistant Professor, School of Dental Medicine | pardiv19@ecu.edu
Pardi earned her doctorate in dentistry from the State University of Campinas, Brazil. Pardi’s research interest is on oral health promotion and diseases prevention. Her research evaluates of preventative treatments and oral health education intervention to identify the most cost-effective and efficient methods that can be applied to decrease the disparities in oral health. Diet and nutrition, behavioral and sociodemographic factors, and their role on the maintenance of a good oral health are part of her interests as well. The goal of her research is to provide evidence-based data that supports the creation of health promotion programs that reduce the burdens of oral disease on underserved and underrepresented population.
Assistant Professor, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences | parky19@ecu.edu
Park earned her doctorate in geography and geographic information science (GIS) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She brings her expertise in GIS, geospatial data analysis/visualization, and spatial statistics to address interdisciplinary questions of environmental health, environmental justice and health disparities. Her research has been funded by multiple grants including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and American Association of Geographers (AAG). Her doctoral dissertation was recognized with the Jacques May Prize from AAG for the best dissertation addressing themes in health and medical geography. As part of EOSA, she is conducting a research project that aims to engage environmental justice communities for community-level, real-time air quality monitoring to identify air pollution hot spots. Through her research, teaching and service, she hopes to make a direct impact on promoting health equity and improving health of all individuals including undeserved people.
Associate Professor, College of Education | rhodesc14@ecu.edu
Rhodes earned her doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in adult education from the University of South Florida. Her research is informed by sociocultural and critical stances on adult learning. Specifically, her belief that incorporating learners’ diverse cultural identities through culturally responsive teaching is the basis of her teaching and research. Rhodes has been collaborating with the community-based organization, AMEXCAN, since 2015 and is currently a consultant and facilitator for the Double Bridge Language Learning Program. In 2019, she traveled to various regions of Mexico with AMEXCAN to deliver teacher training workshops. Her current EOSA project is an additional collaboration with AMEXCAN to examine the lived experiences of multiple generations of Latinos and Latinas related to their social, economic and linguistic integration in eastern North Carolina. Findings will add to the limited knowledge of the experiences of this growing community and illuminate potential ways to enhance support of their integration into their local communities.
Assistant Professor, College of Allied Health Sciences | sastrel18@ecu.edu
Sastre’s research focuses on preventative and primary health care, chronic disease prevention and management, and social determinants of health (e.g. food security). Her community partners have included clinics under the North Carolina Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NCAFCC), Vidant Health, ECU Physicians, and The Society for St. Andrews (SoSA). The mission of SoSA is to address hunger through gleaning and salvaging local food to connect with those who need it the most in the community. SoSA efforts include “gleaning” where unmarketable, unsold produce is obtained and connected with local food assistance organizations (e.g. food pantries, churches). Dr. Sastre’s EOSA project partners with SoSA to explore the perceptions, barriers and promoters of local, eastern North Carolina farmers regarding gleaning with the intent to increase understanding of promoters/barriers for farmers for gleaning to drive future SoSA marketing and outreach efforts and increase local farmer’s awareness of SoSA to increase farmer/farm partners for future gleaning. The potential to expand SoSA will also support Dr. Sastre’s separate Farm to Clinic (F2C) initiative which works with SoSA and other organizations to connect low-income, food insecure patients with a chronic disease (e.g. diabetes) to fresh, donated, local food “prescriptions.”