Past EOSA Scholars

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Learn more about past EOSA projects and their impact on communities surrounding the university.

Interested in partnering with a scholar? Use the search option below to locate a member connected to a certain community partner or whose research focus is of interest to you.

2009-2022 EOSA Scholars:

First Name	Last Name	Cohort Year	School/College	Department/School	Community Partner(s)	Project Title, Description	Research Interest(s)
Myshalae	Jamerson-Euring	2022	College of Allied Health Sciences	Addictions & Rehabilitation Studies	Mobilizing African-American Mothers through Empowerment (MAAME)	Examining the racial bias and stereotypes which contribute to the African-American and Indigenous maternal mortality rate in North Carolina.	Dr. Jamerson-Euring is passionate about improving the lived experiences of marginalized groups. Her research interests include disability awareness and advocacy, multicultural counseling pedagogy, social justice, and racial disparities in health care.
Christine	Kowalczyk	2022	College of Business	Marketing & Supply Chain Management	Pitt County Schools	Help young women, in particular high school students in eastern North Carolina, develop interests and gain knowledge of careers in business and leadership opportunities.	Her primary research interests include branding, celebrities, and non-traditional advertising. In addition, she seeks to understand the potential public policy implications for these topics.
Travis	Lewis	2022	College of Education	Educational Leadership	Pitt County School Behavioral Health Alliance; Southeast Regional Education Service Alliance (RESA); Several public and private schools and districts throughout eastern North Carolina-	His EOSA project partners with local districts to identify specific school-based leadership practices that promote the recruitment and retention of new teachers in rural schools.	His research focuses on the influence of school leadership practices on K-12 teacher recruitment and retention, the effects of social and emotional learning on student outcomes, and building resiliency in school-aged children.
Shirley	Mai	2022	College of Business	Marketing & Supply Chain Management	Pitt County Schools	Help young women, in particular high school students in eastern North Carolina, develop interests and gain knowledge of careers in business and leadership opportunities.	Dr. Shirley Mai’s research focuses on word-of-mouth, digital marketing, and quantitative approaches in marketing.
Carol	Massarra	2022	College of Engineering and Technology	Construction Management	Farmville Public Library	Link science with the community in a way that aid communities, especially young generations to better prepare for future hurricane events.	Massarra’s research lies in the area of resilience to natural hazards with particular emphases on post-hurricane performance of residential buildings and other infrastructures in coastal regions. Her resilience construction research primary focuses on improving performance of coastal buildings, hazard-resistant construction and mitigation, and automated data collection and damage assessment.
Mitzi	Pestaner	2022	College of Nursing	Baccalaureate Education	Pitt County Behavioral Health Treatment Court	Examine the influence of the Court on re-offending and mental health outcomes for participants within the context of social justice.	Her research interests include adolescent/adult mental health, the role of protective factors in suicide prevention, and disparities in mental health care among underserved populations.
Linda	Quick	2022	College of Business	Accounting	Pitt County Schools	Develop a female leadership program targeted to area high schoolers.	Her research includes projects focused on how students prepare for successful careers in business.
Aimee	Smith	2022	College of Arts and Sciences	Psychology	Pitt Partners for Health	Identify and address barriers to medication adherence for youth with chronic conditions in eastern North Carolina.	Her research focuses on youth with chronic illnesses and using behavioral principals to improve their outcomes.
Natasha	Bell	2021	College of Engineering and Technology	Engineering	Boys and Girls Club; Greenville Utilities Commission Wastewater Treatment Plant	Incorporation of ecological engineering into wastewater treatment: Measuring water quality improvements and K-12 student motivation to pursue engineering	Bell’s research takes an ecological engineering approach to development of water remediation and reuse strategies that inform decision-making within the water-energy-food nexus. Specifically, she investigates hydrologic and biogeochemical properties of green infrastructure, including constructed wetlands and subsurface bioreactors, which leverage the inherent mechanisms of microorganisms and plants to remediate point and nonpoint source pollutants.
Rachel	Gittman	2021	Coastal Studies Institute	Biology	North Carolina Coastal Federation; North Carolina Coastal Reserve	Explore the socio-ecological determinants of coastal protection decisions made by waterfront property owners, as well as identifying ecological, engineering, political and socioeconomic barriers to the implementation of natural and nature-based approaches to coastal protection.	Gittman’s research focuses on how humans modify the coastal environment and how best to manage or mitigate the ecological consequences of those modifications to sustain ecosystem structure, functions and services. Gittman is particularly interested in identifying novel approaches for conserving and restoring coastal habitats and supported services in the context of developed coastal areas.
Jarvis	Hargrove	2021	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	History	Tryon Palace; local community organizations, churches and historical societies	His EOSA project will examine African American communities of eastern North Carolina that emigrated abroad to Liberia in the 19th century.
Jennifer	Hodgson	2021	College of Human Health and Performance	Human Development and Family Science	NC Civil	Design a community-campus partnership to advance the DEI footprint in the eastern North Carolina region.	Her research interests are grounded in the biopsychosocial-spiritual framework with special attention to family engagement in healthcare teams. She is also committed to advancing integrated behavioral health care in primary, secondary and tertiary care settings, particularly for the underserved and uninsured in our region.
Laura	Levi-Altstaedter	2021	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Foreign Languages and Literatures	Pitt County Schools	Investigating Hispanic/Latinx Student Representation in Gifted and Talented Programs	Her research is framed within sociocultural theory and focuses on foreign language pedagogy and foreign language educator preparation. She is especially interested in foreign language teacher development and in how teacher beliefs impact instructional decisions. Her research on foreign language pedagogy focuses on heritage language development, second language learning, and student motivation.
Amy	McMillan	2021	College of Business	Management	NC Civil	The project will explore diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues faced by faculty, staff and students in the local community.	Her research focuses on diversity, organizational climate and corporate social responsibility.
Angela	Novak	2021	College of Education	Elementary and Middle Grades Education	Pitt County Schools	Researching equity in gifted education, specifically Latinx and Hispanic underrepresentation in gifted programs in rural North Carolina.	She researches professional learning, creativity, gifted collegians and play, all within the context of gifted education and through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.
Ciprian	Popoviciu	2021	College of Engineering	Technology Systems	Several small communities	He is engaging with small communities to provide scalable, sustainable and affordable IT infrastructures that will enable these communities to gain access to digital solutions to productivity, education and health problems.	Popoviciu’s work covers high bandwidth networks supporting advanced, international research and low bandwidth, highly distributed networks supporting sensors.
Joseph	Reid	2021	College of Business	Accounting	Building Hope	Further efforts towards assisting the current and next generation with developing and honing leadership skills necessary to attain sustainable success in their future endeavors.	His research is concentrated in two areas: capital markets/firm valuation and pedagogical. His research focuses on examining how increased disclosure of fair value measurements affect liquidity and a firm’s cost of equity capital. His pedagogical research focuses on leadership and personal development strategies and the systemization of factors that lead to sustainable success. This research bridges the fundamental principles found in psychology, neuroscience and management science to optimize business decision making.
Rita Reinsel	Soulen	2021	College of Education	Interdisciplinary Professions	ECU Community School	Support the Community School faculty by developing digital teaching and learning competencies and increase access to information literacy and media resources.	Her research focuses on school libraries and public library children’s services, specifically collaborations between librarians and teachers and children’s access to library materials.
Scott	Walfield	2021	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Criminal Justice & Criminology	CTB Church Outreach Network	His current EOSA project is a qualitative study examining the barriers to successful re-entering and re-integrating into the community for justice-involved individuals and their families as well as what is working, particularly in light of how COVID-19 has impacted the justice system.	His research focuses on the criminal justice’s response to sexual violence, particularly policies impacting sex offenders within the community and law enforcement’s response to reported sex offenses.
Emily	Yeager	2021	College of Health and Human Performance	Recreation Sciences	Sound Rivers	Her EOSA project aims to develop a Tar-Pamlico River Basin Blue Economy Corridor in eastern North Carolina. Visitors and residents will be able to curate experiences within the corridor through a digital interactive map featuring assets in the eastern portion of the Tar-Pamlico River Basin which would extend through Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties (e.g., Edgecombe County, Nash County, Pitt County, Beaufort County).	Yeager’s research focuses on sustainable community development through tourism and recreation.
Gabe	Duggan	2020	College of Fine Arts and Communication	Textile Design	The Arts Lab	The problem addressed by this study is the impact division of art and science practices has on learning, specifically in accessibility and depth of comprehension	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.
Carol	Goodwillie	2020	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Biology		As part of EOSA she is collaborating with Gabe Duggan in the ECU Fine Arts Department to expand on the idea to include other arts — visual, musical and dance — to inspire interest and learning about plants and nature.
Heather L.	Panczykowski	2020	College of Allied Health Sciences	Occupational Therapy	Moonbeams, Miracles Therapeutic Horesemanship Center	The purpose of this study is to research the influence of an equine facilitated psychotherapy support group on parents of children with disabilities.	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.
Vanessa	Pardi	2020	School of Dental Medicine	Foundational Sciences	Bertie County Schools	This project is a cross-sectional descriptive study, where oral health related quality of life and the perception on oral health of the volunteers.	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.
Yoo Min	Park	2020	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Geography	Clean Air Carolina	CarolinaThis project aims to engage eastern NC communities to establish a dense air monitoring network using low-cost air pollution sensors to obtain high- resolution, real-time air quality data.	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.
Christy	Rhodes	2020	College of Education	Interdisciplinary Profession	AMEXCAN	The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the social, economic, and linguistic integration of first and second-generation Latinos in North Carolina.	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.
Lauren	Sastre	2020	College of Allied Health Sciences	Nutrition Science	Society for St. Andrews (SoSA)	Exploring Eastern North Carolina Farmer’s Preferences and Perceptions of Gleaning;	Sastre’s research focuses on preventative and primary health care, chronic disease prevention and management, and social determinants of health (e.g. food security).
Jihoun	An	2019	College of Health and Human Performance	Kinesiology	South Central High School	Building an Inclusive Community in High School: A Peer Mentoring Model
Kanchan	Das	2019	College of Engineering and Technology	Technology Systems	NC East Alliance	A Supply Chain-based Approach for Marketing a Regional Geography
Jamie	DeWitt	2019	Brody School of Medicine	Pharmacology and Toxicology	Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Wilmington, NC; Sound Rivers Washington, NC; Clean Cape Fear Wilmington, NC; NC Stop Gen-X in our Water, Wilmington, NC	Perceptions of per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) in eastern North Carolina communities
Cynthia	Grace-McCaskey	2019	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences; Coastal Studies Institute	Anthropology	Town of Princeville	Examining Community Perceptions of Resilience in Princeville, NC
Suzanne	Lea	2019	Brody School of Medicine	Public Health	Disaster Partners for Pitt County and Churches Outreach NetworkEffective	Effective Communication Methods for Use in Natural Disaster Recovery among Low Literacy Community Members in Eastern North Carolina
Catherine "Cat"	Normoyle	2019	College of Fine Arts and Communication	Graphic Design	Pitt County Arts Council; NC Civil; TRUNA: Uptown Greenville	Uptown Greenville Design Intervention & Impact Analysis: This research considers and addresses how a design intervention (arts-based community project) can improve and/or expand on the economic, cultural, and community development of Uptown Greenville by contributing to the community’s sense of place through the addition of activity-programming, cultural-historical context, social-spatial interactions, etc. with a specific focus on contributing to the community narrative.	Her research and creative activity explore “design as an agent for change,” expanding on design topics such as social design and impact, community engagement, digital experiences and technology, and speculative design. Her research in community engagement addresses social impact assessment, citizen-inclusion and placemaking.
Yuliana	Rodriguez-Vongsavanh	2019	College of Health and Human Performance	Human Development and Family Science
Melanie	Sartore-Baldwin	2019	College of Health and Human Performance	Kinesiology	Pitt County Animal Shelter	Examination of Pitt County Animal Services’ relationship with the community: What do people know and what do people want?
Deby	Tyndall	2019	College of Nursing	Nursing Science	Toisnot Middle School, Wilson County Schools	School-Based Interventions to Address Mental Health Needs in Middle-School Adolescents
Jason	Yao	2019	College of Engineering and Technolog	Engineering		He plans to identify pathways to build stronger partnerships between the Department of Engineering and nearby counties and towns so that ECU’s engineering talent can better contribute to the development of eastern North Carolina.	His research interests include wearable medical devices, telehealth and control systems. His educational research interests include laboratory/project-driven learning and integration of research into undergraduate education.
Ugur	Yeliz Eseryel	2019	College of Business	Management Information Systems		As part of EOSA, she intends to start a new research line, specifically on how local communities can take advantage of information technologies during hurricanes and natural disasters to improve disaster relief and recovery. She is specifically interested in developing information technology-supported processes that empower civilians to take leadership roles to support themselves and other civilians in collaboration with volunteers and government officials.	Her research stream focuses on how open innovation community members innovate with the use of information technology. Her research investigates how community members lead themselves, how they make decisions, and how they manage positive community environments using information technology. Eseryel’s research has focused on open source software development communities, whose members develop software from all around the world mostly without seeing one another.
Leigh	Atherton	2018	College of Allied Health Sciences	Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies	Rocking Horse Ranch, Pitt County Sheriff	The purpose of this Building Bridges Equine Therapy program is to improve the response to and resources for children and non-offending caregivers in Pitt County who are exposed to Domestic Violence (DV). The goal of the project is to develop an innovative community-based intervention aimed reducing the negative impact of DV and improving relations between the Pitt County community and the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office.
Heidi	Bonner	2018	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Criminal Justice	Pitt County Sheriff's Office	In cases of intimate partner violence, victims often refuse to cooperate with criminal justice authorities or retract their stated version of events. Oftentimes, this refusal or reversal is due to intimidation from the offender, and jail calls from incarcerated offenders to victims is a primary means through which intimidation can occur. The research partnership between East Carolina University (project director, Heidi Bonner, Department of Criminal Justice) and the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office (co-investigator, Sgt. John Guard) seeks to examine the problem of witness intimidation in IPV using multiple approaches.
Katie	Ford	2018	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Foreign Languages and Literatures	Grady White Boys & Girls Club	Barriers to Higher Education Among the Latino Population in Pitt County
Ruby	Yeh	2018	College of Health and Human Performance	Human Development and Family Science	Martin-Pitt Partnership for Children	An Exploratory Study of Early Childhood STEAM Parenting Workshop Development in Pitt County Community
Lester	Zeager	2018	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Economics	Building Hope Community Life Center, Pitt County Schools	Evaluating the Effectiveness of the SSA at Building Hope Community Center
Patricia "Patch"	Clark	2017	School of Theater and Dance	Theatre	Pitt County Schools	The purpose of this research is to improve reading and writing skills by involving students in the research, writing, and production of original scripts based on the Living Newspaper plays of the 1930s.
Bernice	Dodor	2017	College of Health and Human Performance	Family & Consumer Sciences	Juvencio Rocha Peralta, AMEXCAN	Bridging the gap between public schools and Latino parents
Randall	Etheridge	2017	College of Engineering and Technolog	Engineering	Hyde County Soil & Water Conservation District	Using hydraulic modeling to to study flow with varying downstream water levels
Lynne	Murphy	2017	College of Allied Health Sciences	Occupational Therapy	Rocking Horse Ranch, Vidant Medical Center (ECU Health) Oncology Social Workers	This project studies the impact of a12-week Healing with Horses program to assist cancer survivors to develop coping skills, process the emotions associated with cancer, and develop supports with peers
April	Reed	2017	College of Business	Management Information Systems	Pitt County Schools	Women in STEM-MIS: Conducting a camp to inform girls about management information systems and management information systems careers and to study changes in attitudes using a pre/post survey of knowledge and attitudes with camp.
Sachiyo	Shearman	2017	College of Fine Arts and Communication	School of Communication	Interfaith Refugee Ministry	This project addresses lack of public understanding toward welcoming refugees and negative perception toward refugees among some residents in the Eastern North Carolina. A survey examining the public perception and attitudes toward the refugees in Eastern North Carolina.
Matthew	Whited	2017	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Psychology	Vidant Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (ECU Health)	Patients often have difficulty making and maintaining health behavior change and staff often feel like they don’t have the expertise to help patients who are struggling. Retention and engagement are sub-optimal in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation centers throughout the country. Values-based behavior change is a promising approach and could provide staff and patients with a structure in which to discuss.
Kimberly	Anderson	2016	College of Education	Literacy Studies, English Education and History Education	Pitt County Schools	Imagination Library Kindergarten Impact: Teacher Focus Group Study
Oyinlola Toyin	Babatunde	2016	College of Allied Health Sciences	Nutrition Science	First Born Community Development Center (FBCDC)	Understanding the factors that influence adoption of healthy food habits and lifestyle choices for optimal health among rural low-income individuals: A community partnership project to reduce health disparities.
Sheresa	Blanchard	2016	College of Health and Human Performance	Human Development and Family Science	Books from Birth Early Literacy Coalition of Eastern NC	Intergenerational Familial Literacy in Pitt County: Understanding Perspectives, Activities, and Behaviors around Early and Emergent Literacy Within and Across Generations
Yolanda	Holt	2016	College of Allied Health Sciences	Communication Sciences and Disorders	Third Street Academy	Building from Inherent Capacity: The community partner and Dr. Holt developed a video training program for adult volunteers to learn shared book reading strategies for language and literacy development for primary grades students attending a local non-public school. Preliminary results show the video training is successful. Post intervention testing with the children is underway.
Ericka	Lawrence	2016	College of Business	Management	City of Greenville’s Minority Women Business Entrepreneurship (M/WBE) Office	An examination of Factors that Influence Entrepreneurial Intentions and Outcomes of Eastern North Carolina Entrepreneurs
Marissa	Nesbit	2016	School of Theatre and Dance	Dance Education	The North Carolina Dance Education Organization	Studying the adaptation of an existing dance conditioning protocol (Ultra Barre, developed by ECU faculty member Teal Darkenwald) to dance education settings serving youth ages 12-18. Five educators from across NC participated in a weekend training workshop and received classroom equipment to implement Ultra Barre exercises in their classes; they are currently participating in a series of follow-up interviews and observations to reveal how this method can be adapted and implemented in diverse settings to promote health and development of young dancers.
Elizabeth	Swaggerty	2016	College of Education	Literacy Studies, English Education and History Education	Pitt County Schools	This research is part of a study investigating the impact of Imagination Library (book distribution program) on children’s kindergarten literacy/language skills. Through focus group methodology, the researchers are gaining understanding about the project from teachers' perspectives and will collect, analyze, and share data back to school-based stakeholders in meaningful ways.
Wanda	Wright	2016	School of Dental Medicine	Dental Public Health	Department of Health and Human Services	ServicesResearchers from the School of Dental Medicine (SODM) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Tobacco Control Branch are working together on this community-based project to develop a culturally appropriate tobacco cessation for the SoDM. This project will learn from smokers and former smokers and use insights to design existing patient education material available from the DHHS. These amended teaching materials will be used in a follow up project to test the reactions of dental students and the effectiveness with patients.
Jessica	Bardill	2015	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	English	Guilford Native American Association	Through intergenerational and individual interviews, this project documents and analyzes the costs of leaving Native American home communities and relocating, largely for economic reasons, to the Triad region of North Carolina.	American Indian and Indigenous studies, ethical, legal, and social implications of genetics/genomics law, policy and literature critical race studies science studies.
Priti	Desai	2015	College of Health and Human Performance	Human Development and Family Science	Child Life Department at James, Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at Vidant Medical Center (ECU Health)	Utilizing a qualitative descriptive approach, this study examines how adolescents with complex heart disease utilize Beads of Courage, an arts-in-medicine resilience based program, to understand and integrate their unique medical treatment journey. Adolescents with complex heart disease: Sharing their stories of healthcare milestones Community Partner: Child Life Department at James, Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at Vidant Medical Center (ECU Health) Utilizing a qualitative descriptive approach, this study examines how adolescents with complex heart disease utilize Beads of Courage, an arts-in-medicine resilience based program, to understand and integrate their unique medical treatment journey.	Psychological needs of hospitalized children, camps for children with heart defects, academic and clinical child life experiences, international perspectives in child development and early intervention services and diversity education.
Kathryn	Didericksen	2015	College of Health and Human Performance	Child Development	Kingdom Kids	Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids: The purpose of the study is to understand more about the familial relationships and home food environment of families who have limited access to food through the use of focus groups.	Adolescent/child obesity, eating disorders, family eating practices, family meals, food insecurity and health disparities.
Matthew	Fish	2015	College of Health and Human Performance	Recreation Sciences	Farmville Middle School	Stress Suspension: A Pilot Study Using a Biofeedback Device, The Pip, to Decrease Stress and Increase Resiliency for Middle School Students with a Behavior Intervention Plan	Psychophysiology of recreational activities, stress management, casual video games, mobile technology and addictions and substance abuse.
Benjamin	Fraser	2015	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Foreign Languages and Literatures	Greene County Health Care	Barriers to healthcare among Latino immigrants to Eastern North Carolina	Literature and cultural studies, urban studies, cultural geography and spatial theory, disability studies, studies/deaf culture and visual/media culture.
Guiseppe	Getto	2015	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	English	AMEXCAN	Helping Design-Building Digital Capacities Within Non-Profit: An investigation into the validity of training nonprofit professionals who have some knowledge of online media in best practices for communicating with their key audiences through online media.	UX design, user engagement, participatory design and communication infrastructure.
Daniel	Kariko	2015	College of Fine Arts and Communication	Photography	Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program	Documenting Louisiana’s Wetlands – Voices of the Community: This project intends to empower the community of Southeast Louisiana to record personal narratives in light of recent environmental and cultural changes in endangered wetlands of the Barataria-Terrebonne estuary and the Gulf of Mexico.	Photography based on environmental and political aspects of landscape, use of land and cultural interpretation of inhabited space.
Gloria	Mejia	2015	School of Dental Medicine	Epidemiology	AMEXCAN	Oral health care needs of Latino/Hispanic children	Population oral health, particularly methodological approaches to studying oral health disparities
Lucia	Mendez	2015	College of Allied Health Sciences	Communication Sciences & Disorders	Greene Lamp Head Start Preschool	This study investigates the role of the language of instruction in promoting academic vocabulary in Latino preschoolers from low-income families. The purpose of the study is to compare the effectiveness of two different language approaches to academic vocabulary instruction presented in the context of the same evidence-informed storybook shared readings intervention.	Early language and emergent literacy skills.
Carmine	Scavo	2015	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Political Science	North Carolina East Carolina Alliance	The Role of Public Power in Economic Development in Eastern NC: A National Web-Based Survey of Participation by APPA Members in Community Economic Development Projects	Urban politics, local government and electoral behavior.
Eric	Anderson	2014	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Biology	Beddingfield High School	Using Microbiology and Molecular Biology Techniques as a Teaching Tool to Improve Learning Outcomes and Engage Students in a High School Biology Course
Daniel	Elliot	2014	College of Fine Arts and Communication	School of Art & Design	Coastal Studies Institute	Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids: This study focuses on coastal North Carolina community residents’ views on their cultural heritage, perceptions about the UNC Coastal Studies Institute and how involvement in the community can help the institute better understand the community’s needs.	Using art and design as a vehicle for change in communities and culture at large.
Mark	Johnson	2014	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	English	J.H. Rose High School and Pitt County Schools	The proposed partnership will develop a series of professional development and teaching materials for high school teachers who have English language learners enrolled in their mainstream classes.	Cognition in second language writing and vocabulary.
Anthony	Kennedy	2014	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Chemistry	Stokes Elementary School	This study utilizes a regionally relevant, science-based project to engage rising fifth grade students in science. The project features a two-week summer workshop where students will assess sugars as a conservation treatment for waterlogged archaeological wood.	Analysis of infrared spectroscopy for quantitative analysis.
Bomna	Ko	2014	College of Health and Human Performance	Kinesiology	Pitt County Schools	Career Extension of Teachers’ Learning to Student Learning through Community-Engaged Professional Development Workshops	Physical education teacher education, induction of beginning physical educators and dance in physical education.
Alex	Manda	2014	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Geological Sciences	North Carolina Coastal Federation	Leveraging Community-Based Research to Explore Perceptions of Flooding and Environmental Change Among Citizen Scientists	Different uses of techniques and equipment to sample water in reservoirs, urban development and climate change on water quality and quantity, and water in surface reservoirs connection to ground water.
Michael	O'Driscoll	2014	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Geological Sciences	City of Greenville	This study will propose to develop a project with the City of Greenville that documents the history of Town Creek, monitors current water quality and flow and includes similar monitoring after the city restores Town Creek to reduce flood risk and improve water quality and to develop a park/greenway.	Ground-water exchange and its effects on the physical hydrology, chemistry and ecology of lake, river and wetland systems
Nancy	Winterbauer	2014	Brody School of Medicine	Public Health	Johnston County Health Department	Patient perceptions of access to primary care and behavioral health care services at a rural local health department	Public Health services and systems research and evaluation, practice-based research, community-engaged scholarship, dissemination and implementation research and disenfranchised populations.
Intae	Yoon	2014	College of Health and Human Performance	Social Work	Lenoir Council on Aging and N.C. Division of Aging and Adult Services	The Lenoir County Council on Aging and The Division of Aging and Adult Services have formed a partnership to evaluate the Consumer Directed Services program across North Carolina through secondary data analyses and semi-structured interviews. Upon completion, findings from this study will inform DAAS whether the program’s expected cost efficiency and empowerment have been successfully implemented throughout the state.	Economic independence of low income families, community assets building, community dynamics, community organization and development, non-profit organization development and management and international social work.
Stephen	Fafulas	2013	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Foreign Languages and Literatures	Pink Hill Elementary and the Snow Hill Primary “Los Puentes” program	The aim of this project is to form a research collaboration that embraces the needs, goals and outcomes of the growing Hispanic population in eastern North Carolina schools. Community Partners: Pink Hill Elementary and the Snow Hill Primary “Los Puentes” program	Language learning and linguistic variation and raising awareness of cultural and linguistic diversity
Tara	Gallien	2013	College of Health and Human Performance	Health Education & Promotion	Beaufort County Health Department, Vidant Family Medicine and Eastern Area Health Education Center	The purpose of this project is to evaluate a health coach program, which was developed through a partnership between Vidant Family Medicine, the Eastern Area Health Education Center and Beaufort County Health Department.	Tobacco control and prevention in youth and young adults, adolescent health behavior and online pedagogy.
Linda	May	2013	School of Dental Medicine	Anatomy	Community members from Ayden, Ahoskie, Lillington and Elizabeth City	This study will use focus groups at four community service learning center sites at an EOSA established site to explore awareness of obesity during pregnancy and its effect on children’s health, solutions to this problem and barriers to solving this problem.	Development of the child before and after birth, body composition and heart health measures for the baby in utero and after birth into childhood and attenuating the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Linda Crane	Mitchell	2013	College of Health and Human Performance	Child Development & Family Relations	Pitt County Schools	Enhancing Outcomes for Students with Autism	Early intervention, personnel preparation, inclusive practices, families with exceptional children, autism spectrum disorders and assistive technology.
Mark	Scholl	2013	College of Education	Counselor Education	Beaufort County Department of Corrections	The purpose of the study is to apply postmodern career counseling strategies in a group format to promote the career development of clients from the ex-offender population. More specifically, this study is intended to promote a more positive self-concept, self-understanding and career entry skills.
Olga	Smirnova	2013	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Political Science	Capital Area Transit	The goal of this project is to develop a route productivity standards policy for Wake County’s Capital Area Transit that will take into consideration not only the standard performance measures such as passenger trips per vehicle hour or operating cost per revenue mile, but also incorporate the target population vulnerability measures.	Public policy dimensions of urban and regional economic development, state and local government, the impact of annexation on central city growth and the interaction of land use and transportation policy.
Borim	Song	2013	College of Fine Arts and Communication	School of Art & Desig	Greene Central High School	The goal of this project is to provide high school students who participate in the pregnancy program in Greene County with an opportunity to reflect on their past, present and future through visual art making as a process of self-reflexive journey toward empowerment.	Digital art instruction, contemporary art in K-12 curriculum, cross-cultural and intercultural movements and the pedagogical use of cultural identities as creative and critical constructs.
Essie	Torres	2013	College of Health and Human Performance	Health Education & Promotion	AMEXCAN and Promotoras Network	The purpose of this project is to increase the Latino community’s awareness and capacity to generate both the demand and supply of community-relevant health-promoting interventions.	Cancer prevention and control efforts among racial/ethnic minority populations.
Christine	Avenarius	2012	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Anthropology	North Carolina East Carolina Alliance	The goal of this project is to understand the knowledge, opinions and communication styles within the different groups of stakeholders involved in the mitigation process of improving local drainage systems in Nags Head, N.C.	Social network analysis, economic anthropology, legal anthropology, linguistic anthropology, ethnicity and migration studies, and local responses to environmental hazards.
Carol	Brown	2012	College of Education	Instructional Technology	Oakmont Community Center and Oakmont Baptist Church, Inc.	his study describes literacy activities provided to low-income residents in an apartment community center. The partnership proved successful as the program is currently operational in the Oakmont Community Center.	Research and information literacy skills, use of multimedia resources in K-12 schools, collaborative projects between teachers and specialists and digital literacy for educators.
Kate	Bukoski	2012	College of Fine Arts & Communication	School of Art & Design	Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center	Using art and design research methods joined by qualitative methods, the goal of the project is to empower Ahoskie residents to become educators by sharing their stories with future School of Dental Medicine residents.	Qualitative research about the profession of graphic design manifest in manuscripts and peer-reviewed presentations, professional practice through my freelance business and development and exhibition of artists’ books
Haozhe	Chen	2012	College of Business	Marketing & Supply Chain Management	Reverse Logistics Association	This study will address the void in the connection between reverse logistics and corporate social responsibility. The research results are expected to enhance the awareness of reverse logistics’ importance and provide companies with practical means to improve their corporate social responsibility.	Reverse logistics, supply chain integration, supply chain relationships and international logistics.
Misun	Hur	2012	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Geography	AMEXCAN	Empowering the Latino/Hispanic Immigrants by the Social Network Analysis in Asset-Based Community Development Practice in Pitt County, North Carolina	Community development, research methods in social relations, environment and behavior research and planning technology with visualization.
Greg	Kearney	2012	Brody School of Medicine	Public Health	Vidant Medical Center and Pediatric Asthma Program	Evaluating environmental exposures among rural, underserved elementary school children with asthma in Pitt County – A community based pilot project	Environmental health/occupational health, agricultural medicine, environmental epidemiology and public health surveillance.
Suzanne	Lazorick	2012	Brody School of Medicine	Public Health	State Board of Education and the Subcommittee on Healthy Responsible Students	Improving implementation of the middle school physical activity component of the NC Healthy Active Children Policy	Pediatrics
Deborah	Thomson	2012	College of Fine Arts & Communication	School of Communication	Pitt County Community Schools and Recreation	This study explores how puppet shows can provide counter-messaging that debunks junk food advertising and promotes healthy eating.	Health communication, rhetoric of media, performance and social change, food marketing and childhood obesity.
Sandra Lookabaugh	Triebenbacher	2012	College of Health and Human Performance	Child Development & Family Relations	Rocking Horse Ranch Riding Therapeutic Program	This project will explore the use of interactive horse vaulting as a therapeutic tool for adolescent males with a variety of mental health challenges to increase appropriate communication and teamwork, along with the transference of these skills from the riding ring to other settings.	Children’s use of transitional objects and human-animal interactions.
Paige	Viren	2013	College of Health and Human Performance	Recreation & Leisure Studies	Town of Windsor	This project examines the potential of developing a treehouse accommodation along the Cashie River. The economic potential and sustainability of the treehouse will be assessed through an asset inventory and evaluation, as well as an analysis of the town of Windsor’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for ecotourism development.	Consumer behavior and tourism with a special focus on adventure travel and sustainable community-based tourism in rural areas.
B. Alex	White	2012	School of Dental Medicine	Public Health Dentistry	Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center and Ahoskie Service Learning Center	Measuring What Matters: Evaluating the Outcomes and Impact of East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine’s Community Service Learning Centers	Population health, quality improvement and health disparities.
Yvonne	Carter	2011	Brody School of Medicine	Public Health		The goal of the project is to characterize and describe barriers and facilitators to HIV testing among African-Americans in the rural South. Ultimately, this data will be used to implement and pilot test an intervention that will test the acceptability and feasibility of a community specific intervention to increase HIV testing rates.	HIV screening and prevention among African-Americans in the rural South.
Alleah	Crawford	2011	College of Health and Human Performance	Hospitality Leadership	Select Registry	The purpose of this project is to create a stationary marketing training for Select Registry, a national, nonprofit education- and quality-focused organization specific to bed and breakfast operations.	Lodging operations/servicescape, human resource management, organizational culture/climate and employee well-being
Melissa	Haithcox-Dennis	2011	College of Health and Human Performance	Health Education & Promotion	CLAS-E Women	The overall purpose of this project is to implement a peer-led pilot intervention to increase access to HIV care for 25 HIV positive, African-American women in Lenoir County.
Hal	Holloman	2011	College of Education	Educational Leadership	Pitt County Schools	The purpose of this project is to examine the professional language of practice used by current and future school leaders across eastern North Carolina.	Best practice language of school leaders, promoting vitality and preventing burnout in school communities and exploring the value of servant leadership and designing servant leadership frameworks.
Carol	Kline	2011	College of Health and Human Performance	Recreation & Leisure Studies		Interviews with food leaders to inform a broad-based survey are used in this study to analyze the different perceptions of audiences involved in North Carolina’s sustainable food systems. The study will also examine the state’s farm and food tourism industries regarding the programs and change agents needed to connect the various stakeholders into a seamless food system.	Rural tourism within the United States and other economically developing nations.
Bill	McDowell	2011	College of Business		The North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center	The purpose of this project is to develop a scholarly partnership with the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center to focus on entrepreneurship education and development of veterans.
Michele	Mendes	2011	College of Nursing		Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Center	The purpose of this study is to examine the social and environmental factors that contribute to the health disparities experienced by African-American children with special health care needs.	Issues faced by parents caring for children with special health care needs, especially African American needs, community engagement and qualitative research.
Debbie	O’Neal	2011	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	English	Southwest Elementary School (Kinston, N.C.)	Project Achieve is collaboration between ECU and Southeast Elementary School in Lenoir County created to promote and prepare future leaders. The goal of the product is to raise academic achievement and create college and career ready students.	Teaching English as a second language, sociolinguistics, language acquisition and English as a second language teacher education.
Robert	Quinne	2011	College of Fine Arts & Communication	School of Art & Design	Building Hope Community Life Center	Building Hope Through Art: This study examines the effect of visual art on pre-service art teacher preparation and resilience in K-10th grades.	Computer technology in art education, interdisciplinary teaching and learning, arts-based educational research and engaged scholarship.
Lucky	Xue	2011	College of Business	Management Information Systems	Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center and Vidant Health Systems	The purpose of this study is to develop an interactive multimedia educational tool to transfer and enhance knowledge on innovative technologies in health care and to conduct an empirical study to assess the pedagogical effectiveness of this educational tool as a means of developing high-order cognitive skills.	IT governance, strategic management of information technology and health care information systems.
Vic	Aeby	2010	College of Health and Human Performance	Health Education & Promotion	Straightway and Ayden middle schools; Beaufort-Hyde Partnership for Children and the 11 Child Care Center; Ayden School Community	1. This research will link to and strengthen the efforts of Straightway Middle School in Ayden, N.C., to successfully reach at-risk students through a community designed, culturally-sensitive dropout-prevention program using a community-based participatory research model. 2. This partnership enlists child care providers that target areas of development and skill building such as literacy, parenting skills, family support, child care resources and referral, and school readiness in the hope of slowing the current trend towards overweight or obese children and to prevent or reduce occurrences of challenging behavior. 3. School Health and Clinical Interventions to Prevent Suspensions, Academic Failure and Dropout in Ayden School	School health education, application of technology and disruptive students.
Jeffrey	Bethel	2010	Brody School of Medicine	Public Health	Kinston Community Health Care	Assessment of barriers to early prenatal care initiation among Latina farmworkers in eastern North Carolina	Infectious disease epidemiology, Latino health, health of mobile populations and acculturation and health.
Cynthia	Deale	2010	College of Health and Human Performance	Sustainable Tourism	Pamlico Tar River Foundation	This project involves a partnership between the Pamlico Tar River Foundation, professors and students to understand the environmental attitudes and reported behaviors, reasons for joining a non-profit agency and tourism activities and preferences among residents of the Pamlico-Tar River basin.	Teaching and learning in hospitality and tourism, hospitality and tourism management practices and service.
Stephanie	Jilcott Pitts	2010	Brody School of Medicine	Public Health	Pitt County Health Department	This study will focus on an assessment of the micro-consumer food environment using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey-Revised, qualitative interviews with store owners and managers and customer intercept surveys to examine and address the food environment in Pitt County.	Nutrition, obesity and environmental policy change to improve diet and physical activity in underserved populations.
Chengcheng	Li	2010	College of Engineering & Technology	Technology Systems	North Carolina Community College System	Increasing Participation and Proficiency in Science at Grade 5 Using Inquiry Based Learning
Annette	Peery	2010	College of Nursing		Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation	The purpose of this study is to assess needs and resources families living with type 1 diabetes (children and adults) in the 29-county eastern North Carolina/University Health Systems region have, with a focus on population perceived needs and outreach capacity of eastern Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation constituents.	Caring and burnout in registered nurses, curriculum, educational strategies in nursing education, diabetes, patient education and health literacy.
John	Reisch	2010	College of Business	Accounting	Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Center	This project focuses on developing a strategic partnership with the Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Center to teach financial literacy and gather data on the program’s participants to benchmark the participants’ knowledge of personal finance and compare their pre-existing knowledge levels with their knowledge level after completion of the financial literacy program.
Patricia	Slagter van Tryon	2010	College of Education	Mathematics Science & Instructional Technology	Pitt County Literacy Volunteers	Online Opportunities for both English and Spanish Speaking Participants within Pitt County Literacy Volunteers Programs	Social cognition in online and blended learning environments, schema revision in mediated communication and the design and development of university/community partnerships in education to promote economic prosperity in rural communities.
Bob	Thompson	2010	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Political Science	Statewide Coalition for Homelessness	his project is directed at assessing the impacts of the development and implementation of 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness so that the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness and 11 plan directors may more effectively measure the impacts their efforts have on homelessness in the state.	Federal and state policies dealing with homelessness.
Elizabeth	Wall Bassett	2010	College of Health and Human Performance	Nutrition Science	Pitt County Health Department, the Pitt County Council on Aging and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension	This study will identify farmers within 100 miles of Pitt County and interview them regarding their barriers, preferences and needs to providing healthy foods. Likewise, low-income residents in Pitt County will be surveyed regarding their barriers, preferences and needs in obtaining healthy foods.	Food insecurity and service learning.
Richard	Williams	2010	College of Health and Human Performance	Recreation & Leisure Studies	Community Peer Mentor Program	Successful Transition to the Community for People with Physical Disabilities	Interactive leisure education computer games, humor theory development and testing related to humor, stress, coping, and control and attitudes toward people with disabilities.
Paige	Averett	2009	College of Health and Human Performance	Social Work	Old Lesbians Organizing for Change	The project involves multiple studies with the Old Lesbians Organizing for Change organization as the key informants and gatekeeper to older lesbians nationally. This study focuses on aging, discrimination and sexual identity.	Sexuality, lesbian and gay studies, qualitative methodology and social work pedagogy.
Jennifer	Brewer	2009	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Institute for Coastal Science and Policy	Penobscot East Resource Center in Stonington, Maine	This project will conduct quantitative data collection and analysis in collaboration with Penobscot East Resource Center in Stonington, Maine, to support advocacy for sustainable, fishing community-inclusive, and ecosystem-based management, while informing ongoing development and promotion of its PERC’s Community Fisheries Action Roundtable.	Teaching and learning in hospitality and tourism, hospitality and tourism management practices and service.
Sloane	Burke	2009	College of Health and Human Performance		Migrant Outreach Services and Greene County Health Care	Disaster Preparedness among Latino Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers in Eastern North Carolina	Latina health, health disparities, breast cancer and college health.
Tracy	Carpenter-Aeby	2009	College of Health and Human Performance	Social Work	Families of students in Catawba County’s Early College High School; Ayden School Community	1. Transforming Rural Culture through Higher Education: Preserving Hmong Culture through Oral History; 2. School Health and Clinical Interventions to Prevent Suspensions, Academic Failure and Dropout in Ayden School Community	Program evaluation, alternative schools, bullying-harassment, interventions with disruptive students and families, service learning, social work pedagogy and technology.
David	Collier	2009	Brody School of Medicine	Pediatrics	FQHCC’s Tele-Health Program, Hertford County pediatricians and the Hertford County 4-H	East Carolina 4-Healthy Kids – Hertford County	Pediatric obesity treatment and prevention.
Ricardo	Contreras	2009	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Anthropology	Nuevo South AMEXCAN and Community Research Initiative	The Nuevo South Community Research Initiative will be studied using an ethnographic and grounded theory methodological approach with the purpose of eliciting its theory of change and its model of implementation. The findings of this research will help serve as the basis for a long-term study of engaged research in the Latino community.	Managed migration, settlement and community engagement.
Gene	Dixon	2009	College of Engineering & Technology	Engineering	University engineering and technology programs	This project will identify how the scholarship of outreach, engagement and service-learning are recognized in pharmacy and therapeutic decisions within the disciplines of engineering and technology.	Engineering management and related processes.
Kylie	Dotson-Blake	2009	College of Education	Counselor Education	WINGS Non-Profit and Jamesville Women’s League	Real Civic Engagement	Culturally-inclusive family-school-community partnerships and service-learning and experiential education.
Rebecca	Dumlao	2009	College of Fine Arts & Communication	School of Communication	Project HEART and various afterschool programs	1. This study will explore student tutor/supervisor dyadic communication related to work with Project HEART at multiple community sites. 2. The study focuses on the Health Communication Puppetry Initiative – which has performed puppet shows in Pitt County addressing the topics of healthy eating, exercise, dental health and diabetes – and its impact on area students.	Family communication, communication in campus-community partnerships and service learning pedagogy.
Lori	Flint	2009	College of Education	Special Education	Kinston Charter Academy	Working with the Kinston Charter Academy, it was determined that a formal needs assessment would allow the partnership to uncover what is needed to improve student engagement, learning and achievement. This needs assessment will lead to a clear plan of action including identification of priority instructional need(s), targets for continued engaged scholarship with KCA and other public charters in North Carolina.	Individuals with dual exceptionalities, achievement and underachievement, communication and conflict resolution and engaged scholarship.
Jeannie	Golden	2009	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Psycology	Greene County School-Based Health Center	The Effectiveness of Using Video Modeling to Teach Parenting Skills in a Rural County	Applied behavior analysis and the application of behavior management techniques to provide effective interventions.
Michael	Harris	2009	College of Business	Management	Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program	The purpose of this project is to develop a mutually beneficial partnership between the Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program within the city of Greenville and the ECU Small Business Institute.	Entrepreneurship education and experiential learning, entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, and small business strategy.
Kim	Larson	2009	College of Nursing		Hispanic Community Development Center	The purpose of this study is to build research capacity among Latino leaders and promote HIV prevention and early detection among Hispanic/Latinos in eastern North Carolina using a community-based participatory research approach.	Community-based participatory research with Latino populations.
Sue	Leach	2009	College of Allied Health Sciences	Physical Therapy		Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids	Assessment and intervention to improve health and physical functioning in patient populations and in populations at high risk of sustaining physical injury
Sharon Rogers	Moore	2009	College of Health and Human Performance	Health Education & Promotion	ENC Alzheimer’s Support Groups	Identifying Meaningful and Feasible Measures of Well-Being for Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias	Application of athletic training to non-traditional athletes and functional changes in adulthood and the effects of physical activity in special population of adults.
Jane	Painter-Patton	2009	College of Allied Health Sciences	Occupational Therapy	Pitt County Council on Aging Services	Understanding the Lived Experience and Meaning of Falls and Fear of Falling among Community-Dwelling Adults 65 Years and Older	Geriatric community-based therapy on fall prevention, fear of falling, home safety, Alzheimer’s disease in relation to environmental cues to increase function and caregivers home safety concerns and stroke.
Sharon	Paynter	2009	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	Political Science	The Food Bank of Eastern, Central North Carolina: 4 central and eastern North Carolina counties. Primary facility in Raleigh and branch warehouses in Southern Pines, Durham, Greenville and Wilmington	This research combines data from food pantries across a 34 county region of central and eastern North Carolina with photographs of clients, food pantry staff, farms, businesses, and volunteers. A photographic art exhibit will travel across the 34 county region to illustrate the impact of hunger and poverty in local communities, to engage stakeholders in dialogue about potential solutions, and to provide documentation of shifts in service demand and resource availability.	Hunger, poverty, public policy and public service motivation.
Kirk	St. Amant	2009	Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences	English	Aarhus School of Business	Distance Education in Global Contexts: Identifying factors of culture and media that can cause communication problems in internationally distributed online classes	Intercultural and international communication, online education in global environments, globalization and offshoring/international outsourcing and rhetoric of economics in global contexts.