Our Staff & Scholars

Jeremy Bray, Economics, jwbray@uncg.edu

Jeremy’s research focuses on two primary areas of interest: the economics of substance abuse and the economic evaluation of behavioral health interventions. In his work on the economics of substance abuse, he has examined the labor market effects of substance use, abuse, and dependence and has studied the role of prices and taxes in consumers’ choices regarding alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. He was the project director of the national, cross-site evaluation of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment’s (CSAT) Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) grant program. He was Principal Investigator of the Data and Methodological Coordinating Center for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Work, Family, and Health Network.

Erick Byrd, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Tourism, etbyrd@uncg.edu

Erick’s research interests include agritourism, wine tourism and tourism stakeholder understanding and participation. He has a special interest in rural tourism. His research and partnerships have included undergraduate and graduate students, the City of Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Channelle James, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Tourism, cdjames2@uncg.edu

Channelle has deep experience engaging students with communities through service-learning courses. Of special note, she has taught student teams working with guests of the Interactive Resource Center to create plans for personal empowerment through establishing their own businesses and applying for microloans. Currently she is working with vendors of the Grove Street Farmers Market in Glenwood.

Sam Troy, Business School, sptroy@uncg.edu

Some years ago, the former Dean of the Bryan School asked me to identify industry clusters that might be important to the UNCG service area in the years ahead. One of the clusters identified was the North Carolina wine industry as we are located in the very center of this growing cluster. The Bryan School and UNCG have received considerable positive press, engaged several faculty members in the process, conducted numerous research projects, actively involved students in the research, published multiple journal articles and even have UNCG graduates employed in the industry.

Heather Brook Adams, English, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Director, Humanities Network and Consortium, hbadams@uncg.edu

As a scholar and teacher of rhetoric and writing, Heather enjoys finding ways to help students learn by exploring community- and place-based concerns. She has co-authored (with faculty and students) a publication in the Journal of the Alaska Native Studies Council that details her efforts to revise a core rhetoric course to be more reflective of place and students’ cultural experiences. In her first semester at UNCG, Heather taught a freshman seminar class on “Women’s Ways of Making” that connected students with Forge: Greensboro, a downtown makerspace. Heather hopes to cultivate opportunities for additional place-oriented engagements as she learns more about the rich history of UNCG and Greensboro.

Janet Boseovski, Psychology, jjboseov@uncg.edu

Janet has interests in developmental psychology, social cognition in early to late childhood, trait attributions, and children’s acquisition of knowledge from other people. She has partnered with Greensboro Downtown Parks/LeBauer Park for “Crafts and Conversation” where children can engage in developmentally appropriate crafts while parents learn about development such as language, social skills, or challenges that other kids are facing.

Allison Bramwell, Political Science, afbramwe@uncg.edu

Allison’s current research focuses on collaborative urban governance and the political economy of restructuring with an emphasis on economic transformation in mid-sized cities. Other recent work includes local labour market planning and workforce development, the role of colleges and universities in regional economic development, and the social dynamics of economic performance in urban regions. As an expert on community economic development with a particular focus on inclusive innovation in mid-sized cities, she is helping Greensboro’s InnovateNC develop its strategic direction and policy ideas.

Nadja Cech, Chemistry and Biochemistry, nbcech@uncg.edu

Nadja searches for new treatments for infection from natural sources. Her research is aimed at understanding how alternative therapies (primarily plant based medicines) can be used for combating conditions such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). She has partnered externally with farmers across the state of North Carolina and Appalachia, as well as small businesses and other universities to help increase understanding about alternative medicines. Her work has garnered significant external funding, and has brought small farmers into important conversations about the future of alternative medicine.

Travis Hicks, Center for Community-Engaged Design, Interior Architecture, tlhicks@uncg.edu

Travis is the director for the Center for Community-Engaged Design (CC-ED). CC-ED conducts community outreach to extend the teaching environment and encourage students to be civic-minded and committed to creating socially relevant and engaged design for the public good.

Jennifer Hill, Anthropology, jahill4@uncg.edu

Jennifer is the Co-Principal Investigator and Program Manager for the Recipe for Success program. She was part of the team that began the NCHHS/USDA SNAP – Ed program in the Triad, NC area in 2005. In the past ten years, Jennifer has expanded the program from Guilford county NC to Rockingham and Randolph counties. She also leads the adult education services focusing on eating for best health while on a tight budget, and accommodating different cultural and dietary needs.

Marianne LeGreco, Communication Studies, melegrec@uncg.edu

Marianne’s scholarship focuses on health and organizational communication, food policy, community engagement, and discourse analysis. She has partnered with a number of community organizations and schools to address healthy eating practices and food programs. She received special recognition from Warnersville Community Coalition for her community engagement.

Anna Marshall-Baker, Interior Architecture, a_marsha@uncg.edu

Through her role as chair of the Interior Architecture department, Anna has supported the department’s efforts towards increasing opportunities for students and faculty to engage with communities through teaching and research. IARc community-engaged research reaches audiences beyond academic peers, emerges from a process of creative collaboration, and culminates in products such as a built environment, neighborhood plan, website, or exhibition — an application of scholarship meeting contemporary community needs.

Art Murphy, Anthropology, admurphy@uncg.edu

Recipe for Success in collaboration with public and private entities in North Carolina provides direct and indirect nutrition and obesity prevention education to individuals and households who are either SNAP recipients or SNAP eligible. There are three primary target audiences: 1) Individuals over the age of 18 from a variety of socio-economic groups who participate in programs hosted by mental health associations, veteran’s associations, faith-based organizations, etc., 2) Children under age 18 who attend Title 1 schools and their associated after school and summer recreational programs, and 3) households with children under the age of 18 through 8.

Nicholas Oberlies, Chemistry and Biochemistry, n_oberli@uncg.edu

The Oberlies Research Group studies bioactive compounds from nature, largely from the viewpoint of natural products chemistry. We isolate and characterize bioactive compounds from fungi, bacteria, and plants, every single day. All of our projects take a team oriented approach, collaborating with scientists in diverse disciplines, including pharmacology, virology, ecology, and metabolism, to name only a few, such that we are focused on revealing the biological potential of compounds from nature.

Anne Parsons, History, aeparson@uncg.edu

As a public historian, I work to create community learning spaces and dialogues about the history of incarceration. I am working on a book manuscript From Asylum to Prison: Deinstitutionalization and the Rise of Prisons, which will come out in Spring 2018 and I will then curate a traveling exhibition with the National Library of Medicine on the themes of the book. I am currently working with students to bring the exhibition States of Incarceration to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. We are also organizing an Open Mic Night, a Mass Story Lab, and guided tours with formerly incarcerated individuals.

Janet Allard, Theatre, jmallard@uncg.edu

Janet and UNCG theatre students conducted a Young Playwrights workshop at Caldcleugh, as part of UNCG’s Community Arts Collaborative Arts After School program with the theatre students performing the children’s original plays. Janet’s partners included the Greensboro Boys and Girls Club, City Arts, and Greensboro Parks and Recreation.

Rachel Briley, Theatre, r_briley@uncg.edu

Rachel is drawn to work in the drama classroom that explores social inequities and inspires students to become more actively involved in their communities. Rachel was a member of the 2006 Leadership Greensboro class where she assisted in the development of the Guilford Education Alliance’s first Education Leadership Academy. She is the head of the M.F.A. program in Theatre for Youth and the Artistic Director of the North Carolina Theatre for Young People.

David Holley, School of Music, d_holley@uncg.edu

David is the Director of Opera at UNCG and Artistic Director of Greensboro Opera. One of the primary missions of the UNCG Opera Theatre is outreach to the community, and in particular, educating children about opera. Activities include on-campus matinee performances and an annual tour to elementary schools; the latter has trained many singers who have gone on to year-round Young Artist Programs. The UNCG Opera Theatre annually introduces over 18,000 school children to the wonderful world of opera.

Rebecca MacLeod, School of Music, rbmacleo@uncg.edu

Rebecca has established partnerships with the Greensboro Symphony and Peck Elementary School to provide music education to diverse populations that typically do not have access to music education. She helped to establish the Lillian Rauch Beginning Strings Program, which provides free violin and cello instruction to students attending Peck Elementary School, as well as the new Peck Alumni Leadership Program to help students continue their studies and practice through high school.

Mila Parrish, Dance, mlparri4@uncg.edu

Triad area students are invited to join UNCG’s exciting dance community. Young dance artists ages 3-16 take dance classes focusing on dance technique, improvisation, choreography, and performance. Dancers Connect unites interested students with expert dance educators to support collaboration and creativity, without cost constraints. Dancers Connect serves both the community and the pre-service dance education students as they grow as teachers and future leaders in dance. Volunteers include graduate and undergraduate students plus high school students. Parrish currently has Dancers Connect satellite programs running at The University of South Carolina and The College of Charleston.

Jennifer Reis, Arts Administration, jareis@uncg.edu

Jennifer engages with artists, artisans, and creatives in Central Appalachia with educational programming to help them survive and thrive in for-profit and non-profit marketplaces. Informed by her work as an artist, entrepreneur, and educator, her research and curriculum development focus on entrepreneurship and small business development trainings for adult learners that positively impact their artistic venture growth and sustainability. She is a trained facilitator for programs such as the AIR Institute of Berea College, Etsy’s Craft Entrepreneurship Program, Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac Program, and consults for community development, trade and cultural organizations including the Kentucky Arts Council, Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, and the Association for Creative Industries.

She is currently working with The Reynolds Homestead in Critz, Virginia., on a series of workshops called “Art to Market” which will manifest in an ecommerce website and a winter art sale to assist with the launch of “Patrick County Proud”, an economic development effort.

Caitlyn Schrader, College of Visual and Performing Arts, cmschrad@uncg.edu

Caitlyn is the Director of Greensboro Project Space, a contemporary art center at UNC Greensboro, and Director for Community Engagement for the College of Visual and Performing Arts where she supports community-engaged projects and advances partnerships between the college and the community.

Lee Walton, Art, lmwalton@uncg.edu

Lee is an artist with an expanded practice that includes drawing, performance, and social practice. His experiential art works employ system of rule, chance, and open collaboration. He works with museums, institutions, universities, and cities to develop participatory public events, lead workshops, exhibit, and educate. Lee created the Interdisciplinary Art and Social Practice minor at UNCG. This minor provides students with the opportunity to explore a range of diverse creative strategies for socially-engaged art across fields of study.

Jewell Cooper, SOE Academic Affairs and Student Services, jecooper@uncg.edu

Jewell currently serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services and is a Professor in the School of Education. Jewell’s community-based engagement has involved coordinating a professional development school partnership with Guilford County Schools’ Ben L. Smith High School (where over 40 languages are spoken and approximately 80 countries are represented) and the UNCG School of Education. She is also the lead principal investigator on the Real-World English grant (CDLC project) where UNCG faculty, graduate students, preservice teachers, and Guilford County Schools’ teachers and administrators work with immigrant parents who desire to learn to read and write in English.

Matt Fisher, Self-Design Studio, msfishe2@uncg.edu

The SELF Design Studio is a teacher education STEM studio located in the School of Education. The SELF Design Studio offers opportunities for in-service and pre-service teachers to utilize a variety of emerging technologies and tools including 3D printers, robotics, art supplies, and circuitry kits.

David Gwynn, University Libraries, jdgwynn@uncg.edu

David is the digitization coordinator for the University Libraries and is responsible for developing the library’s collections of digitized historical materials. He works with local community groups and individuals along with libraries, museums, and archives to make historical documents, photographs, publications, and other materials available to the public. David is currently working with library faculty and community groups on projects including PRIDE! of the Community, documenting the Triad’s LGBTQ+ community, Well Crafted NC, documenting the history of brewing in the Triad, and People Not Property, an NHPRC-funded initiative to digitize documents related to enslaved people in North Carolina. David is also chair of TriadHistory.org, a collaborative local history web portal connected digital collections around the region.

Ye He, Teacher Education and Higher Education, y_he@uncg.edu

Stephanie collaborates with colleagues on program initiatives related to inclusive practice between special and general education teacher preparation programs, as well as community agencies that serve individuals with disabilities. Her research interests include collaborative practice for inclusive education, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), service-learning for community engagement, and teacher education for special education.

Heather Moorefield-Lang, Information, Library, and Research Sciences, hmmooref@uncg.edu

Heather’s interests lie in technology integration and makerspaces in libraries and educational settings. Through her work, she created two YouTube channels to aid librarians, peer educators, and their students. The first is titled Tech Fifteen, a channel that introduces users to online tools and resources and how they can be integrated into instruction. The second channel is called Research Xpress and was created for middle and high school students to focus on research skills from seeking to presenting information. All videos are closed captioned and Creative Commons licensed for open access.

Erin Lawrimore, University Libraries, erlawrim@uncg.edu

Erin uses her knowledge of archival theory and practice to help community groups and small business owners manage their historical records and preserve their stories. One example of this work is Well Crafted NC, a project focused on documenting the history of beer and brewing in North Carolina. Well Crafted NC combines oral history interviews with leaders in the craft beer industry, digital records from brewers and breweries across the state, and historical research. Ultimately, Well Crafted NC allows the public to learn about this important industry while also allowing those in the industry to more effectively use their individual and collective histories to tell the story of NC beer.

Noah Lenstra, Information, Library, and Research Sciences, njlenstr@uncg.edu

Noah’s research focuses on how public libraries adapt their services through community engagement. He has partnered with several public libraries in the US and in Canada to support, understand, and enhance their efforts to increase healthy physical activity in the diverse communities they serve.

Christina O’Connor, Educator Preparation, ckoconno@uncg.edu

Christina’s interests are in collaborative work with schools and school districts to simultaneously improve educator preparation and educational outcomes for P-12 students. Her recent work includes two Teacher Quality Partnership grants in partnership with Guilford County Schools and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. The current grant, Transforming Teaching through Technology, is developing a transformational model for teacher preparation in which candidates, alongside university and school-based faculty, integrate existing and emerging technologies into P-12 instruction to ensure that students have the knowledge and skills to become lifelong learners and productive workers in the 21^st century. Academic coursework, field experiences, hands-on activities in “makerspaces,” and summer technology camps led by pre-service candidates, faculty, and teachers support the integration of technology in teaching and learning in all subject areas.

Diane Ryndak, Specialized Education Services, dlryndak@uncg.edu

Diane’s work focuses on teacher and doctoral-level preparation, with a focus on collaborative teams meeting the complex needs of students with significant intellectual and other disabilities through the use of evidence-based practices that result in access to general education curriculum and contexts. Additionally, she works with school districts to facilitate sustainable systemic reform and multi-tiered systems of support to improve outcomes for all students. She has completed Fulbright Research related to inclusive education in Poland, where she continues to work with colleagues at universities and in schools.

Leila Villaverde, Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, levillav@uncg.edu

Leila’s work is with area schools and arts organizations, working with educators/directors to build critically informed curriculum integration and redesign spaces towards an aesthetic/curricular ecology.

Donna Duffy, Kinesiology, dmduffy@uncg.edu 

Donna is the Program Director for the Program for the Advancement of Girls and Women in Sport and Physical Activity, which is housed in the Center for Women’s Health and Wellness at UNCG. Her efforts are dedicated to conducting collaborative and interdisciplinary evidence-based scholarship to inform our educational programming, and community-based service in issues related to girls and women in physical pursuits and to gender issues both historically and currently.

Melissa Floyd-Pickard, Social Work, mftaylo2@uncg.edu

Melissa’s scholarship focuses on practice with people who have serious mental illness; issues in family substance abuse recovery, innovative alternatives to involuntary treatment, and professional dissonance in social work practice. She, along with other Social Work colleagues, has a deeply collaborative partnership with the Peacehaven Farm, a sustainable farm located on 89 beautiful acres of organic gardens, rolling pastures, and lush woodlands that connects people with special needs to their community.

Laurie Wideman Gold, Kinesiology, l_widema@uncg.edu

Laurie’s scholarship in community-based prevention programs has led her to partner with health providers. Recently, she collaborated with colleagues to develop the Heart of Hypertension Project in which they developed a community-based prevention program for young African-American men.

Lauren Haldeman, Nutrition, lahaldem@uncg.edu

Lauren works closely with UNCG’s Center for New North Carolinians and community agencies to develop and offer theory-based interventions and resources to a wide array of communities to address dietary behaviors. Having assessed the effects of health beliefs, barriers, food insecurity, and psychosocial issues on nutrition, Lauren designs targeted nutrition education interventions and materials for Latinos and African Americans in the Piedmont Triad and is working to assess the impact of programs such as the School Breakfast Program.

Justin Harmon, Community and Therapeutic Recreation, jtharmo3@uncg.edu

Justin Harmon’s research includes a focus on health and aging, specifically in regards to the use of leisure for coping and identity maintenance for people with serious and terminal diseases, and the use of music for affecting quality of life and life course development. He has a hiking program for people with cancer and survivors called Celebrate the Trail to Recovery, and a drumming clinic for the same population called Restorative Rhythms. He works closely with oncologists and clinical social workers at the Cone Health Cancer Center and staff at the Hirsch Wellness Network (a local nonprofit arts-based cancer support group) to meet the needs of those diagnosed with cancer. Harmon also explores concepts of community development, including how municipalities provide support and allocate resources to their diverse citizenry. In these initiatives, he works with the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department and the Homeless Union of Greensboro.

Michael Hemphill, Kinesiology, mahemphi@uncg.edu

Michael is interested in positive youth development through sports. His research considers pedagogical approaches to youth development in sports settings and leadership development among youth. He collaborates with non-profit sport-based youth development programs to assist in program design, evaluation, and fundraising. He previously worked with several school and youth programs in Charleston, South Carolina, and is seeking to establish new partnerships in the Greensboro community.

William B. Karper, Kinesiology, wbkarper@uncg.edu

William has directed a research and service program for adults with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndromes since 1998.  The program provides individually tailored exercise, health education, and resource support and meets three days per week year-round on campus and at Gateway University Research Park.  Participants are normally referred to the program by local physicians. There is no cost to participants.

Jocelyn Smith Lee, Human Development and Family Studies, jrsmithl@uncg.edu

Jocelyn’s program of research aims to enhance the health, development, and family relationships of Black boys and men. In particular, Her research focuses on the health disparity of homicide and works to understand how race, gender, and socioeconomic status intersect to create unique contexts of vulnerability to violence and traumatic loss, but also unique opportunities for growth and healing. She takes a community-engaged approach to this work.

Kristine Lundgren, Communication Sciences and Disorders, k_lundgr@uncg.edu

Kristine’s community-engaged scholarship is concerned with issues of traumatic brain injury in survivors of intimate partner violence. In collaboration with an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students at UNCG, Kristine has focused on increasing awareness of this issue and is in the process of developing an at-risk screening tool that can be used in the community.

Sharon Morrison, Public Health Education, sdmorri2@uncg.edu

The focus of Sharon’s community-engaged teaching, research, and scholarship is refugee and immigrant health and health education outcomes. This work involves collaboration with interdisciplinary colleagues and students, and diverse community stakeholders, and is grounded in community-based participatory action research (CBPR) and service-learning principles. The goals are to respect and support community agendas, enhance community capacity for health and wellness, and facilitate equitable research collaborations between academic institutions and communities. CBPR projects include the Montagnard Hypertension Project; the Montagnard Population Count Project; Bhutanese Maternal Health and Chronic Disease Education, the Community Advisory Council for the Montagnard/SEA Community Disparities Research Network, and the UMOJA group for refugee women.

Tracy Nichols, Public Health Education, trnicho2@uncg.edu 

Tracy’s primary interests focus on understanding (a) health-promoting relationships within family and community settings and (b) the evaluation and refinement of gender-appropriate and transformative interventions. She pursues these interests through reproductive justice issues. For the past eight years, she has been working with my community partner, the YWCA, to evaluate and revise their doula and childbirth education programs for adolescent mothers and for mothers in treatment for addictions. She is also concluding a 5-year study on perinatal substance use service provision in Guilford County.

Fran Pearson, Social Work, afpearso@uncg.edu

The Congregational Social Work Education Initiative (CSWEI) and the Partnership to Address Co-Occurring Disorders in Vulnerable Populations are two projects funded by the Cone Health Foundation that have engaged social work students with nurses in the Congregational Nurse Program (CNP) here in Greensboro. Graduate and undergraduate students engage with nurses in community-based services that are free to recipients. Services include screening, assessment, brief clinical intervention, case coordination, referral, and health literacy education. Services are shaped according to the needs identified by the participants. The programs have been recognized nationally and internationally as unique, interdisciplinary approaches to community-based integrated care.

Maryanne Perrin, Nutrition, mtperrin@uncg.edu

Maryanne’s research is focused on the safe and equitable provisioning of expressed human milk through donor milk banking and peer-to-peer milk sharing. This research supports action item #12 in the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Breastfeeding which calls for addressing obstacles to the provisioning of safe donor milk. Current projects include a bacteriological and nutrient analysis of expressed human milk exchanged through a variety of non-compensated community models; an analysis of the antimicrobial activity of fortified, pasteurized donor human milk during extended refrigerator storage; and a study of brain-related nutrients in the expressed milk of vegetarian and vegan women.

Kelly Jay Poole, Social Work, kjpoole@uncg.edu

The Congregational Social Work Education Initiative (CSWEI) and the Partnership to Address Co-Occurring Disorders in Vulnerable Populations are two projects funded by the Cone Health Foundation that have engaged social work students with nurses in the Congregational Nurse Program (CNP) here in Greensboro. Graduate and undergraduate students engage with nurses in community-based services that are free to recipients. Services include screening, assessment, brief clinical intervention, case coordination, referral, and health literacy education. Services are shaped according to the needs identified by the participants. The programs have been recognized nationally and internationally as unique, interdisciplinary approaches to community-based integrated care.

Daniel Rhodes, Social Work, dtrhodes@uncg.edu

Daniel’s scholarship focuses on community mental health, immigrant and refugee populations, conflict resolution, restorative justice, peace and social justice issues, Engaged Buddhism, ecopsychology, international social work, and social development.

Jeremy Rinker, Peace and Conflict Studies, jarinker@uncg.edu

Jeremy researches the intersections between narrative, violent conflict, and nonviolent conflict transformation. His community-engaged focus has involved working with restorative justice and issues of reconciliation after lasting legacies of trauma. As a conflict transformation practitioner, Jeremy has mediated and facilitated discussions about marginalization and conflict in the United States and abroad. As a proponent of community-based participant action research, Jeremy has worked with refugee and immigrant communities, past offenders, and other disadvantaged groups to build resilience and transform their situation.

Sandra Shultz, Kinesiology, sjshultz@uncg.edu

Sandra is a core leadership team member of Lifetime Eating and Physical Activity Practices (LEAP), an initiative that aims to improve the eating and physical activity practices of individuals and families in Guilford County. Sandra’s research interests stemmed from her clinical practice as a certified athletic trainer and has focused on the underlying factors that increase a female’s susceptibility to ACL injury during physical activity.

Sudha Shreeniwas, Human Development and Family Studies, s_shreen@uncg.edu 

Sudha’s community engagement includes: 1. ARTmail for Alzheimer’s: Partnership with Creative Aging Network NC, funded by the NEA. CAN-NC designs and delivers a participatory creative visual art program for seniors with memory symptoms; seniors participate; and UNCG (ie Sudha, HHS methods expert Jeff Labban, and the student team) evaluates the program, using mixed methods. 2. The Montagnard Hypertension Research Project: Partnership of UNCG, Guilford College, NC A&T, and members of the Montagnard refugee community in Greensboro. This project was requested by community leaders and examines hypertension in this group that has experienced disruption of life and chronic stress. We use multiple methods (survey and qualitative). Sudha was awarded the 2018 Applied Gerontology Award from the Southern Gerontological Society based on her community-engaged activities.

Lenka Shriver, Nutrition, lhshrive@uncg.edu

Lenka’s research expertise is in the area of childhood nutrition and obesity, with particular focus on associations between parenting characteristics (i.e., feeding practices, parenting, and feeding styles) and children’s obesity-related outcomes (i.e., dietary intake, weight status, body esteem). Since joining the UNCG faculty, she has established close collaborations with Dr. Cheryl Buehler (Human Development and Family Science) to identify parenting feeding practices that are associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake and lower obesity risk among 2-5-year-old children. They have been closely collaborating with the Guilford County Child Development program and the Head Start program in Guilford County for the past 3 years.

Robert Strack, Public Health Education, rwstrack@uncg.edu

Bob’s research has primarily focused on the health and social issues of youth and adolescents which specifically includes research interests in Photovoice methodology, program planning and evaluation, adolescent programming, and health promotion advocacy and policy. He aims to build on the science around photovoice and to provide a tool that will help community’s address social issues from their own lens. With the eventual roll-out of our PhotovoiceKit tool, he hopes to be able to observe, hone, and measure the utility of this applied research endeavor and witness positive changes in communities throughout society.

Stephanie Pickett, Professional Nursing Education, s_picke2@uncg.edu

Stephanie’s overall program of research focuses on the reduction of hypertension-related risk factors among African American women. Her current research focuses on understanding psychosocial factors that influence weight management such as weight beliefs, perceived stress, emotions, and eating behaviors.

Pamela Johnson Rowsey, Professional Nursing Education, pjrowsey@uncg.edu

Pamela became Chair of the Department of Adult Health Nursing in August 2016. She is a basic scientist and her program of research has addressed the role of inflammatory cytokines and their link to fever and the capacity of exercise to induce an inflammatory response and/or change in thermoregulatory set-point (fever) that serves to protect the host. Her career as a basic scientist has provided opportunities to learn different aspects of the scientific process and reinforced her desire to use her knowledge and skills to translate into clinical practice and understanding factors that might contribute to Black Americans diagnosed with chronic illnesses disproportionately dying of the disease compared to White Americans. Compared to White Americans, Black Americans live sicker and die younger. Her desire is to engage community members, organization leaders, and researchers in a community-based participatory research partnership to investigate the role of stress and inflammatory markers in chronic disease progression in Black Americans.

Debra Wallace, Professional Nursing Education, dcwallac@uncg.edu

As a PI for TRIAD2, Debra partners with Guilford, Forsyth, and Rockingham County Schools, NC A &T, GTCC, and others to conduct community education and outreach. TRIAD2 works with middle and high school students to increase the diversity of students in health science careers. They’ve held campus tours, panel and open Q&A sessions, and hands-on demonstrations or health site visits. They also supported summer camps by providing staffing, information, meals, and transportation.