Review Magazine Volume 3

VOL3 RESEARCH

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ALL YOU NEED TO BUILD, DEVELOP, TEST AND SUCCEED … NEW FABRICATION DESIGN CENTER

The Office of Research, Innovation and Sponsored Programs

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Ruth Simmons President, Prairie View A&M University James M. Palmer, Ph.D. Interim Senior Vice President Academic Affairs and Provost Publisher: Ali Fares, Ph.D. Interim Vice President Research, Innovation and Sponsored Programs Editor: Karen B. Cotton, M.A. Manager, Marketing and Communications Photographer: Michael Starghill Photography

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Message From Ali Fares, Ph.D.

Design and Contributors: Gilbreath Communications, Inc.

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Research at Prairie View A&M University is directed by talented and dedicated scholars.

We place a high priority on training students to balance ambitious career goals with a commitment to improving conditions in society for the long term.

Send feedback to: review@pvamu.edu ReView Magazine is published by the Office of Research, Innovation and Sponsored Programs.

Prairie View A&M University is an EEO/AA institution

This issue of ReView features a variety of research and innovation accomplishments at Prairie View A&M University, such as the African-American Studies Program Initiative. Additional stories will introduce our readers to the School of Architecture’s Fabrication Design Center, established in the spring of 2018 and the school’s DesignView Media Center. Also included is a feature on the use of robotics to scout and assess damage inside pipelines and a report on cybersecurity research.

We have prioritized the research efforts of our undergraduate and graduate students. Many of whom were funded and recognized for their research and innovations at local, statewide and national venues. Our Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship Program is well into the planning stages.

Strategic initiatives have strengthened our research and innovation programs. The Department of Defense hosted a workshop on our campus for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and minority-oriented Institutions across the nation. NASA Johnson Space Center came to share information on research, training, and internship opportunities available to students and faculty.

With ReView, we aim to continue the conversation about PVAMU’s research and innovation and opportunities to advance them. We welcome input, comments and suggestions to help us serve the PVAMU community better.

Ali Fares, Ph.D. Interim Vice President for Research, Innovation and Sponsored Programs

ALL YOU NEED

TO BUILD, DEVELOP, TEST AND SUCCEED…

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IN THIS

ISSUE

8 A CULTURAL BREAKTHROUGH ON HISTORIC GROUNDS

African American Studies Program Initiative begins push for full degree program at PVAMU

12 DEADLY, TINY AND FINDING

A HOME IN TEXAS’ AIR AND SOIL

PVAMU Research Details African Red Dust’s Rising Threat to Health and Environment

18

42 SPOTLIGHT

STUDENT

Grad student’s project shines spotlight on dirty apps

EEKING, FINDING AND S REMOVING CYBERTHREATS

Professor Spotlights Cybercrime as PVAMU hosts Annual Conference of the International Information Management Association (IIMA)

22 WHEN A COMMON NUISANCE

IS AN OCCASIONAL DELICACY

Professor Applies $300,000 National Science Foundation Grant to Research of Unique Amaranthus Weed

26 SPIRITUALLY STRONG

AND MENTALLY SERENE

Young African-Americans reap therapeutic benefits from religious faith

30 M IXING HIP HOP LYRICS

AND HOLY SCRIPTURES:

Undergrad Making Waves with Irrigation Water Research

Psychology major’s forthcoming manuscript focuses on impact of popular rap artist’s emphasis on spirituality

32 THE QUEST FOR CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE EDUCATORS

Innovative professor leads NSF-funded research aimed at encouraging more African-American, Latino students to prepare for STEM careers

New Fabrication Design Center is equipped for extensive projects, advanced research

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36 PROGRESS IS IN THE PIPELINE AT PVAMU

Professor directs Robotic Scout Project for Bechtel

38 WITH A DOSE OF CREATIVITY

DesignView Media Center Provides Students with On-Campus, Real World Work Experience

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AYOLL U

NEED T O B U I L D, D E V E L O P, TEST AND SUCCEED

NEW FABRICATION DESIGN CENTER IS EQUIPPED FOR

Dr. Ikhlas Sabouni

EXTENSIVE PROJECTS, ADVANCED RESEARCH

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ONE OF PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY’S MOST ACCLAIMED DEPARTMENTS IS ON COURSE TO RAISE ITS PROFILE EVEN HIGHER.

With the recent addition of the Fabrication Design Center in the School of Architecture, administrators, faculty and students are all looking forward to greater achievements. The Fabrication Design Center building covers more than 26,000 square feet and opened in the spring of 2018. The center houses the latest technology in laser cutters, wood and metal tools, 3D printers and other equipment. It also has an assembling section and equipment space. Students can now utilize a larger variety of methods and equipment to build, develop and test concepts and projects. Another advantage of the Fabrication Design Center is sheer space allowing more work to be done in a single location to increase peer-to-peer collaboration and cross-disciplinary interaction.

The Fabrication Center was designed with an elevated plane that hovers over the building’s exterior brick walls and allows natural light to filter into the interior space. In October 2018, the center earned regional recognition for its unconventional design.

“Out of many design entries that were submitted to the American Institute of Architects-Houston Chapter for the 2018 Design Awards, only 12 were selected and the Fabrication Center was among the winners,” notes Dr. Ikhlas Sabouni, dean of the College of Architecture and a PVAMU distinguished professor.

PVAMU also is one of only eight universities in Texas with accredited architecture programs, and one of only seven historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the nation with an accredited architecture program. Additionally, 45 percent of PVAMU’s architecture students graduate with double degrees in architecture and construction science.

Sabouni adds that PVAMU wants to build on its distinction of being the Unites States’ topranked university for graduating African-American undergraduate and graduate students in the architecture field — which is especially notable given that less than 2 percent of licensed U.S. architects are African-American. Sabouni says many architecture graduates often concentrate on getting full-time jobs and simply delay or forego the opportunity to take a licensing exam.

“Nationwide, there is a lot of focus on the need to increase the number of African-American architects,” Sabouni says. “We’re a small program making a difference in the state by producing graduates who have degrees in architecture and related fields such as construction science and digital media. So, we encourage students to test for the exam to become licensed architects.”

Meanwhile, various departments have recently added to the School of Architecture’s list of accomplishments in regional and national competitions.

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PVAMU’S RACE TO ZERO STUDENT TEAM WON THE TEXAS SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS STUDIO DESIGN AWARD IN OCTOBER 2018 The Texas Society of Architects Studio Awards recognizes unbuilt projects demonstrating innovation and excellence in design. Real or theoretical projects that go beyond the boundaries of architecture to address current critical issues are encouraged. The PVAMU Race to Zero Team’s project, The Fly Flat, was one of only five projects to receive a Studio Award. It was also the only project selected by a university team.

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS TEAM WON THE CITY OF HOUSTON COMPLETE THE COMMUNITY HOUSING COMPETITION IN SEPTEMBER 2018 The team won “Special Distinction for Building Community through Architecture” for their design of “The Fly Flat,” a pocket community featuring three living units, a community center, and communal green space. The living spaces consist of modular units that could be prefabricated at a low cost. This design utilized low-impact development strategies such as a rainwater cistern and bioswale to capture runoff. The team also proposed creating a community land trust that could double as a solar co-op utility.

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THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE DIGITAL MEDIA ARTS TEAM WON SOCIAL MEDIA CATEGORY AT THE CHILLENNIUM GAME JAM 2018 IN OCTOBER 2018 The Chillennium Game Jam is an annual event organized, hosted and run by the students of Texas A&M University. It is the largest students’ run game jam in the world. Teams from all over the world participate and compete with each other. They are given 48 hours to develop a game based around a theme announced at the opening. Once the announcement has been made, teams are to stay at the venue and work on their projects until the submission. In 2018, more than 370 students took part in the challenge. There were around 100 teams with four members per team. Prairie View A&M University had seven students participate from the Digital Media Arts program. Not only did they have a fully functional game, where many other teams failed, but they also returned home with a trophy. There are several different categories that you can win a prize for, including art and programming. Our students and their efforts got the most recognition online, rendering them as the winners in the social media category.

A

“

WE’RE

S M A L L

P R O G R A M

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

I N

T H E

S T A T E

BY PRODUCING

G R A D U AT E S W H O H AV E

DEGREES IN ARCHITECTURE A N D R E L AT E D F I E L D S S U C H

A S

C O N S T R U C T I O N

S C I E N C E A N D D I G I TA L M E D I A . S O ,

ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS TEAM WON THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MINORITY ARCHITECTS (NOMA), JUROR’S CHOICE AWARD IN OCTOBER 2018

WE ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO TEST L I C E N S E D A RC H I T EC T S.

A team of four architecture students participated in the NOMA Students Design Competition at the Annual National NOMA Conference in Chicago in the fall of 2018. Their project won the Juror’s Choice Award. o

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”

FOR THE EXAM TO BECOME

– Dr. Sabouni

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. Kelley

R . Danny r D d n a ,

son, Jr.

. Wil A s e m a , Dr. J . Palmer

es M

Dr. Jam

ABreakthrough CULTURAL on Historic Grounds

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African American Studies Program Initiative begins push for full degree program at PVAMU

Most who attend or work at Prairie View A&M University are aware that a plantation staffed by slaves once occupied the very land on which the main campus stands.

“The genesis of this is (PVAMU President) Ruth Simmons’ presence,” Dr. Palmer says.

“In one of her very first public addresses, she lamented the fact that Prairie View did not have a formalized African American studies program,” notes Palmer. “Dr. Simmons wants a genuine African American studies program to be a part of her legacy as PVAMU president.”

That’s why the creation of a full African-American studies program on PVAMU’s main campus is a true moment of irony and anticipation.

It’s also a moment of intense planning, as Dr. James A. Wilson, Jr., PVAMU associate provost for academic affairs, Dr. James M. Palmer, interim provost of academic affairs, and Dr. Danny R. Kelley, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences collaborate on how to structure the program and begin to prepare a short list of instructors to consider as potential faculty.

What is formally called the African-American Studies Initiative became possible thanks to significant financial gifts and grants.

PVAMU received $500,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, $250,000 from an anonymous donor and will be able to utilize a $250,000 university match.

Meanwhile, Dr. Wilson observes that it has almost become the norm for many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) not to have full African-American studies programs within their curriculum.

“We wanted to instill, at the core of this program, that every single student at Prairie View will have an opportunity to take an African-American studies course regardless of their major,” says Wilson. “We looked at the historical aspect, beginning in the 1960s, when Howard University was one of the first to challenge the classic HBCU curriculum.”

Although there has never been a full, degreed African-American studies program that students could select as a major, PVAMU does offer a minor in African-American studies.

Dr. Kelley says the objective of the program will be that every course will have an infusion of African-American culture and history within the course.

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“African-American history is not as ingrained in the culture of university life nationwide as much as we think it should be,” Kelley says. “There is a market for people who have done real study in this area to acquire degrees and to teach on the subject.

“The whole concept of having an African-American studies program is not new. We just never moved forward on it,” Kelley observes. “Students and faculty had talked about it, and we had reached certain phases, but for some reason or other, it never came to a state of completion,” he says.

“Dr. Simmons gave new teeth to the project.”

Wilson says the most likely goal of future students who may choose to major in the African American studies program would be to pursue graduate work in order to teach African-American history, political science or various other disciplines where the role of African-Americans has been significant.

“The idea is that every single graduate of PVAMU will have the opportunity to say they had professors who introduced them to the idea of pursuing a degree in African American history or African American literature because African Americans are actually underrepresented as instructors in those fields,” Wilson adds.

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“I tell the

stude trees nts to becau notice s e the if the talk, t t hey’d rees c ould t e ll you what a lot a happe bout n ed on lands cape the v t h a ery t situat t h i s ed on campu . s is

”

– Dr. W ilson

Several PVAMU scholars who teach history, political science, music and other disciplines drafted an outline of the studies program during the summer of 2018. “We wanted to make sure that everyone had a clear idea of the value this would have for all of our students,” adds Wilson. “We looked at thematics across the whole African-American diasporic experience, from the African slave trade all the way up to post-Obama.”

Wilson says the launch of the program could have a profound impact all over the PVAMU campus. “We hope this will inspire students to read and study more broadly and to have an appreciation for studies dealing with race, politics and culture,” says Wilson. “It’s an opportunity to get the intellectual climate on this campus buzzing around the culture of African-American studies.”

The faculty selection process got underway in fall 2018, with a goal to employ 20 instructors, says Palmer. By summer 2019, syllabi for courses are scheduled to be ready. “As early as March 2019, we’ll have all the courses identified, so students will know this is a specifically targeted African-American content course.”

Additionally, a series of lectures, art exhibits, symposiums and films are being planned to coincide with the start of the program, says Wilson. The first symposium took place in October 2018 and featured Nell Irvin Painter, an eminent African-American historian of Southern U.S. history, who discussed how the curriculum of an African-American program should look.

Wilson says the team is working to bring other historians like Henry Louis Gates and Cornel West to speak at PVAMU. Both Gates and West are friends of Dr. Simmons.

“It is significant that the Alta Vista slave plantation once occupied land now held by PVAMU,” says Wilson. “I tell the students to notice the trees because if the trees could talk, they’d tell you a lot about what happened on the very landscape that this campus is situated on.”

Palmer says a key by-product of the grant will be additional research possibilities and notes that the team wants to establish a direct link between the program and the Texas Institute for the Preservation of African American History. o

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Dr. Richard Griffin

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TINY

and Finding a Home in Texas’ Air and Soil PVAMU Research Details African Red Dust’s Rising Threat to Health and Environment

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A conversation with Dr. Richard Griffin can give you a whole new way of thinking about dust, and not the kind you sweep and remove from homes, apartments and offices.

Specifically, Dr. Griffin studies the red dust of West Africa that can carry toxins while traveling right across the Atlantic Ocean in the high winds of storms and hurricanes.

A professor and research scientist for Prairie View A&M University’s College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, Griffin has been leading the Saharan and Sahelian Red Dust Collection Project (SSRDCP) for more than a decade. The work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Evans-Allen 1890 Research Formula Program.

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Griffin and other researchers involved in SSRDCP want to know whether the red-colored soils found on PVAMU’s Governor Bill and Vara Daniel University Farm actually originated in the Saharan or Sahelian regions of Africa.

At one time, scientists assumed toxic microorganisms could not survive while being carried in the wind for thousands of miles. That assumption has proven invalid now that deadly toxins have been found to travel all the way from the West African nation of Mali to the northwestern region of Texas.

In the late 1990s, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began placing dust traps in various states along the U.S. Gulf Coast — with the westernmost dust traps having been placed in the city of Lubbock, Texas.

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“From the traps in Lubbock, researchers collected the dust and were able to conduct genetic sequencing,” Griffin says. “There are microbic libraries from samples taken around the world. By knowing the DNA-RNA of those microbes, researchers can match them back to their original location.”

“In Lubbock, there is a set of microorganisms that were growing on the surface of the dust particles, and that set of microbes matched the microbes that live in the open sewers of Mali,” Griffin says.

When the wind blows in a western direction, Griffin says, it gathers the scum layer dust, carries it 25,000 feet into the air, and brings it all the way to the Western Hemisphere — including the United States.

WHY IT MATTERS:

The E. Coli Threat and Other Dangers Griffin notes that during dry periods in Mali’s climate, open sewer ditches dry up and produce a biofilm — called a “scum layer” — on the surface of sewage. This scum layer dries out, breaks apart and its dust particles gather in the wind.

When the wind blows in a western direction, Griffin says, it gathers the scum layer dust, carries it 25,000 feet into the air, and brings it all the way to the Western Hemisphere — including the United States.

“We think of E. coli as being one of the microorganisms that is associated with raw, untreated sewage,” Griffin observes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are many strains of the bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli). Most strains are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals. But some E. coli strains are well-known and feared for causing disease by producing Shiga toxin.

Although the research conducted by Griffin and the SSRDCP is ongoing, the professor says many signs lead to the conclusion that the red dust found on PVAMU’s Daniel Farm comes directly from Africa. For example, according to experts on the King Ranch in South Texas, pasture-dwelling egrets — often called “cattle egrets” — were literally carried from West Africa to the South Texas coast during a powerful hurricane in 1899, Griffin says, and those egrets became the ancestors of the entire egret population currently found throughout North America.

Griffin asserts that if a flock of egrets can be carried in high winds across the Atlantic Ocean, toxic dust particles can also be transported.

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“This means we not only have a bio-environmental issue, in terms of these particles traveling and us breathing them in, there is also a biomedical issue,” Griffin says. “As these waves of dust particles come in, the hospitals have to be ready with the right medical supplies and have staff prepared to treat individuals who will suffer during upper respiratory alerts.

“Anyone with upper respiratory ailments and allergies is breathing in these microorganisms constantly,” adds Griffin, “because there is dust in the air that never comes down.”

Griffin also notes another indication that the African red dust is definitely present is the color found in some of the soil around the PVAMU campus. “Our soils that exist on the campus are reddish-brown sands, when, in actuality, they should be tan-colored,” he says. “They should not be red.”

Other indications of African red dust being present in North America are found in the Caribbean islands, says Griffin. “The reason that the Bahamas actually exist is because of the African red dust.

“When the dust blows from the African continent to the West, it falls into the ocean and feeds microorganisms known as stromatolites that consume the dust, use its iron and that has built up a core structure as a base for the islands.”

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“If you look at all of the other island structures, there’s either volcanic ash or some kind of fault, or bedrock under them,” Griffin continues. “The Bahamas do not have bedrock,” he says. “They literally are built up from the sea, and it’s the dust that fell into the sea that fed the microorganisms, and their bodies became large enough to act as whole colonies that they now are the structure of the islands.”

“Someday, there will be a dust alert just to let individuals know that this (dust storm) is coming. Therefore, hospitals and others will have to decide how they are going to manage their workload,” he says.

On a closely related issue involving toxic air, Griffin notes that when sugar cane fields in Mexico are burned, the smoke blows north into the United States. Griffin notes dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) is still used by Mexican farmers to burn cane fields — while DDT usage over U.S. sugar cane fields is now illegal. But winds tinged with DDT still regularly blow into the U.S. from Mexico. “By using DDT, which attaches to plants and soil particles, adds Griffin, “you have the heat that rises and brings plant material that’s been burned and soil particles, because they’ve now cleared the earth and the dust particles go up in that same plume.”

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We don’t have any way to keep the dust from getting here, so if we address it where it originates, then we’re better off here, at the end point.

–Dr. Griffin

As a result, in recent years there have been successive waves of toxic air alerts for people who have upper respiratory illnesses — from north of the U.S.-Mexico border all the way to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Griffin says, adding that there has to be a continued and more intensified global movement advocating preventive measures against both the spread of red dust and various pesticide usage.

“If we don’t have any programs in place to address issues outside the United States, at some point, we will suffer the consequences of what arrives in the atmosphere,” he says. “We don’t have any way to keep the dust from getting here, so if we address it where it originates, then we’re better off here, at the end point.” o

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Dr. Emmanuel Opara

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Professor Spotlights Cybercrime as PVAMU hosts Annual Conference of the International Information Management Association (IIMA) Dr. Emmanuel Opara is dedicated to the fight against cybercrime.

As an associate professor in Prairie View A&M University’s College of Business, Opara teaches courses on cybersecurity, E-commerce technologies, strategic information technology, and other disciplines. But as a long-time cybersecurity expert and a member of the International Information Management Association (IIMA), he’s also working on a breakthrough in the fight against cybercrime.

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In October of 2018, PVAMU hosted, for the first time, a joint conference of international researchers: the Annual Conference of the IIMA was held simultaneously with the 5th Annual Conference of the International Conference on Information Technology and Economic Development (ICITED), and Opara played a central role as an IIMA member as well as chair of this year’s conference. This joint conference is held annually in various parts of the world, and PVAMU welcomed researchers from Canada, China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Mexico, Taiwan, Scotland, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and various other nations.

The conference agenda focused on promoting the exchange of ideas among leading researchers, educators, developers and practitioners who share their research and disseminate innovative breakthroughs in education, business, and government. “We’re showing that we have very productive people here and that we have the ability to host a wonderful conference,” says Opara.

Using the theme, “Securing the Internet and Cloud Technology: Where Cutting-Edge Science Meets Business,” conference panelists covered a broad range of topics, including, cybersecurity, medical informatics, E-learning, “smart” systems, social networking, cloud computing, mobile computing, big data and emerging trends, among other topics.

Opara himself addressed the latest developments in cybersecurity research at PVAMU and gave a presentation on the topic of “threat-hunting” to the conference attendees.

“We like to go where the enemy is,” says Opara.

“The problem most organizations are having right now, is waiting until someone attacks their network before confronting the problem.

That’s why we’ve seen this problem with cyberattacks everywhere.

THE SOFTWARE WE HAVE RIGHT NOW ALLOWS US TO GO INTO A NETWORK AND IDENTIFY BAD GUYS AND NOTE THEIR IP ADDRESSES, NETWORKS USED, AND FROM THERE, IDENTIFY THEIR PATTERNS AND COME UP WITH A SOLUTION – Dr. Opara

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“The software we have right now allows us to go into a network and identify bad guys and note their IP addresses, networks used, and from there, identify their patterns and come up with a solution,” Opara adds.

About 66 universities were represented at the IIMA, and several key industries were also present. Opara says he and other IIMA researchers are increasingly recognized and sought out as authorities on the subject of cybersecurity and online forensics.

“We’re looking for partnerships with industry and key vendors,” he says. “The vaccine we are developing will ensure that if somebody invades your network, instead of having to find out how they got there, there will be something to alert you that you’ve been invaded and enable you to start looking at ways to quarantine the threat.”

Opara also noted the growing problem of some companies sabotaging their business rivals.

“Some companies are doing a lot of phishing,” Opara says. “They will go through someone’s email address, and someone clicks on something in a deceptive link.” Instantly, he says, a virus is installed, and by the time it is detected by the victimized business, significant damage is already done.

Opara is confident his anti-cybercrime “vaccine” software will prove successful for public and private entities. o

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OCCASIONAL

Dr. Yolander Youngblood

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Professor Applies $300,000 National Science Foundation Grant to Research of Unique Amaranthus Weed

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When most people think about weeds, the thoughts are probably brief and unpleasant. Most of us learned early to view weeds as unsightly yard pests that must be chemically destroyed or simply “whacked” away during the weekly lawn upkeep.

But one chat with Dr. Yolander Youngblood can give anyone a whole new perspective on at least one unique and fast-growing weed. Youngblood, an assistant professor of biology at Prairie View A&M University’s College of Arts and Sciences, recently persuaded the National Science Foundation (NSF) that a weed known as Amaranthus palmeri is well worth a substantial, three-year research effort funded by a $300,000 NSF grant.

Amaranthus palmeri grows throughout much of North America and is native to the southern United States. It can survive drought, respond to high levels of available nutrients, and one of its versions is resistant to traditional pesticides. The weed also competes against warm season crops, and reproduces through prolific seed production.

The Amaranthus weed is often described as “aggressive” because it matures so rapidly that it steals resources from surrounding plants, says Youngblood. “The neighboring crop plants typically take a longer time to start growing. The Amaranthus seeds are tiny, and for every 100 seeds, only about five are going to survive, but once they survive, they can produce thousands more.”

Youngblood’s research is aimed at controlling the rapid growth of the Amaranthus palmeri. If the weed’s growth can be slowed, the cost of pesticides could be reduced by 20 percent or more. “But even without that, we could cause less damage,” she observes. From an environmental standpoint, Youngblood is seeking a way to control the rare weed’s growth by identifying the best time to add the least amount of chemicals to suppress the growth.

“Doing that would cause less harm to the environment, reduce the amount of money farmers need to spend in terms of controlling the weed’s growth and lessen the overall impact of the weed,” Youngblood adds.

IF THE WEED’S GROWTH CAN BE SLOWED, THE COST OF PESTICIDES COULD BE REDUCED BY 20 PERCENT OR MORE.

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Interestingly, in Jamaica and other parts of the West Indies, Amaranthus is actually popular as a food, and its leaves are used for salads while the seeds are used as grains.

Having grown up on a farm in the South, Youngblood learned early to appreciate various forms of plant life, but did not expect to pursue a career that would involve studying weeds and how much they affect farms. “I am interested in plants and the surfaces of plant leaves because that’s the most obvious part of the plant,” she says. “If a plant is going to survive, it must have hearty leaves. It’s got to have something to protect it, and every environment is different.”

Youngblood says securing the NSF grant was a major breakthrough for her because previous requests-for-proposal (RFPs) had been declined. “The goal was to write 20 RFPs. By the time I reached number 20, I was sure one of my proposals would have to win acceptance,” she says, adding that it took about eight consecutive RFPs before she finally won the grant.

“When the call came about this one, I was very excited because this gives me the ability to make certain my students are hired,” she says, adding that her students have been resourceful at finding different sources of employment.

“Now, they’re going to be leaving (graduating) in May but this group will help train the next group and I will have funding for them.”

Along with the freedom from worrying about how to fund her research, Youngblood welcomes a chance to spend less time writing RFPs and more time writing about research results. Additionally, winning an NSF grant increases your odds of securing another and Youngblood says she’s optimistic about the chance to collaborate with other researchers.

“It frees up time to do some writing,” she says.

“Because the goal is to get published and share the information. Writing RFPs and publishing each require a lot of time. And also, other researchers are more willing to collaborate when you bring something like an NSF grant to the table.”

Youngblood says she’s encouraged when students occasionally approach her to express interest in research opportunities. “I like research because it’s just a matter of helping you see that you can figure out things,” she says. “That’s all we’re doing — figuring out the answers. If my students are responsible and assertive about research, those are probably the two biggest things for me,” she says. o

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YOUNG AFRICAN-AMERICANS REAP THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS FROM RELIGIOUS FAITH Based on the changes in traditional social mores and the continued popularity of secular entertainment, the strength of traditional religious beliefs among any group of young people may not seem to be the norm.

But an ongoing research project led by Dr. Pamela Martin at Prairie View A&M University reveals not only that devout religious faith is strong among young African-Americans, but also functions as an effective form of therapy for many of these young people.

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Dr. Pamela Martin

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“We found that adolescent girls who actively seek out a relationship with God are better able to cope with racial stigmas or discrimination that they might experience.”

– Dr. Martin Dr. Martin, a professor in PVAMU’s College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology, researches African American Protestant faith communities and primarily focuses on black adolescents and the role of faith in their daily lives. Martin’s research is funded by a $1 million grant from the Hogg Foundation, with $102,582 specifically covering a three-year span of research at PVAMU. Martin has been researching the role of faith in black lives since the late 1990s when she was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research where she worked with the renowned scholars Dr. James Jackson, Robert Sellers, and Cleo Caldwell known for his research on African-Americans.

Martin’s research includes an examination of two segments of African-American adolescents — those who are of Caribbean descent and those who are not. “We found that religion was a coping factor only for Caribbean-descended black adolescents,” Martin says.

“Religion functioned in the way we thought it would, but it did not function that way for (non-Caribbean) African Americans.

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“Even though African-Americans are known to be more devoutly religious than other groups,” she continues, “there’s also this trend of a growing number of people in African-American communities who are un-churched.”

From the earliest years of the African presence in North America, the Christian faith and the Protestant church in the daily lives of black people has been well-documented. In prior decades, African-Americans were literally raised in the tradition of regular church attendance and having an active prayer life. “But we’re finding that some African-Americans don’t have those social network bonds to their faith communities anymore,” says Martin.

A recent work, written by Martin in the summer of 2018 and titled, “Religious Beliefs Among African-American Adolescent Groups,” takes a more extensive look at religious faith trends among young African-Americans.

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“We decided to broaden the conversation about religion among African-American faith communities,” Martin notes. “In religious literature, three standard questions are asked. One: ‘Do you go to church? Yes or no? Do you pray? Yes or no? And finally, How religious are you on a scale from one to five?’”

Martin says a huge body of research has been done based on those three questions. Martin’s research focuses on generating a more in-depth discussion by asking questions like: “How do you communicate with God?” and, “How do you have a relationship with God?” Notably, Martin says “asking those types of questions gave us more information about the role of religion in that particular population’s lives.”

Across the board, Martin’s research found religiously active African-American adolescent girls of all backgrounds — Caribbean, non-Caribbean and so on — cited faith as a consistently positive force in their lives. “We found that adolescent girls who actively seek out a relationship with God are better able to cope with racial stigmas or discrimination that they might experience,” she says.

The National Science Foundation Award funded the research on adolescent girls in the African-American community, and Martin is preparing to apply for another award for further research in that area. “We’ve always known religion could function in a variety of different ways,” Martin says. “But to actually see how adolescent girls incorporate it into their sense of self and also use it as a way to cope with the negative messages related to race was not expected.”

Before arriving at PVAMU, Martin became the first African-American tenured professor in North Carolina State University’s psychology department. Next, she took an administrative role at North Carolina Central University as a department chair before coming to PVAMU as an associate dean. After being personally inspired within the last year by the passionate approach of PVAMU’s new president, Ruth Simmons — who often stresses having high-quality faculty in classrooms, and who also has said teaching is “God’s work” — Martin chose to leave her administrative position and resume teaching.

“Simmons’ words really just resonated with me, so I decided to return to the classroom,” Martin adds. “I can devote all my energies to teaching, research, and service, and I’m very excited about that.”

Recently, Martin’s faith research project added one more dimension — the role of religion in hiphop music. Specifically, PVAMU junior Clarence Williams is currently working on a manuscript about the lyrics and social themes voiced by Chance the Rapper.

In spring 2018, Williams presented a preliminary analysis about Chance the Rapper at the Underground Research Symposium.

Once completed, Martin says Williams’ manuscript will be submitted to the Journal of Hip Hop Studies. Meanwhile, in October of 2018, PVAMU hosted a Hogg Foundation Display of Visual Art Work featuring ten African American churches involved. o

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MIXING HIP HOP LYRICS AND HOLY SCRIPTURES Psychology major’s forthcoming manuscript focuses on impact of popular rap artist’s emphasis on spirituality

Only a few years ago, while still attending high school in his hometown of San Antonio, Clarence Williams first began to consider becoming a psychiatrist.

Williams’ interest arose from his own battle with depression following the death of his father in the summer following his high school sophomore year. “I became interested in psychology after realizing African-American males aren’t represented heavily in the medical and mental health fields,” Williams says, “so I focused on becoming a psychiatrist.”

Now, as a junior psychology major at Prairie View A&M University, Williams is nearing completion of a manuscript about the religious themes frequently associated with one of the most popular contemporary rappers — Chance the Rapper (real name: Chancelor Jonathan Bennett). The manuscript is an outgrowth of Williams’ assignment in a broad-based research project launched by one of his professors — Dr. Pamela Martin of the College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology. Dr. Martin’s research deals with African American Protestant faith communities and primarily focuses on black adolescents and the role of faith in their daily lives. Martin’s research is funded by the Hogg Foundation, with $105,000 specifically covering a three-year span of research at PVAMU.

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“I noticed that in every single song, there is a correlation with spirituality and biblical references.

Then, I used additional articles from a library database to back up my assertion of how hip hop had brought on a new perspective on divine authority to younger generations.”

Williams’ interest in putting together a thorough manuscript on the role of faith in hip hop music resulted from him having followed a debate among pastors on Facebook about Chance the Rapper’s faith-oriented lyrics. Williams found that he disagreed with what seemed to be a consensus among the clergy — that the artist’s lyrics were not genuinely spiritual.

“I knew for a fact that they did not listen to Chance the Rapper, or even secular music,” Williams says. “I got into a debate with them.”

A short time later, Williams received an assignment in the class he was taking from Dr. Martin.

“So, I picked Chance the Rapper as a subject, and I wanted to do it as correlation with spirituality because I believed that Chance the Rapper was very spiritual,” says Williams, who began reviewing many of the rapper’s works such as, Coloring Book.

“I noticed that in every single song, there is a correlation with spirituality and biblical references,” Williams adds. “Then, I used additional articles from a library database to back up my assertion of how hip hop had brought on a new perspective on divine authority to younger generations.”

The feedback Williams received from fellow students was generally inspirational, as many of them went on to suggest to Williams that he should research the spiritual themes employed by other rappers such as Snoop Dogg, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar.

One PVAMU professor who happened to listen to Chance the Rapper’s work, suggested Williams review additional Chance the Rapper lyrics that Williams had not yet focused on.

In the course of his work on the manuscript, Williams says he’s learned to appreciate how the often rough-but-sincere lyrics of rappers such as the late Tupac Shakur continue to resonate with many young people more than the sermons they hear in some churches.

“A lot of secular music that people put down is actually uplifting when you decipher the lyrics,” says Williams, adding that many young people instantly identify with someone who clearly discusses struggling with problems they are facing, while emphasizing constructive ways to overcome the grief and anger. o

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Dr. Tyrone Tanner

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FOR CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE EDUCATORS Innovative professor leads NSF-funded research aimed at encouraging more African-American, Latino students to prepare for STEM careers

For many African-American and Latino public school students, having teachers who truly understand and connect with them makes all the difference in how far those students will go academically and professionally.

That’s only one vital aspect of Dr. Tyrone Tanner’s newly launched research project at Prairie View A&M University. Specifically, the project is dedicated to preparing more African-American and Latino students to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines.

Tanner, a full professor in the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education, was awarded a $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation in summer 2018. The grant’s purpose is reflected in its title: “Applying Innovative Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for African American Middle School Teachers and Students to Broaden the STEM Pipeline.” Tanner and his team applied for the three-year grant in November 2017 with the goal of recruiting and developing a broad group of culturally responsive STEM educators.

The new research project coincides with Dr. Tanner having been recently appointed executive director of PVAMU’s Northwest Houston Center campus. Working alongside Tanner as co-principal investigators in the culturally responsive research efforts are Dr. Doug Hermond — also from the College of Education — and Dr. Max Fontus from the College of Arts and Sciences.

In discussing the research, Tanner says the grant funding is crucial in recruiting and preparing educators who are able to keep expectations high, build relationships and maintain an “internal locus of control” — meaning an outlook of, “if (the student) fails, I fail” — rather than simply accepting the widespread assumption that most poor, non-white parents do not instill in their children a willingness to embrace the value of learning.

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When teachers convince themselves that students are simply too unprepared to be taught, Tanner observes, these teachers are effectively giving themselves justification for not expecting any improvement from their students.

“In the same way that your mind will look for the evidence to support your views, your mind also will overlook the evidence that dispels your views,” Tanner says. He adds that the aim of his research is to make a solid argument for building on students’ core strengths rather than citing apparent weaknesses as evidence of students having little or no academic potential.

Tanner notes that a U.S. News and World Report article reported that one in four African-Americans is not college-ready. “From a university standpoint, we also have to get more involved in K-12,” says Tanner. “Because we’re getting a lot of black and brown students who are not prepared for the rigor they will encounter in college.”

Tanner insists that STEM educators who undergo what is termed, “Culturally Responsive and Community-in-Practice Training,” will positively influence diverse students to pursue STEM disciplines in high school, thereby increasing the probability those students will pursue careers involving the STEM disciplines.

Having worked as both a teacher and a principal at the middle school and high school levels and also as an administrative personnel director, Tanner frequently relies on his own experiences as an educator to draw insight for his work.

“If I can help prepare leaders, help prepare teachers and help prepare parents, then, I think, the children are going to be OK.” –Dr. Tanner

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To illustrate what is meant by “culturally responsive” — and why teachers need such a quality, Tanner still recalls one of the prepared questions on a test he once administered while teaching at a predominantly black school in New Orleans.

“The question was, ‘What is most like a boat? A ship or a kayak?’

“Most of my students — mostly urban kids — said a ship was most like a boat,” Tanner says. “But the correct answer was a kayak.” Tanner adds that upper middle-class students of any race, who have been exposed to a broader variety of outdoor sports, would have known instantly that “kayak” was the right answer. “In other words, there are biases that permeate throughout all of our school systems,” he notes.

Tanner is a prolific writer on the subject of culturally responsive educational theories, but is also known for frequently interacting with public school teachers and administrators as well as with African-American and Latino parents.

Indeed, Tanner refers to himself as a “50/50” — meaning 50 percent of his time is devoted to research, and 50 percent is devoted to direct community interaction. Throughout 2018, Tanner conducted more than 50 presentations in various Houston area communities on the subject of culturally responsive education.

Tanner has written several books centered around his culturally responsive educational approach, including Culturally Responsive Educational Theories; Parents Need Help Too! A Guide for Parents of School Age Children; and Parenting When We Are No Longer Together — which deals with challenges that affect parents and children alike in families faced with divorce.

Meanwhile, Tanner’s scholarship on culturally responsive teaching, parenting and partnerships has made him a highly sought-after authority by school districts locally and nationally. In addition to his work at PVAMU, Tanner is responsible for membership efforts for the Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender Special Interest Group for the American Educational Research Association.

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Tanner’s research team is currently preparing a report to be presented to Texas Governor Gregory Abbott addressing how to remove the achievement gap between African-Americans and the rest of the state population. The report also will look at ways to dismantle the “schoolto-prison pipeline” — which refers to the high number of black high school dropouts who end up serving prison sentences. Tanner observes that more than 80 percent of Texas inmates were dropouts.

In fact, the turning point for students who drop out usually occurs at the middle school level, Tanner says, where mandatory regulations spelled out in Texas House Bill No. 5 require all Texas eighth-graders to select a high school curriculum that will determine whether they are “college-ready.”

“When the program’s recruits are admitted to the teacher education program, we will pull the people we’ve identified (as culturally responsive),” says Tanner. “Alief ISD has committed to hiring our teachers. So, our teaching recruits not only get a financial incentive for being part of the program, they also have a guaranteed job.”

Tanner often encourages parents to consider continuing their own educational aspirations and constantly seeks ways to help parents produce the best learning environment for their children.

“How do you create an environment conducive to learning and protect the psychological being of your child? My view is, if I can help prepare leaders, help prepare teachers and help prepare parents,” says Tanner, “Then, I think, the children are going to be OK.” o

Tanner contends this requirement is unrealistic and counterproductive — ultimately discouraging many African-American students as they approach high school.

“To put this in perspective, I have doctoral students — meaning people with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, people who are nearing the final stages of their doctorate — who change their degrees or change their dissertations,” says Tanner. “Meanwhile, in 8th grade, you are expected to decide what choice of courses will lead you to be able to go to college.”

Such a requirement disproportionately affects African-American and Latino families who often are not familiar with the college selection process. “It’s an infrastructure that creates a certain outcome,” Tanner adds. “We have to dismantle this kind of deficit model thinking that permeates every institution.”

The recruitment of college students as teachers for the Cultural Responsiveness Program is ongoing, says Tanner. Additionally, the research team has built a working partnership with Alief Independent School District, which has had notable success in the development of a STEMbased program at the middle school level.

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Stories about robots doing the work of human beings have almost become routine. But some jobs are truly made for robots — and unquestionably not for humans.

One clear example can be found at Prairie View A&M University’s College of Engineering, where intensive research will soon lead to robots going where no human body would be able to fit, let alone work.

Dr. Shield Lin, who at the time was interim chair of the College of Engineering, sought a professor to lead what would become the Robotic Scout Project. Ahmed volunteered to write the proposal to Bechtel, which was accepted. Bechtel has provided $10,000 to fund PVAMU’s completion of the project, which will include testing a prototype of the new pipeline robots. Bechtel specifically stipulated that PVAMU directly involve one or two students throughout the research.

ONCE DAMAGE IS DETECTED, THE ROBOTS WILL TRANSMIT LASER-GENERATED IMAGERY OF THE PROBLEM AREA TO THE SCANNERS WITH 3-D MODELS OF THE CORROSION. Dr. Ahmed Abelmoamen Ahmed, an assistant professor of computer science, is directing the Robotic Scout Project, which will employ drone-like robots to literally scout for damage inside pipelines maintained by the Bechtel Corporation, the largest construction company in the United States.

Bechtel imports underground pipelines from Australia, Ahmed notes, but the current robots are proving themselves outdated — conducting long inspections with less than exact results.

The robots being designed as part of the Robotic Scout Project will be equipped with 3-D scanners to specifically locate corroded metal within a pipeline, says Ahmed. The 3-D scanners will send laser beams throughout the pipeline using GPS coordinates.

Once damage is detected, the robots will transmit laser-generated imagery of the problem area to the scanners with 3-D models of the corrosion.

“They asked us to hire one or two students,” Ahmed says. “We took one month to hire the most qualified student we have. This was a good fit for us and the university has agreed to fund the student as compensation for him working on the project.”

Ahmed arrived at PVAMU in fall 2017, having previously worked at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Cairo. Ahmed is currently writing grant proposals aimed at much more ambitious projects and securing additional outside sponsors for research. Specifically, he is pursuing a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Winning one or both grants would enable the College of Engineering to build a new lab, hire more students for research activities and purchase more state of the art equipment. o

Bechtel has maintained a research-based relationship with PVAMU for many years and the Robotic Scout Project arose following discussions between Bechtel and the College of Engineering.

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Assistant Professor Tracey Moore

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DesignView Media Center Provides Students with On-Campus, Real World Work Experience

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Landing an internship in your chosen field while still in college is often a crucial experience for a university student.

But your selected major and the location of the institution you attend can both have an impact on whether or not you get an internship before graduating.

For design students at Prairie View A&M University, securing internships can be particularly challenging given that the nearest design firms are located well outside the city of Prairie View and many design students lack the time and transportation needed to commute.

Fortunately, PVAMU added its own creative spin to the old adage that “necessity is the mother of invention.” Adversity often fuels creative thinking, and that’s exactly what led to the opening of PVAMU’s DesignView Media Center in February 2018.

The student-run center functions as an on-campus design shop and has completed projects for various entities and events on the PVAMU campus. The center is located in the newly renovated room 226 of the Nathelyne Archie-Kennedy Architecture Building. Assistant Professor Tracey Moore, who is also the digital media arts coordinator in the School of Architecture, serves as advisor to the center’s all-student staff.

In 2015, a supervisor told Moore about Title III grant funding opportunities that could benefit the design program. Along with a graduate assistant and various students, Moore began informal research and learned several other universities already had on-campus design shops.

Next, while attending an art competition called the Creative Summit at Texas State University, Moore and her team reviewed the resume of one of the competition’s top winners — and noticed she had worked at an on-campus design center.

Clearly, the Creative Summit winner’s on-campus work experience had enhanced her skills against many of her competitors.

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At times, the most revealing research comes from simple observation — Moore and her team had gained a first-hand look at how PVAMU stacked up against other Texas universities already equipped with on-campus design shops.

“Most of the universities that had these student-run design studios were in smaller college towns,” Moore says. “You have all these small businesses and schools who have design needs.

“Also, what kept coming up was that Prairie View is so far away from most of the design firms in Houston,” Moore noted, “that it’s very difficult for students to do internships throughout the year, fall and spring, to be able to commute to Houston and come back to class.”

Moore and her team became convinced that PVAMU’s design students needed to know the intensity of doing jobs on short notice while facing fast-approaching deadlines. Moore’s team won the Title III grant, and part of the funding was used to buy equipment to enhance the computer lab with 19 MacPro computers, a large format scanner, another printer, camera equipment, and other studio essentials. The team also bought several mobile white drawing boards — seemingly minor and uncomplicated purchases — which are actually quite popular and which constantly provide students with the ability to write out and sketch design concepts.

Moore, who is a PVAMU alumnus, has told her students to make the most of the considerable advantages they now have compared to other schools — and also compared to previous PVAMU design classes. “The idea was to give students more real-world experience in terms of dealing with clients, meeting deadlines and so forth,” Moore says. “So, that if students didn’t have a car and were unable to commute, they would still have some experience on a resume.”

Another one of the center’s advantages, Moore added, is that students not only learn technical expertise but also how to form business relationships and build rapport with clients.

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“They’re learning that if you leave people out, and don’t follow through with work, you create bad relationships,” she says. “That’s a lesson you can only pick up on a job.”

One of the center’s advantages, is that students not only learn technical expertise but also how to form business relationships and build rapport with clients.

The typical classroom design project may last anywhere between four and six weeks, Moore noted.

But in the DesignView Media Center, a project request may arrive on a Monday and require completion by Wednesday. “The quick turnaround is probably the biggest eye-opener for students,” Moore says. “They have to think quickly to come up with something creative that still has quality.”

The center has four designers with one student acting as creative director tasked with bringing in the work and assigning projects to the others.

The student creative director’s decisions are reviewed by Moore. If a job arrives and is too complicated, Moore either handles it herself or rejects the project if it is beyond the capabilities of the students and the center.

The very first job for the design center staff proved challenging but ultimately was accomplished, Moore observed. That job was for the PVAMU Black History Month Lecture and Culture Series, and required the full design job to be completed within a week.

“They needed that experience,” she adds.

“They had to set up a studio, take photos and generate ideas. What they came up with was quite nice, but they were sweating bullets.”

The DesignView team has also completed projects for the new School of Architecture-Fabrication Center and the Office of Residential Life.

DesignView staff members also designed invitations and marketing materials for the 2018 Digital Media Arts Senior Class Exhibition.

Moore says a longer term goal is to eventually turn the DesignView Media Center into an interdisciplinary facility, where students in other fields — marketing, for example — will be able to interact with customers on real projects.

During her time as a PVAMU design student, Moore recalls very limited workspace and how students regularly taught each other how to use various software. “I’m telling students, ‘In my experience, we didn’t have any of this. Now, you have everything at your fingertips. Through the grace of this grant, you have more than some of your competitors.”

“My goal this year, is to complete a proposal for sufficient funding to serve PVAMU faculty, students and staff, but go outside the university and pursue funds to become more self-sustaining.” o

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Anjan Karki

Zulfa Eisa

GRAD STUDENT'S project shines spotlight on dirty apps

UNDERGRAD Making Waves with Irrigation Water Research

With the growth of the smart device industry, a threat to information security has steadily emerged through increasingly subtle attacks on personal data.

Zulfa Eisa is a dynamic undergraduate student researcher who has worked on several projects under the supervision of Ripendra Awal, a research scientist in Prairie View A&M University’s Cooperative Agricultural Research Center (CARC).

Fortunately, every new tech threat inspires a few talented problem-solvers — such as Anjan Karki. A graduate student in Prairie View A&M University’s Department of Computer Science, Karki recently developed a research project to create awareness among smartphone users about the very real threat of applications being utilized to steal personal information.

Karki grew up in the small town of Namche Bazaar in Nepal. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Pokhara University.

He chose to pursue his graduate studies at PVAMU because the school “didn’t carry the useless bravado,” Karki notes, “and stuck to the meat and potatoes of its core principles.

PVAMU taught me that in the middle of chaos, cross your ‘t’s’ and dot your ‘i’s,’ and be patient.”

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Eisa analyzed the effects of soil types on irrigation water requirements of major crops at the university using the Irrigation Management System (IManSys) model.

Eisa is a senior agriculture student in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences.

She joined 29 students from major land-grant institutions for training in irrigation water management issues at a conference in Long Beach, California.

Eisa’s commitment to excellence embodies the characteristics of PVAMU students. The study of water and irrigation systems addresses one of the grand challenges we face around the globe.

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