re :search a journey
of intellectual inquiry
Blue Economy Index: From Rising Tides to Raising Investments
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA WILMINGTON
:search
a first-of-its-kind
JANOWSKI/UNCW
Jack
COVER PHOTO: Cameron School of Business
faculty (pictured left to right Miran Hossain, William Sackley and Ethan Watson) are measuring the economic activities of oceans and waterways using
stock index. PHOTO BY: JEFF
August 2024
As a maturing research university, UNCW is discovering new knowledge, tackling critical societal problems and driving a healthy economy. This work benefits our students in the classroom, during the research process and when they enter the workforce.
Many new efforts are underway to expand UNCW’s research capacity—from the opening of the College of Health and Human Services’ state-of-the-art Dr. J. Richard “Dick” Corbett Anatomy Laboratory to the College of Science and Engineering’s Virtual Reality Research and Learning Lab to the Watson College of Education’s Community College Leadership specialization in its Educational Leadership doctoral program. In addition, the Center for Marine Science has contracted the building of a 73’ research vessel, and the UNCW Library expansion and renovation was recently completed.
UNCW is fortunate to lead one of three FY2025 UNC System Research Opportunity Initiative awards, which support the most innovative and important research projects across the system. With several UNC partner institutions, the team will study coastal and marine habitats from the Cape Fear River to the Gulf Stream. In addition, a UNCW research project was one of eight inaugural awards from NCInnovation, which aims to unlock the innovative potential of North Carolina’s world class universities. Please read more about Ying Wang’s groundbreaking vaccine research on page 11.
Nationally, UNCW worked with Congressman David Rouzer (NC-07) to secure federal funding to develop national standards and train a future workforce to protect America’s Marine Transportation System from cyber threats. This interdisciplinary cybersecurity research team is also an awardee of UNCW’s Research Hubs initiative to accelerate the growth, competitiveness and impact of university research in strategic areas. A second hub was awarded to a team studying brain health resilience. Read more about the Research Hubs on page 6.
UNCW research is making a difference. We were among four institutions of higher education selected to join the fast-growing ranks of the Carolina Cyber Network, and we were also accepted for membership in the Age-Friendly University Global Network. In February, the Center for Marine Science was honored to host the Honorable Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and Liz Klein, director of the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management.
Research and Innovation is fueled by sponsored projects, which had an outstanding year. In FY24, UNCW submitted 283 proposals requesting $124.5 million in new support, and received 188 new awards for a total of $33.6 million new awards. This is a 33% increase from last year and continues a growth trend.
These are just a few examples of UNCW’s growing research capacity and success. I am impressed by all we have accomplished in the 2023-24 academic year and look forward to the outcomes of UNCW’s research journey in the year ahead.
Respectfully,
Stuart R. Borrett Associate Provost for Research and Innovation
Since being designated as a research university in 2018, UNCW has been awarded more than $117.8 million in sponsored program funding.
Discovering New Knowledge
UNCW Launches Blue Economy Index
A first-of-its-kind stock market tool blends academics, science and business by Venita Jenkins ’24M
UNCW has launched a groundbreaking stock index that measures the economic activities of oceans and waterways with a focus on environmental impact—the first of its kind.
The UNC Wilmington Blue Economy Index tracks the performance of publicly-traded global companies. Their inclusion on the index is determined by a methodology that considers high environmental, social and governance (ESG) rankings, with an increased weighting from their environmental scores, said Miran Hossain, an associate professor of finance. The index reflects diverse industries, including renewable ocean-based energy, fish farming and hatcheries, cruise lines, deep-sea and offshore shipping and industrial manufacturing.
The global Blue Economy is valued at an estimated $24 trillion and projected to double by 2030, said Hossain, highlighting the need for a measurement tool. “While there is increasing interest, there is no easy solution to track the performance of the Blue Economy,” he added. “Our index will be a solution to this problem.”
Launched on Bloomberg in February 2024 with the ticker BLUEECO, the index’s development was driven by a partnership between the Cameron School of Business (CSB), the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), CIE’s Alliance for the Blue Economy (All Blue) and the UNCW Office of Innovation and Commercialization (OIC).
All Blue is a collaborative initiative to position Wilmington and southeast North Carolina as an emerging Blue Economy hub. The region, situated next to the second-largest coastline and river estuary in the U.S., offers opportunities for businesses and investors in the marine sciences and ocean/coastal preservation sectors, according to All Blue. Southeastern NC has the second largest coastal access to the open ocean on the East Coast. The port facilities in Wilmington and the role of the region’s higher education institutions in advancing scientific research and workforce training facilitate innovation and expansion in the Blue Economy.
Richard Keary, a member of All Blue and an expert financial consultant, proposed the idea of creating a Blue Economy Index to the university.
“The solutions needed to protect our oceans and waterways must be done through a collaborative effort between academics, science and business. The index was built in that manner,” said Keary, who serves as an advisor on the Blue Economy Index project. “We have created a truly innovative way to identify a Blue Economy company, and it could shape how investors look at ocean-related companies.”
Developing and implementing the index had several challenges, including identifying companies with ocean-based business models, determining the percentage of revenues sourced from the oceans and assessing whether these Blue Economy companies are implementing sustainable practices.
Student researchers laid the foundation for overcoming these challenges. A few years ago, under the guidance of finance faculty members William Sackley and Ethan Watson, a team of students began working on the index and made significant contributions to developing its construction methodology. The students were Nick DeFrancesco ’22, Jason Lamberton ’23, Sergey Osmirko ’23, Ashley Putnam ’22, Krystian Serwinski ’23 and Sinead O’Duffy ’23. FactSet, a digital financial data and analytics company, also helped by identifying the Blue Economy companies using their proprietary datasets. After the methodology was established, INDXX, a global diversified financial services firm, calculated the index values and made it available on Bloomberg terminals.
“We believe that these types of opportunities help prepare our students to be in the workforce as it gives them opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom to solve real problems, and in this case, create this new intellectual property,” said Watson, an associate professor of finance. “Since the team will need to review the companies in the index, there will be an ongoing class and student project that supports the index.”
“As we mapped out what was needed, it was clear that the professors and students at Cameron would be a tremendous help in researching the concept and ultimately a big part of the project’s execution,” said Keary. “It is a perfect collaboration as each group has unique skill sets that mesh well.”
The methodology for identifying Blue Economy companies is now the intellectual property of UNCW, Keary said. “Any asset manager who wants to use that data for a financial product must sign a license agreement with UNCW,” he added.
The goal is to commercialize the index into an investible financial product. First, the group must identify fund managers who specialize in Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) and have experience in thematic investing, said Hossain.
“After we get the Blue Economy Index licensed by a fund manager, we have plans to produce similar but more focused indices, for example, a Blue Economy Marine Biotech Index and Blue Economy Fisheries Index,” he added.
To formalize the research required for the index, Hossain introduced a three-credit hour course in fall 2023. The course involved reviewing literature on the Blue Economy, learning methodologies for index construction and performance calculation, attending guest lectures from industry experts and researchers, and producing a pseudo index, which was presented to the economics and finance faculty.
“ We have created a truly INNOVATIVE way to identify a Blue Economy company, and it could shape how investors look at ocean-related companies.”
Four students from that class—Ryan Jacobs ’24, Sander Akeren ’24, Cole Lippert and Colin Waltsak—continued to work on the index and were part of the research team. They monitored the index’s performance, produced research materials such as monthly reports, press releases and factsheets, and raised awareness through social media posts.
“I have been able to relate every aspect of working with my team on this project to my studies and future career,” said Jacobs. “Working on this project has shown me how different disciplines work together, solving problems in our community. What inspired me to keep working on the project was that I can promote sustainability in a career field that one may not think makes a big impact.”
The index is not just about raising awareness of the economic value of ocean resources but also about driving change. As investors allocate capital towards companies listed in the Blue Economy Index, it has the potential to influence industries to adopt sustainable practices, said Hossain.
The implications of the Blue Economy Index also extend beyond financial markets. Policymakers and stakeholders can leverage the index’s insights to make informed decisions regarding ocean resources and economic development. Sackley noted that the index could aid government policymakers in
Bringing together influential figures across sectors, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Alliance for the Blue Economy will host the second annual Ocean Innovation Conference
to foster the development of a vibrant and collaborative Blue Economy hub in southeastern North Carolina.
Learn more about the September 17 Ocean Innovation Conference at UNCW’s Burney Center.
crafting policies such as President Biden’s Ocean Climate Action Plan or the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Our Ocean Conference priorities, which focus on marine resource management and sustainable blue economies.
“Without sounding overly theatric, we expect a small degree of similarity to the catchphrase from the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, ‘If you build it, they will come,’” said Sackley. “The ocean is too large of a segment of the overall economy not to be monitored in an economic or investment sense.”
The Blue Economy Index team received a $4,500 fellowship for faculty-mentored student research from the Research Community in International Trade Exchange (RCITE). RCITE is a collaboration among several UNCW departments that promotes research, education and discussion of the complex issues surrounding international trade. The fellowship was funded by the John William Pope Foundation.
The UNCW Office for Innovation and Commercialization (OIC) also aided the earlystage translational research by providing a $15,000 grant to fund partnerships, internships and course development, and launch the index and the underlying student/course management model. In addition to financial support, OIC helped facilitate partnership agreements between FactSet and INDXX. It also provided advisory services, drafted marketing materials and promoted the initiative at conferences and events.
OIC will manage the commercialization process to license the Blue Economy Index to an asset management firm that will create investment products, said Justin Streuli, OIC director.
“The project is a good example of synergy between CIE’s All Blue economic development efforts, Cameron School’s expertise in finance and commitment to experiential learning, OIC’s earlystage support for translational research projects, and the steadfast project leadership of volunteer Richard Keary that has gotten the project to this point,” said Streuli. “There are few innovation projects with such a diverse support team around it as well as a student experiential learning model.”
Cameron School of Business has the potential to establish itself as a world-class research and development center for indices, Streuli added.
“This growing field is ripe for innovative, evidence-based index methodologies that are impactful for society, asset managers and investors,” he said. “Looking within the Blue Economy, UNCW and the greater Wilmington region continue to establish themselves as world leaders in Blue
Economy impact. OIC will continue to engage All Blue and support its initiatives while leveraging its expertise to support both UNCW innovators and those across the region in turning their innovative ideas into socially-impactful solutions.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BLUE ECONOMY INDEX.
2024 Rising Research Excellence Awardees
These awards recognize early-career faculty emerging as leaders in their fields through discovery and scholarship that advances new knowledge, impacts society and engages students in the process.
Tom Cariveau, Associate Professor, Psychology
With a primary interest in applied behavior analysis, Tom Cariveau’s research focuses on refining methods to better understand the diverse backgrounds of child learners to individualize learning procedures and promote efficient learning outcomes.
Danielle Daidone, Associate Professor, World Languages and Cultures
Danielle Daidone’s research on high variability phonetic training and instructor input aims to provide tools to improve students’ perception and production of second language sounds and identify gaps in the language that students are exposed to in the classroom.
Julia Morris, Associate Professor, International Studies
Exploring the local impacts of policies regulating migration and asylum in sites spanning the Asia Pacific, Central America and the Middle East, Julia Morris’s ethnographic research provides crucial insights that can guide immigration policy design.
Monica Rother, Associate Professor, Environmental Sciences
As a forest ecologist focused on coastal plain pinelands and forested wetlands, Monica Rother’s research informs management of these ecosystems in the face of increasing challenges related to fire, hurricanes, saltwater intrusion, climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances.
Lorian Schweikert, Assistant Professor, Biology and Marine Biology
Looking to understand the design principles of animal sensory systems, Lorian Schweikert’s current research on dermal photoreception investigates how sensors are physically and computationally arranged to process information required for complex outcomes of animal behavior, which can inform bioinspired sensor development. Read more about her recent discovery on page 6.
Discovery of Hogfish Photoreceptors Sheds Light on Biofeedback
Recent findings in Nature Communications on how some color-changing fish can monitor their own performance garnered global media attention. Assistant Professor of Biology and Marine Biology Lorian Schweikert and her collaborators discovered that hogfish have sensors hidden beneath cells that enable them to perceive light with their skin. This suggests the first example of specialized photoreceptors outside the central nervous system of a vertebrate animal. The breakthrough research has implications for understanding feedback systems in biology, including for humans, and technology development, such as smart robots and self-driving cars.
Research Team Discovers Lost Nile River Branch
Eman Ghoneim, earth and ocean sciences professor, led a team of researchers in uncovering an abandoned branch of the Nile River connected to one of Egypt’s largest pyramid fields. Satellite imagery, geophysical surveys and sediment samples were used to confirm the location of the former river branch and to offer the first map of the waterway. The National Science Foundationfunded discovery could explain why the pyramids are concentrated in what is now a narrow, inhospitable strip of the Saharan Desert. The findings were published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment and attracted significant media coverage.
HIGH IMPACT PUBLICATIONS
UNCW Invests in Brain Health and Maritime Cybersecurity Research Hubs
UNCW is excited to announce two newly-funded research hubs that will accelerate growth, impact and competitiveness in strategic priority areas.
Bridging Gaps in Neurocare: UNCW’s Strategic Blueprint for Brain Health Resilience (BHR) includes collaborators from the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), the College of Health and Human Services and the Office of Military Affairs, as well as industry partners, including NuReam, SportGait/ LifeGait and OpiAID. This research hub is dedicated to brain health resilience advancements, spanning prevention to pharmacological intervention.
With the Maritime Cybersecurity Applied Research, Technology and Education Center (MCARTEC), researchers from CSE, the Cameron School of Business and the College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts will partner with North Carolina State Ports Authority and the Defense Alliance of North Carolina. MCARTEC’s overarching purpose is to help secure and strengthen the resilience of the maritime subsector of the transportation systems sector.
Each research hub will receive $100,000 a year for three years as milestones are achieved.
Professor Joanne Halls (earth and ocean sciences) and her colleagues published the first continent-wide watershed sediment study of its kind in Science. Their research concluded that 72% of all rivers do not provide adequate sediment, on an annual basis, to keep up with current estimates of sea level rise.
Associate Professor Darin Penneys (biology and marine biology) and his colleagues published milestone findings in Nature. The project expands the understanding of flowering plant evolution, classification and diversification. In addition, given the enormous scope—nearly 8,000 genera sequenced for 353 genes, the data analysis was also groundbreaking.
EXTERNAL RECOGNITION
North Carolina Humanities honored Clyde Edgerton, Kenan Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing, with the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities, in recognition of his life’s work. This includes 10 novels and two nonfiction books, five of which are New York Times Notable Books and three of which have been made into motion pictures. Several were adapted for the stage. A past Guggenheim Fellow, Edgerton was inducted into the NC Literary Hall of Fame in 2016. He joined UNCW’s faculty in 1998 and retired from his teaching career this year.
Associate Professor of English Maia Butler received the 2023 South Atlantic Modern Language Association Studies Book Award in the Edited Collection category for an essay collection that explores the concepts of belonging and home in relation to the writings of author Edwidge Danticat.
Yaw Chang, professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, was selected to the National Academy of Inventors 2024 Class of Senior Members as an active researcher dedicated to invention and innovative work in his field, specifically demographic analysis of facial landmarks.
Colleagues at Central Michigan University identified a new species of sea spider (Austropallene halanychi) from the Ross Sea, Antarctica, which is named in honor of Ken Halanych, executive director of UNCW’s Center for Marine Science, for his commitment and dedication to benthic marine systems and related biodiversity in the Southern Ocean.
Read more about his storied career.
Ray Pastore, instructional technology professor and coordinator of UNCW’s Esports certificate program, was named one of EdTech Magazine’s “30 Higher Ed IT Influencers to Follow in 2023” and has joined the editorial team for Verizon’s Parenting in a Digital World.
Jeanne Persuit, professor of communication studies, has been elected president of the Eastern Communication Association, the oldest regional association in the communication discipline, for the coming academic year.
Professor of Economics Peter Schuhmann has been appointed by the United Nations as a member of the Pool of Experts of the United Nations Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment (Specialty 4: The South Atlantic Ocean and the Wider Caribbean). He is also a coordinating author for the “Third World Ocean Assessment” chapter on tourism.
Communication Studies Professor Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock received two honors from the National Communication Association—the Mid-Career Award in Ethnography and the Best Aural/Visual Ethnography Award.
In March, “Fifty Years of Printmaking,” a retrospective exhibition of works by Studio Art Professor Donald Furst, was on display in UNCW’s Cultural Arts Building Gallery. Furst has shown widely in national and international exhibitions, and his works are in the permanent collections of several U.S. museums. He joined UNCW’s faculty in 1985 and retired from his teaching career this year.
Solving Critical Problems
BY: JEFF JANOWSKI/UNCW
UNCW Researcher Leads Efforts to Better Understand Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances’ (PFAS) Effects on Public Health and Environment
by Caroline Cropp ’99, ’06M
As covered frequently in the news, North Carolina’s water systems are threatened by a group of human-made chemicals. Often referred to as “forever chemicals” because of their persistence, their scientific name is per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS.
In 2016, researchers from North Carolina State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency detected elevated levels of GenX and other PFAS in the Cape Fear River, a major drinking water
source for residents of New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties. This sparked concern about the potential hazardous effects these substances posed to the health of residents and the environment.
The North Carolina General Assembly took steps to begin to understand these forever chemicals by generating scientific data to protect communities and their drinking water. The Water Safety Act provisions in the 2018 budget provided the North Carolina Collaboratory with $5,013,000 for academic research, used to establish the NC PFAS Testing Network, with program management housed at UNCW’s Center for Marine Science (CMS). Subsequent Water
Hai Pan, a research specialist in Ralph Mead’s PFAS research lab, works with students collecting sampling data at the Center for Marine Science.
PHOTO
Safety Act provisions have extended these resources, establishing “forever funds for forever chemicals” to ensure that the impact and fate of PFAS in the state is fully addressed.
“UNCW is honored to house the network and to build capacity to serve this collaborative, state-wide research study,” said Stuart Borrett, associate provost for research and innovation.
The NC PFAS Testing Network leverages the expertise of university researchers within North Carolina. These researchers collaborate with state regulatory agencies to provide data used to identify and implement solutions to address PFAS contamination. Through these efforts and partnerships, NC is setting the gold standard for states’ responses to PFAS.
UNCW Professor Ralph Mead, along with Rachylle Hart, a PFAST Network program specialist, leads the multidisciplinary, multi-institutional team of experts.
As project director, Mead oversees efforts to leverage the expertise, analytical instrumentation and technology from public and private NC higher education institutions to study PFAS toxicology, occurrence in drinking water, atmospheric transformations/occurrence and removal technologies. Public-private partnerships such as these harness the power of collaborative research
A Florida native, Mead has been around water his entire life, spurring a great interest in the environment, particularly as it pertains to the ocean.
“This interest blossomed when I was enrolled in an undergraduate environmental chemistry class at Florida State University; I could see linkages between chemistry and the environment. In other words, I could see how I could apply my chemistry to the ocean,” he said.
He earned a doctorate from Florida International University in 2003. Currently a professor in the UNCW Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences and at CMS, he has taught at the university for 17 years.
“When I interviewed for the position at UNCW, I liked that I could do high impact research and still engage undergraduate students. The research facilities were and continue to be top notch,” he said.
In addition to the PFAST Network, Mead heads the Environmental Organic Geochemistry Laboratory (EOGL).
Headquartered at CMS, the group studies natural and anthropologically-derived organic compounds in the environment at the land-ocean continuum. Their research is focused on the occurrence,
transport and fate of PFAS in various environmental compartments, such as the atmosphere and marine sediments.
In 2022, Mead was one of four researchers awarded the inaugural North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Applied Research Fellowship. The initiative further strengthens the partnership between state regulators and academic experts to address a pressing issue, in this instance PFAS science.
In 2023, Mead was inducted into UNCW’s Million Dollar Club for earning more than $5 million in external grant funding.
In March of this year, Mead and Chad Lane, professor and chair of the earth and ocean sciences department, were one of five researchers within the PFAST Network to receive a cutting-edge instrument from the North Carolina Collaboratory and Thermo Fisher Scientific to advance PFAS research.
The Orbitrap Exploris 240 Isotope Solutions system offers one-of-a-kind ability to measure multi-nuclei stable isotope composition of intact organic and inorganic compounds. Mead and Lane will use the new instrument to develop a forensic tool to trace the
source and fate of PFAS in the environment, ultimately aiding regulators in addressing contamination. Tools such as these continue to position UNCW at the forefront of academic PFAS research.
In 2024, the United Nations declared PFAS contamination in the state’s waters a violation of human rights. The Environmental Protection Agency responded by announcing utilities must restrict the amount of forever chemicals in their drinking water supply by 2029.
Find out more about the NC PFAST Network.
Conference Highlights Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis
In partnership with MMIW NC, Menaka Raguparan, assistant professor of criminology, organizes the annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Conference to raise awareness about the ongoing MMIW crisis. This year, the conference featured workshops and discussions calling for a monitoring database and the creation of a task force for data gathering, which would improve tracking and service delivery from the government and law enforcement. In tandem with the conference, the REDress Project, a platform for collective mourning and advocacy against gender-based violence, honored MMIW victims. The event received support from several cultural and academic units on campus.
Greater Wilmington Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Flourishing
DuraVax Inc., which grew from Ying Wang’s biochemistry lab developing thermo-stable liquid formulations for RNA pharmaceuticals in cold storage-limited regions, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Phase One Small Business Technology Transfer grant and matching funds from the One North Carolina Small Business Program. Wang co-founded the spinoff with two students, chemistry major Carson Jackson and Harrison Wooten ’19, ’24M.S.
Wang, an associate professor of chemistry, has also been approved for funding in NCInnovation’s pilot grant cycle, which aims to advance university applied research towards commercialization. These efforts focus on developing a vaccine platform that will hopefully result in a universal and longer-lasting flu vaccine. Wang is also the winner of the inaugural NC Biotech Pre-Venture Challenge for this same research.
Nuream, a partner of the new brain health research hub at UNCW, won first place in the Southeastern Venture Pitch Finals and advanced to the state-level NC Biotech Venture Challenge finals. Predicate HPG, a runner up, was also named the 2024 Coastal Entrepreneur of the Year at the Coastal Entrepreneur Awards hosted by UNCW's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Greater Wilmington Business Journal.
Artemis Immersive, the sole southeast region representative at the NC Tech Association’s Tech Exponential conference, won first prize in the Startup Showcase. StartupBlink recently ranked Wilmington 61st in a global list of startup ecosystems—jumping 32 spots from last year and surpassing other notable Southern cities.
Pioneering Collaborative Effort to Advance Healthcare Workforce
A transformative partnership between UNCW’s College of Health and Human Services, Cape Fear Community College (CFCC), New Hanover County Schools and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce aims to address critical workforce challenges in New Hanover County. The collaborative effort focuses on the recruitment, training and retention of healthcare professionals that mirror and effectively serve the community. UNCW received $10.2 million of the $22.3 million total investment from the New Hanover Community Endowment. This funding supports initiatives like Try Teal, a unique opportunity for CFCC students in the Associate Degree Nursing program to take two UNCW RN to BSN courses at no cost, and iHEAL: Interdisciplinary Health Education for Aspiring Leaders, a free overnight camp for rising ninth graders to explore a variety of healthcare majors and careers.
Learn more about the Healthcare Transformation Project.
Innovative Technology Could Revolutionize Coastal Protection
With funding from the U.S. Coastal Research Program via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ryan Mieras, assistant professor of coastal engineering, is leading a groundbreaking research project to better understand how sand is transported in the swash zone. Building on innovative LiDAR technology developed at UNCW, this collaborative study aims to address critical gaps in computer models that forecast coastal change and flooding. In addition to representing a significant advancement in coastal science instrumentation, the research hopes to provide more accurate data that can aid communities in adapting to and mitigating the impacts of coastal changes.
Collaborative Research to Improve Earthquake Resiliency Along West Coast of U.S., Canada
Andrea Hawkes, a professor in the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, is partnering on two National Science Foundation-funded projects along the Cascadia subduction zone. As part of the multi-institutional CRESCENT: Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center, Hawkes will co-lead the Cascadia Paleoseismology portion of the grant to study past earthquakes. On a second grant, Hawkes and her collaborators are mapping ancient tsunami deposits and using advanced modeling techniques to simulate tsunami scenarios. Both efforts aim to better understand the scale of hazard potential and to bolster natural disaster preparedness.
Undergraduates Step into Physics Research at Jefferson Lab
by Stacie Greene Hidek
UNCW undergraduates have a rare opportunity to be directly involved in cutting-edge nuclear physics research at a national laboratory. The university’s Medium Energy Physics group has been including students in this work for more than two decades.
Professor of Physics Liping Gan has been involving UNCW students in an international collaboration at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia, since soon after she was hired at the university in 2001. Scientists come from around the world to use the lab’s facilities, including an electron accelerator. Each year at least two or three students join Gan at the lab over the summer where she is working with the JLab Eta Factory (JEF) experiment.
“Learning physics in a classroom is completely different from when you engage in research,” Gan said. “You are doing the job of a physicist and also learning at the same time.”
Students selected for the competitive opportunity work with multimillion-dollar equipment. The most recent is an upgraded calorimeter with lead tungsten crystal, Gan said. After developing, building and successfully testing a prototype of the
more sensitive detector, installation of a large-scale version started in March. In June, students were charged with calibrating its thousands of modules and preparing the equipment for more experiments.
“Over 20 years, we have already had more than 50 students, and many of those students get excited to continue their studies in graduate school,” Gan said. Several have gone on to earn doctoral degrees and become professors themselves.
Past students analyzed data from lab experiments and contributed to research publications. A publication in the journal Science announced the most precise measurement in the world of the ultra-short lifetime of pions, the simplest particles built out of the same ingredients as protons and neutrons. Another in the journal Nature announced a more sensitive proton charge radius measurement with electron scattering.
The Hall D detector at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia, provides an applied learning and research opportunity for students. From left: Liping Gan (UNCW physics professor); undergraduate students Olivia Nippe-Jeakins (George Washington University), Shane Whaley (UNCW), Ben Simpson (UNCW); Alexander “Sasha” Somov (Jefferson Lab Hall D staff scientist); and Laveen Puthiya Veetil (UNCW postdoctoral scholar).
PHOTOS BY: AILEEN DEVLIN | JEFFERSON LAB
“One of the fundamental questions for our field is where matter comes from and how it has evolved,” Gan once told the Jefferson Lab. Findings like these provide a window into some of the most important questions about how the universe is constructed and how people can better understand it.
Students not only participate in ongoing research but also act as ambassadors for the program, speaking about their work after returning to UNCW and serving as resources for other students interested in becoming a part of it. They present their work at professional conferences, building a full picture of what a role in the field would be.
ABOUT THE STUDENTS
Ben Simpson and Shane Whaley are the two students who were selected to join Gan for the 2024 summer program.
Simpson was drawn to physics because “it forces you to look at the world in brand new ways and think about it in ways that are pretty abstract.” Particle physics in particular interested him “because it talks about a world that exists right underneath our fingertips but that we can’t always see.”
As an intelligent systems engineering major, Simpson has learned to develop systems of sensors to collect data and information on which to base real-world decisions. Projects at Jefferson Lab are an excellent vehicle for using those skills.
“It’s large, expensive, government machinery that’s detecting these tiny forces that are imperceptible and using those to learn more about the nature of reality,” he said.
Whaley discovered the research opportunity with Jefferson Lab over the summer, when last year’s student researchers conducted a colloquium. He said he was worried he wasn’t qualified, but Professor Brian Davis pushed him to go for it.
“For a lot of disciplines, it’s kind of taken for granted that you have these accessible opportunities to experience the craft before you’re in the field,” he said. “Like if you’re working with animals, you go to a zoo, or if you’re an engineer, you can see infrastructure being built.” But as a physics major, it’s tougher, working with concepts such as black holes and protons.
“So, to be in your second year of physics and turn around and go to this huge particle accelerator run by the Department of Energy—that’s just an incredible opportunity,” he said.
M.S. Graduate Publishes on Novel Parasite in NC Bay Scallops
Starting in 2012, an unidentified parasite was found infecting bay scallops in North Carolina and Florida. A recent Aquaculture publication, with lead author Hailea Boggess ’23M.S., provides important baseline information on the basic biology of the newly-discovered—and likely invasive—trematode, including its phylogeny, histologic analyses of tissue associations and host immune responses, current known range, infection prevalence in wild and aquaculture scallops, and its pre-patent period.
Building on an initial discovery by Professor Ami Wilbur ’85, director of UNCW's Shellfish Research Hatchery at the Center for Marine Science, Marine Biology Assistant Professor Julia Buck dissects an infected scallop. Read more about this collaborative discovery.
Social Work Graduate
Student
Selected as VA Fellow
Zachary Drum ’24MSW is one of only two social work students selected for the Veterans Affairs Interprofessional Fellowship Program in Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery and Recovery Oriented Services in Durham. The post-graduate research and training fellowship is designed for early career clinicians interested in becoming leaders in recovery-oriented care for veterans with serious mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders.
Communication Studies Program Ranks in BEA’s International Top 10
Dedicated to fostering excellence in media production and career advancement, the Broadcast Education Association is the premier international academic media organization. At the annual Festival of Media Arts, the Department of Communication Studies’ media production program was named in the top 10 media production programs within the Film and Video Division. This ranking reflects the outstanding performance by UNCW students at the festival over the past five
years—a byproduct of the program’s standards of excellence. During this period, three projects by Communication Studies students have clinched first place awards, with one earning the prestigious Best of Festival honors. Numerous other projects have also received Awards of Excellence.
Marine Science Students Collect Prestigious Honors
Grace Kennedy ’24M.S., a doctoral student in The Tolar Lab, was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to investigate ammoniaoxidizing Archaea abundance and diversity among various sea squirt species collected across distinct coastal sites.
Doctoral candidates Charlotte Henderson and Mina Surprenant were both selected as 2024-2026 NOAA Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellows. At sites within the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, they will conduct collaborative research addressing key management needs to help scientists and communities understand coastal challenges that may influence future policy and management strategies.
Aaron Ramus ’14M.S., ’23Ph.D. received an NC Sea Grant STEM Policy Fellowship and was appointed to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, where his research focused on how human-caused changes in marine plant communities can affect the organization and functionality of coastal ecosystems. He is currently a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Geoscience graduate student Prince Akonde was awarded a Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Honor Society) grant for his thesis work on arsenic contamination and transport and its impact on safe and healthy coasts and communities.
SPONSORED PROGRAMS, PROPOSALS AND AWARDS
Million Dollar Club
The James F. Merritt Million Dollar Club is a university honor and recognition for faculty and staff who have received $1 million or more in external research funding.
2024 Million Dollar Club Inductees
$10 Million
Christopher Lantz
Associate Dean and Professor, College of Health and Human Services
$5 Million
Kristen DeVall Professor, Sociology and Criminology
Christina Lanier Professor, Sociology and Criminology
Sally MacKain Professor, Psychology
$1 Million
Christian Briseño-Avena
Assistant Professor, Biology and Marine Biology
Nathan Crowe
Associate Professor, History
Raymond Danner
Associate Professor, Biology and Marine Biology
Nicole Fogarty
Associate Professor, Biology and Marine Biology
Derek Grimes
Assistant Professor, Physics and Physical Oceanography
Stephanie Kamel Professor, Biology and Marine Biology
Shannon Klotsko
Associate Professor, Earth and Ocean Sciences
Ai Ning Loh
Associate Professor, Earth and Ocean Sciences
Jack Watson Dean and Professor, College of Health and Human Services
Jeanne Persuit Professor, Communication Studies
Frederick Scharf Chair and Professor, Biology and Marine Biology
Ryan Mieras
Assistant Professor, Physics and Physical Oceanography
Remington Poulin
Research Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Donyell Roseboro* Professor, Instructional Technology, Foundations and Secondary Education
Veronica Tapia Program Director, College Advising Corps
Jacob Warner
Assistant Professor, Biology and Marine Biology
Amanda Southwood Williard Professor, Biology and Marine Biology
*inducted in 2023
unDISCPLINEd, a showcase moderated by Abigail Upshaw (Art and Art History) featuring Gene Felice (Art and Art History), Sayantani Dasgupta (Creative Writing), André Silva (Film Studies), Chelsea Loew (Music), Mark Sorensen (Theatre) and “Something,” an interactive textile sculpture by Andi Steele (Art and Art History).
