Students

STUDENTS

Like No Other

NSF Grant Supports

First-Year Students’ Research Efforts in

Marine Sciences

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By Caroline Cropp ’99, ’06M

In July 2020, a team of UNCW researchers was awarded a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation for $388,000 to support summer undergraduate research opportunities for first-year students who aspire to work in the marine sciences.

Faculty members Nathan Grove, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and director of UNCW’s Center for the Support of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships; Jess Boersma, College of Arts and Sciences associate dean for student success, policy and undergraduate scholarship and; Shawn Bingham, assistant provost and director of Honors College; Martin Posey, professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology; Chris Finelli, associate provost for graduate education and lifelong learning and dean of the Graduate School; and Bill Sterrett, professor in the Watson College of Education and associate dean of teacher education and outreach, plan to bring a cohort of 10 students to campus to spend 10 weeks conducting research alongside them.

All research will be broadly focused on the marine sciences and involve interdisciplinary teams of students and faculty working together on UNCW’s main campus, the Center for Marine Science and D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy, a K-8 year-round public school that was opened by UNCW in July 2018.

Unlike other research experiences for undergraduate programs that focus on more senior undergraduate students, Grove says this is unique in that it specifically focuses on first-year students from underrepresented populations.

Toward the conclusion of the 10-week experience, the students will work with Sterrett and the staff at D.C. Virgo to prepare classroom materials for students that highlight the results of their research, laying the foundation for the would-be future scientists to communicate and translate their work to broader audiences.

“This project embodies the essence of what UNCW does best – it provides authentic applied learning and research opportunities for students,” said Grove, the principal investigator. “This grant will provide significant funding to support cohorts of first-year, underrepresented students as they learn more about what it means to be a scientist and engage in cutting-edge research with our talented faculty members.”

Nathan Grove

Jess BoersmaShawn Bingham

D.C. Virgo students visited the UNCW campus and surrounding areas for field trips to tie in curricular aspects including sustainability and outdoor education.

Martin Posey

Chris FinelliBill Sterrett

PHOTO/D.C. VIRGO

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UNCW PARTNERS WITH COMMUNITY COLLEGES ON RESEARCH INITIATIVE

The Community College Undergraduate Research Experience is a new initiative that seeks to open pathways to undergraduate research for community college students prior to transferring to a four-year institution. The CCURE pilot program, coordinated at UNCW by High Impact Pathways Director James DeVita, engages with partners at Cape Fear CC, Craven CC and Lenoir CC. The three community college partners were selected for the pilot

CCURE participants from Lenoir Community College.

PHOTO/JIMMY TAYLOR

because of their existing engagement with the UNCW/3C Collaborative, an initiative to build partnerships with community college leaders that is housed in the Watson College of Education. The 22 student participants pursued an array of career fields including biology, business, English, nursing and psychology. The program culminated in a virtual student research showcase.

UNCW STUDENTS’ MARINE SCIENCE RESEARCH

MAKES A LOCAL DIFFERENCE

Coastal engineering student Drew Davey (left) and doctoral student Mariko Polk ’15M (right) conduct research designed to protect the state’s coastline and its people. Polk studies coastal ecology with Professor Martin Posey (biology and marine biology) and Assistant Professor Devon Eulie (environmental science). Polk’s research explores the benefits of living shorelines, which can both protect coastal communities and preserve the delicate ecosystems where the water meets the land, to the North Carolina coast. Davey joined a research team lead by Assistant Professor Ryan Mieras (physics and physical oceanography) working to better understand how storms are damaging North Carolina’s coastline. Davey has helped test tools – CCP+ and LIDAR – which can provide data to guide policy advice about coastal construction and protection measures.

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UNCW WELCOMED THIRD INTERNATIONAL FULBRIGHT TEA FELLOWS COHORT

UNCW hosted 13 Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program fellows who represented 11 countries. The fellows, who are teachers in their home countries, took courses at UNCW, worked with students in southeastern North Carolina and participated in cultural exchanges. The fellows arrived in January 2021.

UNCW is one of two universities nationwide that received grants to host fellows from the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the International Research and Exchanges Board. The Fulbright TEA program, co-directed by Jennifer Fernandez-Villa, director of International Student and Scholar Services in the Office of International Programs, and Amy Garrett Dikkers, professor of educational leadership in the Watson College of Education, offers academic and cultural exchange. Thirteen international fellows – English teachers in their home countries of Belarus, Egypt, Ghana, Honduras, Iraq, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uruguay – learned about American education and obtained field experience in local schools.

SHOWCASE OFSTUDENT RESEARCHAND CREATIVITY

The Showcase of Student Research and Creativity is a campus-wide event held every fall and spring on the UNCW campus. Students from all disciplines (graduates and undergraduates) are invited to present their research/ scholarly activity in poster format. There are typically around 500 participants and 150 student presenters. The showcase features two 90-minute presentation windows with an open session/reception in between. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 events were cancelled, and the spring 2021 event took place virtually. Plans are also underway for a virtual fall 2021 showcase.

UNCW Honors College student, Noah Baker, presents his research during the annual fall Student Research and Creativity Poster Showcase at Warwick Center.

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STUDENTS

AWARDS AND PUBLICATIONS

Andrew Castagno (pending ’21M) received a Fulbright grant to expand upon his thesis work in Iceland, which focuses on the link between sea ice meltwater concentrations and marine ecosystem productivity in the Arctic, particularly in the region near the Fram Strait, a sea channel connecting the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas.

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Ph.D. candidate Amy Grogan, with Michael Mallin, published the “Successful mitigation of stormwaterdriven nutrient, fecal bacteria and suspended solids loading in a recreational beach community” in the Journal of Environmental Management.

Doctoral student Marae Lindquist has been selected for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System’s Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship, a two-year award by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coastal Management, to research the population biology of saltmarsh and seaside sparrows during their non-breeding season in southeastern North Carolina.

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Honors student Krista Laforte ’19 and doctoral candidate Emily Peele, with Kara Yopak, published “Ontogenetic Shifts in Brain Size and Brain Organization of the Atlantic Sharpnose Shark, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae” in Brain, Behavior and Evolution.

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Karcin Vick ’18M, with Kimberly Cook and Meghan Rogers, published “Lethal leverage: false confessions, false pleas and wrongful homicide convictions in death-eligible cases,” in Contemporary Justice Review.

Ph.D. student Lauren Olinger, with Wendy Strangman, Steven McMurray and Joseph Pawlik, published “Sponges with microbial symbionts transform dissolved organic matter and take up organohalides” in Frontiers in Marine Science.

A baby giant barrel sponge (Xestospongia muta) pumps fluorescein dye in a glass jar.

PHOTO/JR PAWLIK, UNCW

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Ph.D. students Casey Irwin Helvey and Elizabeth Thuman ’17, with Tom Cariveau, published “Recommended Practices for Individual Supervision: Considerations for the Behavior- Analytic Trainee,” in Behavior Analysis in Practice.

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At Health and Human Services Week, Bradley Caison ’21 won the student Research and Innovation Three- Minute Thesis Competition with his presentation entitled “Impacts of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis on Sexual Behavior.”

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SPONSORED PROGRAMS, PROPOSALS AND AWARDS

RESEARCHREPORT

Fiscal Year 2021

Millions

Proposals

Total Requested

Count

$100

$50

266

281

253

288

292

318

$47.2 $57.3 $40.0

$0 2016 2017 2018

$65.1

$77.1

$87.2

2019

2020

2021

400 300 200 100 0

Millions

$15

$10

$5

$0

Awards Total Awarded Count

195

160

$9.5

$11.4

2016

2017

220

184

209

$9.4

2018

$12.0

2019

190

$8.8

2020

$13.7

2021

300

200

100

0

Members $10 Million Club 15 $5 Million Club 18 $1 Million Club* 101 *5 New Inductees

Innovation and Commercialization

Disclosures 6

Patents Filed 1Commercial Licenses 5Academic Licenses 38Prime Sponsor Type Funding Received Percent

� Federal $ 8,001,973.31 58.61 % Foundation $ 2,390,513.08 17.51 %

�

State Government (NC) $ 1,095,366.00 8.02 %Business and Industry $ 550,235.26 4.03 %Education and Research Institutions $ 401,863.44 2.94 %Local Government $ 328,976.92 2.41 %State Government (other) $ 290,636.16 2.13 %Association $ 262,317.00 1.92 %Nonprofit Organization $ 199,898.43 1.46 %Federal (non-US) $ 132,381.00 0.97 %Total $ 13,654,160.60 100%

Top Five

Federal Prime Sponsor

NC State Prime Sponsor

1 2 3 4 5

DOC National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Science Foundation (NSF) U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) National Institutes of Health (NIH) Department of Defense (DOD)

North Carolina State Appropriation NCDENR Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) NCDENR Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services (MHDDSAS) North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDCR)

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