University of North Carolina at Charlotte



2021 SUMMER RESEARCH FACULTY PROGRAMPROJECT DESCRIPTIONS2021 Summer Research Faculty Projects Table of ContentsAbstracts are grouped by department name.DepartmentAnthropology4Architecture6Bioinformatics and Genomics8Biological Sciences9Center for Precision Metrology19Charlotte Teachers Institute20Chemistry21Communications and External Relations 28Communication Studies 29Computer Science31Criminal Justice and Criminology41Dance42Data Science45Electronic and Computer Engineering47English52Geography and Earth Sciences54Global Studies60History62Kinesiology69Management70Mathematics and Statistics71Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science72Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education78Music79Nursing80Physics and Optical Science82Political Science and Public Administration87Psychological Science90Public Health Sciences93Reading and Elementary Education95Research and Economic Development96Social Work97Sociology99Special Education and Child Development103Theatre1052021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Charlotte Food System Challenges and OpportunitiesMentor Name: Dr.?Nicole PetersonMentor Department: AnthropologyMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: Student researcher would assist with the 2020-2021 State of the Plate food system assessment, including phone, in-person, or web-based surveys of food-related organizations, interviews with food system participants or policymakers, and analysis of this data. The research assistant would be trained to collect and analyze the survey and interview data, and would also help with the logistics of data collection and analysis. This project is being coordinated by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council, in collaboration with other organizations around Charlotte.**Please note this is a community based project working with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council.Minimum Qualifications: None required, but interview skills a plus2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Language Change in New Immigrant Destinations: Documenting and Analyzing Marshallese Children's EnglishMentor Name: Dr. Elise Berman?Mentor Department: AnthropologyMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: The Marshall Islands is a small island nation in Oceania and former colony of the U.S.A. Due to its former colonial status, Marshallese can migrate to the US without a visa, and now roughly half of the population lives in the USA. Marshallese are concentrated in a small town in Arkansas that used to be completely white, but now is 10% Marshallese. While teachers in schools believe that Marshallese children's first language is Marshallese, preliminary research has shown that the children are actually speaking English. However, they seem to be speaking a different variety or dialect of English, one with influences from both Marshallese (a indigenous Oceanic language) and English varieties in the United States such as African American Language. Dr. Berman is working or recording, transcribing, and analyzing the speech of Marshallese children who live in the U.S.A., as well as ethnographically investigating their lives and experiences in school. A summer scholar would transcribe recordings of the children and analyze their language. The scholar would also write an analysis of that language and/or produce an annotated bibliography tied to the findings -- this would potentially lead to the scholar being included in a coauthored publication that Dr. Berman produces.Minimum Qualifications: The student should have completed either an anthropology course or a course in linguistics in English.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Economic Development, Climate Change, and the Built Environment in the British and Spanish-speaking Caribbean: A Systematic Literature ReviewMentor Name: Dr.?Frances HsuMentor Department: ArchitectureMentor College: Arts and ArchitectureMentor Status: Visiting Associate ProfessorProject Description: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN THE BRITISH AND SPANISH-SPEAKING CARIBBEAN: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW will lay the groundwork for an international academic symposium (in 2022) and edited volume in partnership with Texas A&M College of Architecture and Department of Architecture, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and Department of Architecture, and UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture and School of Architecture.This research project links social and environmental justice to human health and transnational economic development in the Caribbean region. The systematic literature review will target global challenges and escalating crises associated with sectors including Agriculture (Colonial and Postcolonial), Industrial Manufacturing, Tourism and Mineral Extraction, Services (Education, Health Care, and Housing), Infrastructure, and Finances (Banking, Monetary Policy, and Foreign Investment). A Summer Scholar would make important contributions to the critical analysis and evaluation of texts, to communications between Texas A&M, Cornell University and UNC Charlotte as well as with diverse, internationally recognized thinkers, and to grant writing. He/she will have the opportunity to effectively use online research tools and to publish work as part of a research team.**Please note this is a community based project working with Texas A&M College of Architecture/Department of Architecture, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning/Department of Architecture.Minimum Qualifications: Research skills; writing skills; abilities with computer technology. An interest in the built environment, international development and foreign policy, economics, globalization, decolonization, climactic and societal change.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Freelon Exhibition ResearchMentor Name: Dr.?Emily MakasMentor Department: ArchitectureMentor College: Arts and ArchitectureMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: Depending on the student’s skill set and interests, during the Summer of 2021, an OUR Summer Scholar could assist with constructing digital and physical architectural models, diagramming architectural ideas, conducting virtual interviews with curators and designers, and/or designing marketing and wall panel graphics and layouts.This work would be part of a multi-year project exploring the architectural strategies used by Phil Freelon to explore African American heritage and identities in his designs for museums, cultural centers, parks, and other public buildings. The project will culminate in travelling exhibition focused on his work that will debut at the Gantt Center in Charlotte in Fall 2021 and then continue on to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Spring of 2022.Though widely publicized, Phil Freelon’s work has receive surprisingly little scholarly attention, with the exception of the Smithsonian National Museum of the African-American History and Culture. This exhibition examines that high-profile museum within the context of Freelon’s other work across the United States. The exhibition will uncover the relationship between the container and the contained, that is, connections between the forms, materials, and meanings of Freelon’s architecture and the histories and cultures exhibited within those buildings.Minimum Qualifications: Architecture Major completed 2nd Year studios2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Exploring Heat Tolerance in TomatoMentor Name: Dr.?Robert ReidMentor Department: Bioinformatics and GenomicsMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Research Assistant ProfessorProject Description: The tomato heat tolerance project is an NSF funded going into its 2nd year. Climate change has placed a challenge on crop species globally. For tomato crops high temperatures during the pollination stage adversely affects yield productivity. We explore the molecular basis of adaptations during crop reproduction. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop new crop varieties that are fertile and continue to produce crops even at high temperature stress. This project generates large amounts of genomic sequencing data that we aim to make readily available in community databases. These resources 1) detail reproductive gene expression responses to elevated temperature and 2) registering genetic variants across hundreds of tomato genomes to enable analysis of heat stress adaptation and other traits. The student will have an opportunity to work with sequencing data, mining for genes of interest and possibly trying to make protein predictions based on the sequence data, akin to the recent news about protein structure predictions. Hopefully, we harness Google's Deepfind algorithms and apply it to tomato data!Minimum Qualifications: Ideally the have coding or scripting background, or at least a willingness to learn. Last summer, Rachel started from scratch, teaching herself R and Python, and was able to produce some finding by the end.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Inflammation and Breast Cancer ProgressionMentor Name: Dr.?Didier DréauMentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: The broad goal of the project is to further our understanding of the role of local inflammation in breast cancer progression. Using in vitro, in vivo and available clinical data, the student will participate in gathering and analyzing data to more specifically address the role of activated macrophages in cancer cell growth, migration. The Summer Scholar, based on abilities/availabilities will perform in vitro experiments (1), participate in data analysis (2), and be involved in discussion of the current and future investigations (3). The Summer Scholar will also be expected to present (face-to-face and/or online format) the work conducted in the lab to various audiences form the mentor research group to a public forum ( (e.g., University Summer Research Symposium).Minimum Qualifications: Preferred are a background in Cell and Molecular Biology (BIOL3111) and prior experience in a laboratory is viewed as a plus.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Understanding how Cancer Starts using Cell and Computational ModelsMentor Name: Dr.?Christine RichardsonMentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Students will learn how cells exposed to dietary bioflavonoids cause DNA damage, what proteins react to the damage and repair it or lead to blood cancers. Students will use web based resources to understand what proteins are important for this process, identify how to mimic cancer mutations by CRISPR-Cas methodology and test the predictions. Students will maintain cells in culture, generate mutants, and and expose them to bioflavonoids to compare against wild type cells. Students will learn to calculate synergy or additive effects of treating cells with bioflavonoids. Students may have the opportunity to work with tissue cells from parallel mouse project as well.Minimum Qualifications: Student must have completed either Cell Biology or Genetics and preferably both. No previous lab work required but good attention to detail, careful work habits, and excellent note taking required for success.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Genetics of Environmental Stress on DevelopmentMentor Name: Dr.?Adam ReitzelMentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: This summer research project will investigate the genetic mechanisms for how a marine species (the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis) responds to environmental stress. The Reitzel lab has developed a set of techniques to measure the impact of a suite of physiological stressors (examples: temperature, UV light, chemicals) on this coastal species. The Summer Scholar would contribute to this project by learning and then applying these molecular techniques to characterize the similarities and differences in the stress response to different environmental factors. The Scholar will be encouraged to develop their own research directions under this theme during the course of the summer experience.Minimum Qualifications: No specific skills are required except the interest to dive into a research experience.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Probing Structure and Function of TelomeraseMentor Name: Dr.?Kausik ChakrabartiMentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: In this project we aim to study structure and function of Telomerase enzyme complex in a genetically amenable eukaryotic pathogen Trypanosoma brucei. Telomerase mediated telomere maintenance is the predominant mechanism to maintain telomere DNA and is required for continuous cell proliferation in eukaryotes. Telomere maintenance via telomerase reactivation is a nearly universal hallmark of cancer cells. Interestingly, human pathogens such as Trypanosoma brucei also needs telomerase for their rapid proliferation in human hosts. Therefore, understanding telomerase structure and function in this human pathogen should provide critical information for developing new generation therapeutics. The OUR Scholar will use cutting-edge techniques for High-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), structure probing and RNA-protein interactions to characterize telomerase in Trypanosoma brucei.Minimum Qualifications: Applicants must be willing to learn new techniques, perform duties like preparation of reagents, analysis of experimental results, participation in laboratory meetings, and assisting in collaborative efforts with other laboratories. Motivated and creative individuals with good communication skills and some background knowledge on basic molecular biology research are preferred.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Characterizing Collateral Sensitivity in BurkholderiaMentor Name: Dr.?Todd SteckMentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: Using established microbiological techniques, the Summer Scholar would characterize the antibiotic-resistance profile for a bacterial strain (Burkholderia multivorans) and then evolve that strain to become resistant to each of eight antibiotics. After evolution, the profile would again be characterized to determine if acquired resistance to one antibiotic changes results in the strain changing its profile to the other seven antibiotics.Minimum Qualifications: Knowledge of basic biology; attention to detail; responsible; dedicated2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Mechanistic Studies of DNA Damage Response PathwaysMentor Name: Dr. Shan Yan?Mentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Cells of all organisms are challenged constantly by environmental agents or spontaneous DNA decay during normal metabolism. The reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced oxidative stress is one of the most frequent sources of DNA damage, generating approximately 10,000 oxidative DNA damage per cell per day. If left unrepaired in a timely fashion, oxidative DNA damage may compromise DNA replication and transcription programs or may be converted into potentially lethal DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), therefore representing a serious challenge to genomic integrity. In response to oxidative DNA damage, the base excision repair (BER) pathway is activated to repair the damage, thereby maintaining genome stability (Yan, et al., 2014, Cell Mol Life Sci, 71 (20): 3951-3967, 2014). However, it remains less understood how the oxidative DNA damage is sensed and signaled for checkpoint response. AP Endonucleases including APE1 and APE2 are critical enzymes implicated in the BER pathway. Graduate student Jeremy Willis and undergraduate honors students Yogin Patel and Barry Lentz from the Yan laboratory have demonstrated that APE2 is required for the ATR-Chk1 checkpoint signaling (Willis, et al., 2013, PNAS, 110:10592-10597, 2013). We further demonstrated that APE2 Zf-GRF domain associates with ssDNA to promote the 3’-5’ end resection of oxidative DNA damage for checkpoint signaling (Wallace et al., 2017, PNAS, 114 (2): 304-309). With the ongoing project, we plan to further investigate the molecular mechanisms of how different DDR proteins regulates DNA damage and repair and contributes to mutagenesis in oxidative stress. We will also investigate how deficiencies of DDR proteins lead to cancer development. The anticipated findings from this research project will help to provide new avenues for novel therapeutic strategies. Undergraduate students working in the Yan lab won the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship and ANSWER Scholarship in 2017. More information can be found from the lab website @ Qualifications: Biol 2130 (or equivalent course) C or above. Prior research in the area of molecular and cell biology is preferred.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Linking Community and Food-Web Approaches to RestorationMentor Name: Dr.?Paola López-DuarteMentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: The ultimate objective of our larger research project (restorefoodweb.lumcon.edu) is to guide future marsh restoration efforts by integrating community and food-web approaches into management and planning. One of the project goals is to examine species composition, relative abundances, and food web structure across different-aged created marshes that are influenced by a river diversion. Our study sites are natural and created marshes in southeast Louisiana located along a salinity gradient from a Mississippi River siphon at West Pointe à la Hache. Sampling efforts for this project are scheduled annually in May and include collections of nekton (fish, shrimp, crabs) and macroinvertebrates (e.g., small crustaceans, polychaete worms, insects, spiders). Students at UNCC working on this project will take advantage of these existing collections to learn about different research and data analysis methods. In the lab, students will process macroinvertebrates (e.g., small crustaceans, polychaete worms, insects, spiders) samples. This will involve sorting sampled under a microscope, identifying, and cataloging different species. Students can also work remotely identifying samples using our online catalog, entering, and analyzing data. Students will learn different statistical tests to compare species abundance, composition and biodiversity indices across different sites. Because this project includes laboratory and computer tasks, student participation can be completed remotely, on campus, or as a hybrid.Minimum Qualifications: Students who have completed Ecology/Field Ecology and Statistical courses are encouraged to apply. Knowledge of aquarium care, microscope use, and image analysis software is desired. Training on different field and laboratory protocols, use of instruments, as well as image and statistical analysis software will be provided in the first weeks of the program.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Adaptations to Life in the Estuary: Tide-Associated RhythmsMentor Name: Dr.?Paola López-DuarteMentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: In estuaries, environmental conditions change constantly over the tidal cycle. Fish and invertebrate species that live in estuaries have adapted to these daily fluctuations, which include changes in salinity and temperature. One of these adaptations is an internal, tidal timekeeper (circatidal clock) that is used to track the tidal cycle and prepare for changing conditions. The overall goal of this project is to understand the mechanisms that underlie circatidal clocks. We use a particularly charismatic group of crustaceans in the Ocypodidae family commonly known as fiddler crabs, as a model system. In coastal marshes, fiddler crabs play important roles as ecosystem engineers and as bioindicators of estuarine health in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions around the world. Students working on this project will have the opportunity to do field work in coastal marshes (if travel restrictions are lifted), maintain crab adults and larvae in the laboratory, observe and track animal behaviors, learn molecular techniques to measure the expression of clock genes, and work with computational tools to evaluate different types of data.Minimum Qualifications: Students who have completed Ecology/Field Ecology and Cell Biology courses are encouraged to apply. Knowledge of aquarium care, microscope use, and image analysis software is desired. Training on different field and laboratory protocols, use of instruments, and image analysis software will be provided in the first weeks of the program.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Understand the Yeast Endomembrane SystemMentor Name: Dr.?Richard ChiMentor Department: Biological SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: The endosomal system is a highly dynamic, interconnected network of organelles that serves as the focal point for internalization of cargo at the plasma membrane. Understanding the fundamental process of endocytosis underlies a broad array of crucial biological processes. With great power, however comes great risk—unrestrained endocytosis or membrane fusion can quickly destroy cellular health. Accordingly, endocytosis is carefully controlled. Mutations in many components of this machinery have been shown to perturb cellular architecture and function, resulting in human diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, cardiovascular diseases, and multiple forms of cancer. Most recent studies have also demonstrated many viruses such as Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), Human papillomavirus (HPV), Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) exploit these pathways to infect cells and propagate. Therefore, investigating the basic understanding of endocytosis is of great interest to the medical field. Overall, the process is highly dynamic and researchers have so far discovered hundreds of proteins that regulate the process. However, the precise mechanism that mediate vesicle fusion to the endosome is not known. This summer, student researchers will conduct experiments to help understand endocytosis using yeast as a model system.Minimum Qualifications: BIOL31112021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Summer Research with LEADS and Mecklenburg County Park and RecreationMentor Name: Dr.?Jennifer WarnerMentor Department: Biological Sciences / LEADSMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Teaching ProfessorProject Description: Summer scholars will partner with LEADS and Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, an organization that manages 230 parks and facilities located on more than 21,000 acres of parkland throughout Mecklenburg County. The mission of Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation is to enhance community wellness through recreation, open space, and natural resources.Summer scholars will work on a research project best suited to their interests and skills. Projects available to summer scholars include: Historical/Cultural Site Assessment: Conduct research, including staff interviews, on historic/cultural sites located on park land. Key Performance Measures: Conduct research on partner agency best practices for tracking performance in key metrics and propose potential measures for use in Mecklenburg County.Park Attendance Data: Conduct research on innovative methods in capturing data on park utilization and propose potential measures for use in Mecklenburg County.Crime and Social Media Analytics. Collect, audit, and analyze data on department social media performance and crime incidents within parks.**Please note this is a community based project with Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation.?Minimum Qualifications: Moderate to advanced proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Advanced communication skills. Comfortable interacting with staff from a variety of professional backgrounds.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Internet Accessible Room Environmental DataMentor Name: Dr.?Jimmie MillerMentor Department: Center for Precision MetrologyMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Chief Engineer for the Center for Precision MetrologyProject Description: 1st goal will be to interface temperature sensors to a data acquisition system.2nd goal will be to analyze and graphically present that data in various forms on a video display. 3rd goal will be to make that data accessible to external sources via the web. 4th goal will be to build a web interface to get the stored data remotely and to graphically represent the data within a web page. Further goals may be to repeat the steps above for sensors other than temperature sensors.The system will be used in a proposed undergraduate lab/course in metrology. Various statistical calculations will be made to evaluate the data. The student will be allowed to work with various dimensional metrology equipment.Minimum Qualifications: Programming skills a plus. Software communication to computer ports a benefit. Student’s choice of programming platform. Basic algebra required. Capable of finding the answers to difficulties independently with the proper mentor direction.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: CTI Teacher Efficacy Project using both Quantitative and Qualitative MethodsMentor Name: Dr.?Scott GartlanMentor Department: Charlotte Teachers InstituteMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Executive Staff in CLASProject Description: The Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) is committed to support Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools through rigorous, content-rich seminars that lead to teacher efficacy gains. For years CTI has been focused on contributing to confidence and empowerment of teachers through intellectual growth, professionalism, and academic relationships. This project centers on pre- and post-data collected for the 2020 cohort year, including 100 CMS teachers from 55 different elementary, middle, and high schools. In addition, opportunities to interview teachers to piece together the relationship between this seminar experience and teacher efficacy gains could be explored. A final research poster, summary abstract, and presentation will provide culminating activities for this research experience. This project is funded by CTI's three core education partners, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, UNC Charlotte, and Johnson C. Smith University.**Please note this is a community based project working with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Johnson C. Smith University, among area museums.Minimum Qualifications: No research experience necessary, although a curious, skeptical, humble mind is helpful. Also, I have worked with a number of non-education majors over the year. So even if you aren't planning to be a teacher, this will be helpful in building your research and social science skills. Of course, if you are planning to be a teacher, that is super terrific!2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Photochemistry of Thiazolothiazole Dyes for Materials Science ApplicationsMentor Name: Dr. Michael G. Walter?Mentor Department: ChemistryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: This project is directed towards examining the photophysical properties (absorption and fluorescence emission/excitation spectra) of several newly synthesized thiazolothiazole (TTz) dye systems. Students working on this project will model structures using a computational software package (Spartan). This project will initially focus on optimizing the geometry of the thiazolothiazole materials using molecular mechanics followed by higher-level density functional theory calculations. The student working on this project will prepare solutions of TTz molecules and examine their steady-state absorption / fluorescence spectra to elucidate the charge transfer states of the dyes. The donor-acceptor properties of the charge-separated states will be determined using pump-probe picosecond time scale transient absorption spectroscopy. Students working on this project will also be exposed to some organic synthetic chemical transformations, small molecule characterization techniques, and dye sensing properties.Minimum Qualifications: 1 yr. general chemistry, 0.5 yr. organic chemistry2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Silicon Pincer Complexes for Solid State LightingMentor Name: Dr.?Tom SchmedakeMentor Department: ChemistryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: The goal of this project is to synthesize and test silicon pincer complexes for solid state lighting applications (flexible organic light emitting diodes). Students participating in the project will synthesize new silicon pincer complexes, purify them, and characterize them. Once fully characterized, the complexes will be incorporated into organic light emitting diodes, and their device properties will be determined.Minimum Qualifications: Students must have completed CHEM 1252 and CHEM 1252L. Preference would be given for students that have also completed CHEM 2132 and CHEM 2132L by the beginning of the research project.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Polycyclic CompoundsMentor Name: Dr. Markus Etzkorn?Mentor Department: ChemistryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: The student will carry out synthetic work toward novel polycyclic compounds. Typically, a linear synthetic sequence will expose the student to standard preparative transformation in an organic laboratory, to contemporary analytical techniques and vigorous discussion in organic chemistry. The actual target compounds may be related to organic magnets, to unusual species for non-covalent interaction with metal ions or to novel carbon nanothreads.Minimum Qualifications: CHEM 2131 and CHEM 2131L; ideal: CHEM 2132 and CHEM 2132L2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Synthesis of Novel Photosensitizers for Photodynamic TherapyMentor Name: Dr.?Juan Vivero-EscotoMentor Department: ChemistryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a well-known therapeutic technique used to treat a wide variety of diseases including cancer and wound infections. One of the main components for the success of this technique is the photosensitizer, which is a molecule that absorbs light and transfer the energy to produce reactive oxygen species. Novel photosensitizer molecules are needed to enhance the therapeutic effect of PDT. The goal of this project is to develop novel photosensitizers using silane derivatives to modify their physicochemical and photophysical properties. Our initial approach has been focused on the use of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) molecules. The participation of the undergraduate student(s) on this project will be focused on the synthesis and characterization of porphyrin-based POSS molecules that will be used for PDT. The undergraduate student(s) will learn the synthesis and characterization of these molecules using a variety of analytical techniques such as ESI-MS, NMR and FT-IR. Moreover, the student(s) will also develop skills to characterize the photophysical properties of those compounds using absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy. Finally, the student will be involved in testing the PDT properties of porphyrin-POSS compounds in vitro settings.Minimum Qualifications: The undergraduate student(s) working in this project needs to have completed CHEM 2131 with a grade of C or above.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Dynamic RNA NanomaterialsMentor Name: Dr.?Kirill AfoninMentor Department: ChemistryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: In this project, students will be given the opportunity to learn about innovative research in RNA nanotechnology and how RNA nanostructures can be programmed to carry a certain function and impact our lives. The project is designed from start to finish and will begin with the computational design of RNA nanoassemblies with the conditional activation of different functionalities of these assemblies dictated by the correct folding of designed RNAs.Minimum Qualifications: PCR, DNA purification, in vitro transcription, RNA purification, EMSA2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: New Silver Complexes with Potential Anticancer PropertiesMentor Name: Dr.?Daniel RabinovichMentor Department: ChemistryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: We have recently investigated the reactivity of silver(I) ions towards a variety of monodentate N-heterocyclic thione (NHT) and selone (NHSe) ligands, and we have found that such compounds exhibit strong anticancer activity. A variety of steric and electronic effects are being studied in order to develop useful structure-activity relationships, and these include the effect of the donor atom (sulfur vs. selenium) and the ring size (five- vs. six- vs. seven-membered rings). We now propose to extend this chemistry to bidentate thione and selone ligands derived from ortho-xylene. More specifically, the project involves the preparation of compounds with 1:2 or 2:3 stoichiometries, the complete. characterization of which will be based on elemental analysis, multinuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and, whenever possible, single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The CRS participant student will gain valuable experience in organic and inorganic syntheses and first-hand experience with the common methods used to handle air- or moisture-sensitive compounds, including glovebox and vacuum line techniques.Minimum Qualifications: Two semesters of General Chemistry (CHEM 1251/1252), including their laboratories, are required; one semester of Organic Chemistry (CHEM 2131) and its laboratory is desirable.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Radialenes Radicals for Redox Flow BatteriesMentor Name: Dr.?Christopher BejgerMentor Department: ChemistryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: The goal of this project is to synthesize small, redox-active, organic molecules that can function as charge-storage species for redox-flow-batteries. A Summer Scholar working on this project will be responsible for doing chemical synthesis and characterization as well as electrochemical studies. Finally, students will prepare a small scale flow battery prototype to study the efficiency of new compounds.Minimum Qualifications: Qualified applicants will have successfully completed General Chemistry (1251 and 1252) and Organic Chemistry (CH 2131 and CH 2132) with corresponding laboratory courses.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Communicating the Social Impact of the ArtsMentor Name: Dr.?Meg WhalenMentor Department: Communications and External Relations for Arts + ArchitectureMentor College: Arts and ArchitectureMentor Status: Staff/Director of CommunicationsProject Description: This project builds on the work done in the previous two summers and on current research funded through a National Endowment for the Arts research grant. In the first stage, with the help of an OUR summer research assistant, we developed a survey to gather data on local artists and arts organizations that use creative practices to address local issues of social justice, economic opportunity, and community health. In the second stage, several OUR summer research assistants (I worked cooperatively with Vaughn Schmutz) helped to build out website content for the Arts Impact Charlotte website, the repository for the survey data and a host of resources related to the social impact of the arts (). Students created profiles of the survey respondents to post on the website directory and also added to the literature review of national research on the impact of the arts in the areas of Education/Youth Development, Individual and Community Health, and Equity and Inclusion.In doing this work, and in the interviews conducted this fall for the NEA-funded project, we are discovering that the effective communication and dissemination of the research findings is as crucial as the accumulation of data. Artists and non-artists alike - even artists involved in social impact work - are frequently unable to clearly describe the projected impact of the work that they do, explain the value of the arts as a means for creating positive social change, or identify effective measures of success. This summer's challenge will be to implement a communications strategy that translates Arts Impact Charlotte research data into accessible and lively mediums that both build understanding of national studies on the social impact of the arts and help generate awareness of the local arts-based civic and community work being done in Charlotte and how it might be effectively evaluated. The Summer Research Scholar will help devise tools and materials that communicate sometimes complex information in creative and engaging ways and will help promote that information through a variety of public social media and web-based platforms and perhaps physical/material means (such as visual arts or performance pieces, printed materials, etc.). The exact tasks will be matched to the student's skills. Each stage of this multi-year project has been done in consultation with the Arts Impact Charlotte Advisory Group, a 20-member group of local artists, community members, arts organization leaders, and academics. This summer's work will also be carried out collaboratively with this group.**Please note this is a community based project working with Arts Impact Charlotte Advisory Group.Minimum Qualifications: The ideal student will have an arts, communications, or marketing background, the ability to understand and synthesize research data, good communication and social media skills, and a lively imagination.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Nonprofit Listening Project (Organizational Communication)Mentor Name: Dr.?Stephanie NoranderMentor Department: Communication StudiesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: This project, tentatively titled the "Nonprofit Listening Project," is intended to gather and analyze longitudinal data from area nonprofits on their shifting organizational practices. In Spring 2021, I am working with a student to develop and pilot an interview protocol and survey. In Summer 2021, I would like to work with the Summer Scholar(s) to revise the research instruments, collect data from additional nonprofit partners, and conduct initial analysis.**Please note this is a community based project working with Girls on the Run of Greater Charlotte. However, additional partners may be added.Minimum Qualifications: Familiarity with general research methods and differences and similarities between quantitative and qualitative research methods. This project is a great opportunity to gain experience with a community based applied research project and hands on experience with mixed methods (qualitative will be primary). Those with interests in the social sciences will be a good fit. The project is situated in the Communication Studies discipline and has common interests with sociology, social work, public policy, and nonprofit administration.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: The Black Lives Matter Movement on Social Media: A Qualitative ApproachMentor Name: Dr.?Tiffany GallicanoMentor Department: Communication StudiesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: The summer scholar would analyze qualitative data resulting from interviews with students and community members living in or near Charlotte who used social media in response to both Keith Lamont Scott's death and George Floyd's death. This person will also conduct secondary research for a literature review and write at least one paper resulting from the analysis under Dr. Gallicano's mentorship.Minimum Qualifications: Research, critical thinking, writing, self-motivation, ability to work independently, teamwork, interest in social media activism.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Building Real-World Assignments for Improved Engagement and Retention of Computer Science MajorsMentor Name: Dr.?Kalpathi SubramanianMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: This project will contribute to an ongoing effort to build new highly engaging real-world programming assignments spanning introductory courses in computer science at the freshmen and sophomore levels. The goal is to build assignments that clearly illustrate the relevance and potential of computing to incoming majors in computer science, spanning current problems/topics in social, cultural, scientific, entertainment and other domains. The undergraduate student will work on building new assignments using online data sources, such as WikiData(). The student will work as part of an research group with other undergraduate and graduate students and participate in weekly meetings for reviews and feedback.New web technologies will also be explored to make assignments portable and useful across different programming languages, platforms, course levels, and student skills/background.Minimum Qualifications: The undergraduate student should preferably have Junior standing and must have satisfactorily completed the courses in the first two years in Computer Science. Some knowledge of server side programming, Javascript and databases is preferable. More importantly, student should be strongly motivated to learn new languages, technologies and tools, complete tasks on time and be ready work with other members of the research group.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Investigating Geometries of Text RepresentationsMentor Name: Dr.?Wlodek ZadroznyMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Machines use vector-based representations of text. However, not much is known about the shape of such representations. We do know that for some, e.g. word embeddings, the resulting representations are fractal, but not much beyond it.In the project we'll look into looking for other structures in textual data, e.g. presence of standard shapes in multiple dimensions, and see if extracting them as features can improve tasks such as text classification. Another aspect of this research will be to see whether finding the shaped in images correspond to shapes in text. And again, if such shapes can help with question answering about images.Minimum Qualifications: Python, UNCC cloud, some exposure to NLP2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Experiments in Neural Networks Capacities to Model Mathematical StructuresMentor Name: Dr.?Wlodek ZadroznyMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: It is an open question to what extent deep neural networks can model simple mathematical structures. For example, in standard NN architectures we cannot accurately model even the simple addition. The project will be investigating what some of the new specialized architectures can and cannot do. The student will run experiments and report the results. Google Colab will be used to make everything reproducible. The result will be reported in a research publication.Minimum Qualifications: Python, Google Colab, Latex helpful but not required2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Computational Sociolinguistics/Emotion Contagion through Natural Language ProcessingMentor Name: Dr.?Samira ShaikhMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: The scholar will contribute to an ongoing project funded by the Army Research Office that deals with characterizing and predicting emotion contagion in online social networks. Cool sub-tasks are (a) writing code that analyzes natural language from social media on a large-scale and (b) running experiments on a custom-made social network platform and analyzing the resulting data.Minimum Qualifications: Proficiency in Python programming/experience with Machine Learning2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Deep Reinforcement Learning DebuggerMentor Name: Dr.?Minwoo LeeMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: One of the biggest challenges in machine learning is difficulties in debugging. This project aims to build a debugger to help ML researchers and developers to debug their algorithms. Summer scholar will develop submodules for the debugger.Minimum Qualifications: Fluency to programming languages (Python preferably), familiar to machine learning2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Protecting Participants’ Privacy in Mobile SensingMentor Name: Dr. Liyue Fan?Mentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: The objective of the project is to conduct research with under-served and under-represented population groups, e.g., refugees, while protecting them with privacy tools. The summer scholar will work with the lab’s multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary collaborators. Specifically, the scholar will help develop and test privacy methods for collecting mobile data (e.g., GPS locations) and assist with the deployment among refugee participants. Additionally, the scholar will develop computer security and privacy educational material to disseminate to the refugee participants. The scholar will report research findings/updates periodically during lab meetings and whole project-team meetings.**Please note this is a community based project working with Refugee Support Services.Minimum Qualifications: Interests in computer security and data privacy; experience with data structure/algorithms and mobile app (e.g. Java programming); good communication and interpersonal skills.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Analysis and Visualization of Educational MaterialsMentor Name: Dr.?Erik SauleMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: CS Materials is a newly developed web application that enables instructors to distribute their pedagogical materials (think all lecture, videos, assignments, exams of a class). One of the features of CS Materials is that it enables instructor to classify their pedagogical materials against nationally accepted curriculum standards in Computer Science. The system enables the instructor to perform various kinds of analysis on their class, for instance, ensuring that the assignments address topics that were covered in the lectures.In this project, the student will help the team develop better interfaces for the system to facilitate the usage by instructors. The student will help develop new analyses and visualization to facilitate understanding the structure of a particular course or the relation between different courses. In more technical terms, the duties would be performing maintenance tasks on a react application front-end, a flask application back end, and SQL database. Data mining tasks and recommendations tasks would need to be developed. Visualizations are often built in D3. The student would work in a team.See a live version of the system at Qualifications: The only required skill is being a decent programmer and having worked with trees and graph data structures (such as covered in ITSC 2214).Having worked on web applications, python, and java script would be helpful.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Design of an Ingestion Pipeline for the AdvisorMentor Name: Dr.?Erik SauleMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: The Advisor is an academic recommender system that enables researchers to find papers that are related to work that they are doing. theAdvisor achieves its mission by mining the citation graph of all CS academic papers for relevant papers. The system is currently offline because the data it uses are widely out of date.The goal of the research project is to design a new ingestion pipeline that automatically update the data that the advisor is using. theAdvisor takes its data from multiple sources (Citeseer, DBLP, Microsoft Academic Graph, arxiv, ...) to build its internal database. The different databases do not share a common indexing system which forces the ingestion pipeline to match entries (such as paper, author, or conferences). Since a lot of the data is input by humans in these systems, there can be discrepancies in how entries are made which need to be reconciled by the ingestion pipeline.The fundamental problem is to design a reliable, automatic, big data, entity matching system that provides explainable decisions and enable manual adjustments.Minimum Qualifications: Expected:-know how to program in C++-know how to use classic data structure (graphs and hash tables)-not being scared of GBs of data.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Analysis of Temporal GraphsMentor Name: Dr.?Erik SauleMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: More and more of the data that get collected and analyzed is organized as a graph. Entities are represented as vertices and related to each other. (Think for instance of the facebook friendship that can be represented as a graph.) The relation between entities are also typically located in time, and can come and go. (There is a time when two people became friend on Facebook, and a time where they were no longer friends.) The graphs that represent these information are called temporal graphs. These rich data can be used to get a better understanding of social dynamics, (for instance by detecting when someone moved may triger a wave of new friendships.)The purpose of this project is to understand the scope of analysis that can be done on temporal graph. We have some dataset for temporal graph, for instance around academic network and hollywood movies. We will identify datasets for temporal graphs. We will also perform standard analysis on snapshots of the graph at different points in time (such as page rank, centrality, clustering) and investigate how we can recognize important event out of these standard analysis.Minimum Qualifications: Be a decent programmer in one programming language (C++, Java, or python). Be comfortable with manipulating graphs. (for instance having taken ITSC 2214 would do that.)2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Motion Planning for Multiple RobotsMentor Name: Dr.?Srinivas AkellaMentor Department: Computer ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: In this project, the undergraduate researcher will be learning about current state-of-the-art methods for multiple-robot motion planning, collision avoidance, and coverage. This will involve development and implementation of suitable approaches. The focus will be on developing efficient algorithms for decentralized multi-robot systems. Additionally, the student will help in setting up quadcopter drones and wheeled mobile robots for experiments in the Robotics Laboratory in the Computer Science Department.Minimum Qualifications: Familiarity with algorithms and data structures, and a proficiency in C++/Python is preferred.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: A Case Study of a Serial Murderer: NAME OF A SERIAL MURDERERMentor Name: Dr.?Charisse T.M. CostonMentor Department: Criminal Justice and CriminologyMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: The student will immerse him/herself in the literature on serial murder; organize the literature and compare this literature to a case study of serial murder on a number of different areas (e.g., similarities, differences, causes)Minimum Qualifications: Be able to conduct research of scholarly sources on the topic of serial murder2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Black Arts and Civic EngagementMentor Name: Dr.?Tamara WilliamsMentor Department: DanceMentor College: Arts and ArchitectureMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: I will research how Black dance arts have made contributions to Civic engagement and political protest since the 1950s. The research scholar will support my investigations through resources available at the Atkins library and via attendance to scholarly panels online. The scholar will assist in the creation of a mapping of influential people and organizations, both past and present. This information will be used to document changes that have implemented locally and nationally via socio-economic changes and law.Minimum Qualifications: Research skills2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Plavana 2.0Mentor Name: Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar; Julio Bahamon;Mentor Department: Dance and Computer ScienceMentor College: Arts and ArchitectureMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: How can the Virtual Reality platform assist in the teaching and learning of artistic expression? This is an ongoing collaborative research project between dance, computer science, history, and philosophy where faculty is involved in creating a VR game for the pedagogy of Odissi dance, an eastern Indian dance form. This project started in January 2019 and continued until December 2019 with the production of a prototype game developed by another CRS. The game has been tested in a pilot study with dance and game design students . Results from the pilot study provided the research team with key insights regarding the design features. For example, participants needed a clearer set of guidelines and more aural cueing connecting their movement with that of the 3D avatar within the game. The hypothesis to be tested in this iteration of the project is whether synchronous aural cueing of movement makes learning of the movement easier. In Spring 2021, this game will be further developed by a Computer Science student as an independent study. The CRS scholars will continue this work, in which a computer science student will work with a dancer, leading to the production of an easily downloadable version of the game that can be shared with a large community of users. Hopefully, this will provide us with a much larger array of data that can then be analyzed towards the production of the final design, which will require a much larger investment of time and resources as afforded by federal grants. The Summer Scholars will collaborate on the design and development and testing of the game. Technologies used in this project will include: Unity 3D Game EngineC# programming languageHTC Vive VR and motion tracking technologyRokoko Smartsuit motion captureMinimum Qualifications: Two sets of qualifications are needed for the hiring of two students, one proficient in technical coding and the other in corporeal immersion and kinesthetic nuance.Scholar for coding:1. Proficiency in the use of C#, Java or C++2. ITCS 4230/5230 (required)3. ITCS 3153 (preferred)4. Great work ethic, initiative, critical thinking skills and interest in learning new technologies.5. Excellent communication skills and teamwork.Scholar for thorough understanding of dance technique:1. Excellent and extensive understanding of the anatomy 2. Proficiency in kinesthetic and kinesiological translation of movement3. Technically proficient dancer4. Great work ethic, initiative, critical thinking skills and interest in learning new technologies5. Excellent communication skills and teamwork2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Analyzing and Predicting Track and Field PerformanceMentor Name: Dr.?Doug HagueMentor Department: Data ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Summer scholar would be extending a database of high school performances with weather and location information. Scholar would then analyze and project performances of high school athletes based upon prior performances, age, and weather conditions.Minimum Qualifications: Python programming at intermediate levels, knowledge of databases. (DTSC 1302, ITSC 1213 or other equivalent programming course).2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Understanding Weather Impacts in Distance RunningMentor Name: Dr.?Doug HagueMentor Department: Data ScienceMentor College: Computing and InformaticsMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Weather can impact how distance runners perform; especially temperature and humidity. This Sports Analytics research project will enhance a current data set of high school distance running performances by pulling weather data from public sites, blending the data into the larger data set and then modeling the performances to understand the impact of temperature and humidity on a runners performance.Minimum Qualifications: Intermediate to Advanced Python coding skills required. Database management knowledge is a plus including knowledge of SQL. Basic statistics required and knowledge of regression methods would be useful. Knowledge of APIs/webscraping helpful, but can be learned during research.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Autonomous ATV Navigation via GPSMentor Name: Dr.?James ConradMentor Department: Electrical and Computer EngineeringMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: The Electrical and Computer Engineering has an All-terrain Vehicle (ATV) that has been retrofitted to drive autonomously. The vehicle currently will drive with specific instructions (drive straight 10 meters, then brake; Turn right for 3 seconds). The next step in the control is to give the vehicle specific GPS coordinates and have the ATV follow these way points, making the appropriate turn and drive commands on its own. The researcher will develop a simulator for the vehicle, as well as implement the developed algorithms on the running vehicle.Minimum Qualifications: Programming experience/coursework required (i.e. ECGR3101).2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Autonomous ATV SteeringMentor Name: Dr.?James ConradMentor Department: Electrical and Computer EngineeringMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department has an All-terrain Vehicle (ATV) that has been retrofitted to drive autonomously. The vehicle currently will drive with specific instructions (drive straight 10 meters, then brake; Turn right for 3 seconds). However, the torque needed to turn the vehicle on rough terrain is greater than the torque available on the ATV system. The mechanical engineering researcher will develop an augmented electro-mechanical steering system that can be controlled by Autonomous system. The researchers will fabricate and install the device, then test the entire ATV navigation on different types of terrain. This is an ideal opportunity from a student in the Mechanical Engineering Motorsports program.Minimum Qualifications: Mechanical engineering design courses, including fabrication, engineering mechanics, and Instrumentation.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Impact of Urban Development on Flooding Events using an Augmented Reality SandtableMentor Name: Dr.?Beth SmithMentor Department: Engineering Technology and Construction ManagementMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: My lab contains an augmented reality sand table. This device currently models general water flow over terrain in a reactive manner. This summer extending its capability to specify historic flooding events and display how they impact specific locations (including some in North Carolina). This research will be used to develop educational experiences regarding the impact of urban development.The student research will assist in gathering literature and data of specific historic flood events. The student will work in the sandtable software to develop a method for programmatically specifying water flow at the boundary of the simulated terrain. The student will assist in preparing the research for presentation via a paper, poster, or slides.Minimum Qualifications: Looking for a computer science or engineering student with the associated math skills that go with these programs. Experience in one or more computer languages (C++, Java, Matlab, or Python) is preferred, desire to learn one acceptable.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Modeling and Data Analytics for Predicting Flood DamageMentor Name: Dr.?Nicole Barclay; Michael SmithMentor Department: Engineering Technology and Construction ManagementMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: Dr. Nicole Barclay and Dr. Michael Smith are jointly seeking to mentor a promising undergraduate researcher on their project that addresses mitigating the impacts of flooding events on infrastructure. We are developing a data-driven software tool that contributes to decision making in disaster response for extreme rainfall events that cause flooding and roadway washouts. To create the software tool, we are producing an accurate, high resolution surface terrain model (including channels, roadways, and infrastructure for bridges and culverts) of the selected study area (Mecklenburg County) using QL2 LiDAR data sets. The resulting tool will be in the form of an interactive map to display the locations and levels of severity based on forecasted rain data input for the study area. The undergraduate student will contribute to this project by helping collect, process, and analyze the data sets (e.g., QL2 LiDAR). The student's duties will also include gathering, sorting, and synthesizing relevant peer reviewed literature on the topic, collecting and analyzing data (computational modeling and data analytics), writing summaries of their work, and collaboration with the research team through regular meetings, as directed.Minimum Qualifications: The student must be competent in Microsoft Excel, have strong communication skills (oral and written), and demonstrate keen data organization skills. Alternatively students with proficiency in software applications such as Matlab, Python, and ArcGIS are desired and would be strongly considered. Training can be provided to students who are willing to learn.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Assessing Water Quality in Streams for Stormwater Control MeasuresMentor Name: Dr.?Nicole BarclayMentor Department: Engineering Technology and Construction ManagementMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: The goal of the research project is to determine the water quality and hydrology characteristics of drainage channels to make recommendations for improvement with the use of relevant storm water control measures. The undergraduate student will assist me and/or a graduate student with collecting water quality samples and soil samples, and surveying small water channels from field sites (~25 minutes away from campus). In addition the student will help with programming water quality monitor probes for set up and deployment in the field. While there is a lab and field work component, remote work includes some data analysis using excel, and written summaries of relevant literature and the work performed.Minimum Qualifications: Critical thinking, strong oral and written technical communication, proficient in Excel, detail oriented, and handy.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: 19th Century Women, Translation & ScienceMentor Name: Dr.?Alan RauchMentor Department: EnglishMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: The fact the women in the 19th century were dismissed as intellectual contributors to culture, is now generally accepted. But what is less appreciated is what most women themselves knew and that is that they had been providing intellectual content to their own offspring for generations. At home, however, women were burdened with a feminine curriculum centered on "proper" female skills. Nevertheless "permissible" subjects included foreign languages and the sciences, which opened doors on other cultures and new genres. These female "mentors" translated new and unfamiliar worlds, in travel narratives, memoirs, and in science texts to educate eager young minds. Many of these women began their careers as translators of "foreign" texts into English, but they also acted as "conceptual" translators of complex ideas in science and culture. Despite obstacles, women found outlets for "translating" their own intellect by applying themselves to genres which had been deemed "acceptable" in a cultural milieu dominated by male authorship. The three genres that are most striking and most frequent are: 1.) translation; 2.) works for children; and, 3.) travel memoirs/narratives. Taken together, they all mediate the unfamiliar in ways that render new and unfamiliar content accessible. In short, they are all "translations."Minimum Qualifications: Minimum Qualifications: Students should have an interest in archival research to explore the as yet undiscovered or at least unexamined texts by women motivated to write about science. Given the time period, late 18th to mid-nineteenth centuries, student should be historically engaged as well. If a student has language skills, say in French or German that would be useful, but not required.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Contemporary Black PoetryMentor Name: Dr.?Malin PereiraMentor Department: English / Honors CollegeMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: I publish books and journal articles interpreting contemporary poetry by Black Americans. My ongoing research focuses on the poets Claudia Rankine, Natasha Trethewey, Wanda Coleman, Yusef Komunyakaa, and others. A Summer Scholar would first become familiar with contemporary Black poetry by reading several of the poets' works and then discussing them with me. Once they settle on one or two poets of interest to them, I would expect them to read a selected range of the poetry by those poets, which we would discuss, as well as perform library searches for literary criticism on those poets, which they would read and then discuss with me. I would expect the Summer Scholar to write a ten page essay that contributes to knowledge on the poetry they have studied, as well as submit an abstract on the paper to conferences for presentation.Minimum Qualifications: Able to: read and interpret poetry, perform searches for academic books and articles using library databases, write an essay interpreting poetry. Interest in African American culture and literature.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Examining Change in Migrant FoodscapesMentor Name: Dr.?Colleen HammelmanMentor Department: Geography & Earth SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: Throughout the US, migrant food landscapes and related placemaking activities are undergoing change as a result of contemporary urban restructuring. This process privatizes, commodifies, and ‘revitalizes’ suburban landscapes constructed by migrants in new gateway cities. Increasing flows of global finance and migration to US cities have produced new migrant gateway cities that are now experiencing landscape change as the neighborhoods many migrants call home receive new investments in dense, modern, transit-oriented development and an influx of upscale coffee, grocery, and other food retail establishments. The impact of this change is rising rent prices for homes and small businesses which produces new spatialities of migrant settlement and entrepreneurship. This change also generates new sites through which social relations and identity are negotiated and contested when migrant residents and businesses relocate to neighborhoods traditionally occupied by other marginalized groups. This project will systematically investigate these trends in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Washington, DC, by addressing the following research questions: 1) in what ways are migrants’ foodscapes changing as a result of urban restructuring? 2) where in the city are migrants constructing new foodscapes? and 3) what are the implications of this relocation for migrant economic outcomes, social service provision, and neighborhood integration? Given the evolving influences of the global coronavirus pandemic, this research will also consider how migrant placemaking practice has been differentially impacted by the pandemic.The project relies on a mixed methods research approach utilizing quantitative analysis of demographic and property data and qualitative analysis of field surveys, in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, and interactive community forums over a five-year period. The mixed methods, longitudinal, and comparative approach of the central research program is important for uncovering the political economic implications of urban restructuring for migrant foodscapes and the complexity of relocation that occurs as a result of these processes. The lens of food systems is particularly useful for understanding these dynamics as foodscapes are important and visible placemaking cultural artifacts through which migrant communities express and maintain identities, form relationships, and potentially signal a neighborhood as ripe for gentrification. The summer research scholar may assist with collecting property data, conducting field surveys and interviews in Charlotte, organizing community forums, and analyzing data collected up to and during the summer.Minimum Qualifications: Some experience with qualitative methods and GIS; familiarity with food systems and/or migration research; Spanish language skills preferred2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Analysis of Sedimentation Rates in a Developing Piedmont WatershedMentor Name: Dr.?Craig AllanMentor Department: Geography and Earth SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: I have been conducting a long term research project in an small urbanizing watershed in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. I am proposing to measure floodplain sedimentation rates after a recently completed stream restoration project. The Charlotte Summer Scholar will be in involved in the collection and analysis of sediment cores collected from the floodplain of the study watershed as well as the installation of sediment tiles to measure future sedimentation rates. The sediment cores will be analyzed for their nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus content in my laboratory at UNC CharlotteMinimum Qualifications: The student must have a valid drivers license and their own transportation to access the field site. Basic spreadsheet and word processing software skills are also required.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Restoring a Resilient Toby CreekMentor Name: Dr.?Sara GagneMentor Department: Geography and Earth SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: This project is focused on the restoration of Toby Creek on campus that began in fall 2020. Approximately 8000 ft of the creek, mostly lined by relatively mature riparian forest, flow through campus to join Mallard Creek, the source of one of the largest watersheds in Mecklenburg County. Unfortunately, Toby and Mallard Creeks are listed on the 2018 NC 303(d) list, the former due to a lack of aquatic biodiversity and the latter because of high turbidity and copper levels. Both creeks are severely incised, with more than 10-ft high, steep banks that are regularly eroded by stormwater runoff from the developed campus and larger watershed. Due to Toby and Mallard Creek's impaired statuses, their UNCC campus location, and their associated public greenway, the creeks were prioritized for restoration by Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Storm Water Services (CMSWS). The length of the creeks that intersect the UNCC campus are being re-engineered to create a low-flow channel, inner berm, and floodplain bench more representative of reference conditions. Restoration will include bank stabilization, the addition of in-stream habitat structures, and the creation of pocket wetlands at direct discharge points. An approximately 60-ft wide riparian buffer on either side of the creeks will be deforested for construction and partially re-vegetated with a mix of native and exotic trees, shrubs, and grasses. I am seeking a student passionate about urban nature to help me document how the construction process is affecting environmental parameters, such as water quality and the occurrence of wildlife, such as birds and amphibians, along the creek corridor. We will monitor the restoration process using a mix of field techniques, including water sampling, camera-trapping, nest searches, point counts, and anuran call surveys. The student will be expected to analyze the data collected and to prepare a comprehensive report on the status of Toby Creek during and immediately following restoration.Minimum Qualifications: Familiarity with GIS and Excel, comfortable working outdoors in moderately challenging conditions, detail-oriented and highly organized, passionate about sustainability and urban nature2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: A Deep Dive into North American River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Behavior and Trophic Dynamics in an Urban EcosystemMentor Name: Dr.?Sara GagneMentor Department: Geography and Earth SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: This project is centered on using re-introduced otters in Mecklenburg County and cutting-edge environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding techniques to better understand how urbanization affects species behavior and trophic dynamics. The summer project builds on existing monitoring of otters over the last year and a half using infrared wildlife cameras at several sites in the county in order to 1) develop a reliable camera-trapping protocol specific to the species; 2) begin to describe otter activity patterns in urban streams; and, 3) assess the distribution of otters in stream reaches surrounded by varying levels of urbanization. The objectives of this follow-on summer project are to 1) measure and model otter behavior and trophic dynamics in three stream reaches of varying urban context in Mecklenburg County and 2) gather preliminary data on environmental conditions, such as water quality, in study reaches in order to better understand the ultimate drivers of variation in our model organism. The summer student would be expected to maintain wildlife cameras, collect water and otter spraint samples, analyze camera footage, and assist in eDNA analysis and interpretation. The student will also prepare a final report and presentation.Minimum Qualifications: Passionate about urban wildlife, comfortable working in challenging and remote field conditions, detail-oriented and highly-organized, familiarity with statistics and GIS, able to maintain field equipment2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Quantifying Water Quality and Hydrology in Urban Beaver and Stormwater PondsMentor Name: Dr.?Sandra ClintonMentor Department: Geography and Earth SciencesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Research Assistant ProfessorProject Description: Cities across the United States are struggling with issues of storm water because buildings and roads cannot soak up rain like soil. To solve this problem many cities invest in green infrastructure such as stormwater ponds. However, across the southeastern U.S., beaver live in urban streams, and they build ponds, too. Beaver are considered a nuisance species and are often killed, even though their ponds may be similar to storm water ponds for slowing water and improving water quality. The goal of this project is to compare how well beaver ponds store water, nutrients and sediments during both dry and wet periods compared to storm water ponds. The student working on this project will have 3 main tasks: 1) work with graduate students to collect water quality samples from 3 beaver ponds and 3 stormwater ponds in the Charlotte region; 2) process water samples in the lab nutrients and total suspended solids, and 3) enter data into the shared project database. To determine if the ponds work the same way in different cities, this work will be conducted in Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC, and Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC and the student will be able to meet and interact with a larger interdisciplinary group of researchers.Minimum Qualifications: Comfortable working outside in all weather and walking across uneven land next to streams; basic lab skills taught in intro lab courses; basic knowledge of Excel; interest in learning more about freshwater science2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: US Immigration ChallengesMentor Name: Dr.?Gabriela Tarazona-Sevillano, JD, PhDMentor Department: Global StudiesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Adjunct LecturerProject Description: In the last few years immigration challenges to residents of the Charlotte area have been very daunting. Under the current administration, deportations and family separations have been in the rise. Nonetheless, there is a fundamental compassionate response by Non-Profit Community Organizations to situations of great need. The Immigration Office of Catholic Charities is engaged in providing assistance to those facing immigration challenges, deportation, and family separation. Among the activities the student will undertake are: helping on the provision services, in compliance with agency policy and procedures, the requirements of the State of North Carolina, and immigration laws of the United States to persons seeking these services; the maintenance of case files and records as directed; case work: completing USCIS forms, drafting correspondence, and/or reports; assistance with specific immigration events (if any) as directed, like naturalization workshops; and assistance with community outreach activities when needed, among others.This proposed research project pairs a student with this community organization, which is the experiential component, allowing the student to be engaged in all issues of immigration challenges, under the instructor’s supervision. This will reinforce this viable partnership with this community organization.**Please note this is a community based project working withCatholic Charities Immigration Office. Minimum Qualifications: A Student interested in pursuing graduate school in the areas of law, global studies, social work, sociology, education, or other related to these issues. Student should be adaptable, compassionate, and responsible in delivering the work assigned to him/her.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: The Plight of Refugees and US Foreign PolicyMentor Name: Dr.?Gabriela Tarazona-Sevillano, JD, PhDMentor Department: Global StudiesMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Adjunct LecturerProject Description: Refugees, and refugee-resettlement are very contested topics in today’s American politics. Nonetheless, there is a fundamental compassionate response by Non- Profit Community Organizations to situations of great need. The USA had been a leader in the world in receiving refugees and granting refugee status to people escaping war, oppression, and death. This protection is granted by the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol, international law binding the USA. The process of vetting and receiving refugees is complex. In the USA, the State Department is the one in charge; but the resettlement of these women, children, and men is mainly done by faith communities. The Refugee Office of Catholic Charities has resettled over 15,000 refugees representing 27 nationalities since 1975. It helps refugees find housing, learn about life and customs in the United States of America, secure jobs, learn English and become US citizens. Catholic Charities is also engaged in providing assistance to those facing the challenges of deportation and family separation. This proposed research project pairs a student with this community organization, which is the experiential component. The student will be working in the community, getting involved in all issues of refugee resettlement, and will be under the instructor's supervision. This will have the added benefit of reinforcing the viable partnership with this community organization.**Please note this is a community based project working with The Refugee Office of Catholic Charities.Minimum Qualifications: A Student interested in pursuing graduate school in the areas of law, global studies, social work, sociology, education, or other related to these issues. Student should be adaptable, compassionate, and responsible in delivering the work assigned to him/her.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: WWI & the Re-Shaping of the American SouthMentor Name: Dr.?Heather PerryMentor Department: HistoryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: How did the First World War impact women, children, and civilians in the U.S. South? What was daily life like when the US Army opened up Camp Greene, Camp Jackson, and Camp Sevier – 3 of the military training camps in the Carolinas during WWI? How did southerners react to the deadly Spanish flu? These are some of the questions that I am trying to answer in my current research project: WWI and the Re-Shaping of the American South.I am looking for a student to help me research and piece together the experiences of civilians and soldiers in the southern United States during the era First World War. Research mainly includes reading through historical newspapers and special collections databases to find out more about the everyday experiences of Americans at home in the southern U.S from 1914-1920. The student will also need to go through the records of the Red Cross and YMCA organizations that were active in the south so that we can compile information on how women contributed to the war effort. Finally, the student will use local and national records to help me create a database which captures and organizes the records and lives of the soldiers and POWs stationed in the southern Army Training Camps (ATC) from 1917-1919. Many of these materials can be accessed through the Atkins Library on-line databases, however, other materials are only available in their original format and cannot be removed from the special collections of either library. Depending on pandemic conditions, the student can focus on online research resources. The student will also need a laptop and experience using MS Word and XL in order to compile and organize data.Minimum Qualifications: 1. Completion of HIST 2600 –OR, equivalent research skills seminar2. Experience using and reading online newspaper collections and databases3. Experience using Chicago/Turabian citation styles. 4. Excellent communication and organization skills.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Religious Opportunities in Early Modern European Domestic AdviceMentor Name: Dr.?Amanda PipkinMentor Department: HistoryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: There is no question that the sixteenth-century reformations transformed men’s and women’s religious opportunities and obligations across Europe. One clear way to trace how these changes concretely impacted women and men’s lives is by studying the domestic advice published in catechisms, emblems, instruction manuals, and devotional guides from 1529 to 1691 in German, Dutch, English, and French. The authors of these books, who were often middle-class ministers, took a very lively interest in inspiring household members to fulfill their specific callings based on their sex and position in the social hierarchy. These domestic advice authors often required all household members to participate in religious study, instruction, and home worship which in turn provided growing numbers of women opportunities to expand their religious authority through teaching, leading home worship, writing, and publishing devotional works.For this Summer 2020 CRS Project, I am seeking an undergraduate research assistant to help me collect and analyze research materials related to this project. During the 10-week research period from June 1 to August 3, the intern will gather primary and secondary sources to help them make lists of advice books, especially those that appeared in translation, and to compare the content of advice and identify women active within these networks of religious exchange.Minimum Qualifications: History major interested in early modern history with good research and writing skills.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Carolina's Militiamen, 1865-1898Mentor Name: Dr.?Gregory MixonMentor Department: HistoryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: "Carolina's Militiamen, 1865-1898," is a comparative study of African American participation and utilization of membership in the state militia/National Guard units of North Carolina and South Carolina in the wake of the United States Civil War. It is a political and social study of black efforts to define freedom and citizenship during the nineteenth century's last three decades. The summer will be devoted to examining primary and secondary materials that defined the North Carolina militia tracing its evolution from its Reconstruction existence to mobilization for the Spanish American War. The Summer Research assistant will be examining such primary sources as newspapers and state government correspondence and secondary sources to construct book chapters on the North Carolina militia 1868-1898.Minimum Qualifications: History major or Africana Studies major interested in nineteenth century African American, United States Southern History, and United States History.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Bolivia's Foreign Relations During Bolivia’s National Revolution,1952-1956”Mentor Name: Dr.?Carmen SolizMentor Department: HistoryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: In September 1953, a month after Bolivian President Victor Paz Estenssoro signed the agrarian reform decree abolishing the forced peasant labor system and distributed land concentrated in the hands of few landowners to peasants, the National Federation of Peasants of neighboring Peru wrote a letter to the Bolivian President congratulating him on his decision to sign the decree and asking for a copy of the decree.As in Bolivia, Peru had a majority indigenous population subjected to peonage on large haciendas. Conservative Peruvian President Manuel Odría, fearful of the effects that Bolivian agrarian reform might have on his country, decided to imprison the peasant leaders who signed the letter. And, a little later, he closed the Peru-Bolivia border to prevent Bolivian peasants from spreading news of the agrarian reform in Peruvian territory.Despite the influence that Bolivian agrarian reform had on Latin America, there are no studies that analyze the effects of the Bolivian national revolution on international relations. My research analyzes the effects that policies such as universal suffrage, peasant unionization and land distribution had in the region. In particular, it examines Bolivia's strained relations with conservative President Manuel Odría of Peru and the growing alliance with nationalist and leftist President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala. I argue that Bolivia's iconic reforms not only reformed Bolivia's economic and social structure but also affected the political stability of neighboring countries because it encouraged the society of these other countries to rethink key questions about economic nationalism, democratization, and the concentration of land in a few hands.For this 2021 Summer Research Project, I am seeking an undergraduate research assistant to help me organize, classify, and analyze the photographies I took at the Office of Foreign Affairs and the Ministries of Government, Labor, and Agriculture of Peru. During the 9-week research period from June 1 to August 3, the intern will review about two hundred official letters and organize them by topic.Minimum Qualifications: History major, fluent in Spanish, interested in Latin American History, and strong writing skills.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Chinese-American Tea Trade in the 19th CenturyMentor Name: Dr.?Dan DuMentor Department: HistoryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: In this coffee-drinking country, not many people still remember the Chinese-American tea trade in the nineteenth century, when the United States was the second largest importer of tea from China. Fresh and cheap tea directly from China, instead of the British East India Company, helped to democratize the consumption of the beverage in the republic until the late nineteenth century. For this Summer 2020 CRS project, I am seeking an undergraduate assistant to help me collect data on tea prices in U.S. cities. During the 10-week research period from June 1 to August 4, the Summer Scholar will gather information from historical newspapers and enter them into several excel files. I will provide access to a historical newspaper database, background information about tea, and an excel template. This project may help the scholar to better understand quantitative research in the field of history.Minimum Qualifications: History or sciences major with enough knowledge about excel spreadsheet and a vigorous attitude to data collection.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Mandatory Minority: The Armenian Community in Palestine, 1920-1948Mentor Name: Dr.?Ella FratantuonoMentor Department: HistoryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: What happens to communities after genocide? How do states make use of refugees? In 1915, the Ottoman Empire systematically deported and murdered more than one million Armenians. In the wake of the Armenian Genocide, refugees joined diaspora communities around the world, including ones in British ruled Mandatory Palestine (1920-1948), a territory roughly coterminous with what is now Israel and the Occupied Territories. The Armenian presence in Palestine dates to the fourth century. During and after WWI, Armenian refugees joined historic communities in Haifa, Jaffa, Nazareth, and Jerusalem. This project explores the Armenian community’s relationship to British rule during the tumultuous years of the mandate, a topic scholars of the period have virtually ignored. It considers the dynamics of the Armenian community and assesses how that community fit into British governance of the territory. The history of the mandate is often narrated simplistically as a prelude to an Arab-Jewish/Palestine-Israel saga, to the detriment of considering the histories of other groups that endured war, navigated shifting territory and governance, and participated in local, regional, and imperial politics. For this Summer 2021 OUR research program, I am seeking an undergraduate assistant to help me systematically gather and catalogue research materials related to this project. During the 10-week research period, the student will collect and analyze relevant English-language primary sources from several online archives, including records from the British Foreign Office, United States Foreign Relations Records, and The Jerusalem Post. We will meet weekly to discuss the student’s findings.Minimum Qualifications: History Major who has completed HIST2600; interest in Middle East history/Armenian Genocide; excellent reading and writing skills2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Classics for all? How the American Public Came to Grasp AntiquityMentor Name: Dr.?Robert McEachnieMentor Department: HistoryMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: LecturerProject Description: This project seeks to explain the role that the public understanding of Classics plays in support of ideas of white supremacy. Today many far-right groups use classical imagery to advocate for hate. Less ideological persons present “Western Civilization” and the Classics as the foundation of exclusivist ideas. How did these assumptions about the Classical civilizations spread? Few people study Latin or Greek, yet beginning in the nineteenth century, popular media such as magazines, novels and school readers, assumed broad knowledge about the Classics. This project seeks to show how translations, textbooks, and magazines instructed white Americans to see Greece and Rome as their partners in the project of Western civilization. Racist attitudes and assumptions on the part of translators and authors hopelessly corrupted the production of these materials. So, ideas about the normality of slavery and racist hierarchies pervaded these readings that generations would use. Americans learned that Rome and Greece were their white predecessors, that civilization was spread by conquering barbarous natives, and that slavery was natural for some persons and made a civilization great. This project will expose how the Classics, as popularly understood, served to prop up racist ideas and, implicitly, still does today. Those corrupted ideas underlie many assumptions about the Classical world, whether in children’s books, popular media, AP classes, Classical schools, or Great Books programs.For this Summer 2021 OUR Project, I am seeking an undergraduate research assistant to help me collect and analyze research materials related to this project. During the 10-week research period, the intern will get up to speed on relevant secondary sources and then collect primary source evidence from databases and school textbooks which demonstrates the creation of the link between race and the Classics. The goal will be a database of evidence to found further work on.Minimum Qualifications: History major interested in Ancient or American history with good research and writing skills evident by a Grade of B or above in HIST 2600.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Walking Research Lab: Systematic Literature ReviewsMentor Name: Dr.?Catrine Tudor-LockeMentor Department: KinesiologyMentor College: Health and Human ServicesMentor Status: Dean and ProfessorProject Description: A Summer Scholar working on the research project would work closely with a Ph.D. student and myself to complete 1-2 literature reviews on walking and physical activity measurement common practices (i.e., methods for assessing peak oxygen uptake in different populations, use of various scales for perceived exertion) depending on time availability. The Summer Scholar would work as a member of the Walking Research Lab with the ultimate goal of submitting 1-2 publications as a contributing author. Specific duties include support to: identify relevant literature, assess the quality of previous work, summarizing evidence, and interpreting findings. This student would also gain experience with collaborative scientific writing and data analysis software.Minimum Qualifications: Interest in physical activity and/or public health research; Major in Kinesiology, Public Health, or similar; Experience with or willingness to learn statistical software programs, Strong writing skills, Proficiency with the Microsoft Office Suite (word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software)2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Enterprise Performance ManagementMentor Name: Dr.?Victor Zitian ChenMentor Department: ManagementMentor College: BusinessMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: This project is part of the NSF I-Corps-funded project on developign an explainable AI for enterprise performance management (). The project develops a knowledge graph-based machine learning based on scientific documents and best practices in the industry on causes-and-effects related to organizational performance concerning different stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, investors, and the community). The Summer Scholar will be trained to extract insights from scientific and industry documents for the construction of a training dataset for machine learning. The scholar will work for 160 hours to complete the extraction of 1,000 relationships from about 200 documents, grouped into a standard taxonomical hierachy.**Please note this is a community based project working with Ally Bank, BBB, and ActiveGraf.Minimum Qualifications: The minimum requirements include: (1) English as the first language; (2) Prior exposure of reading scientific papers in social sciences/business/finance, etc.; (3) Excel and Word.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: A Feature Oriented Framework for Imaging ProcessingMentor Name: Dr.?Xingjie Helen LiMentor Department: Mathematics and StatisticsMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: This project aims to develop a feature-oriented compression algorithm for flexible reduction of data redundancy or commonly found in images and videos streams via block-based singular-value-decomposition. The student will design and implement the algorithm and test several benchmark examples.Minimum Qualifications: This project is very coding-intensive. The students must have a minimum GPA of 3.2. The students must take calculus I, II, IＩ linear algebra and must take at least one programming course such as python, MATLAB or C++ as prerequisites.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Devel Developing Shared Control Paradigms for Human-Robot InteractionMentor Name: Dr.?Amirhossein GhasemiMentor Department: Mechanical Engineering and Engineering MechanicsMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: In this project, we aim to improve the customizability of a co-robot by understanding the underlying process that a human takes to adopt and exchange a role (leader/follower) with {her/his} partner so that {s/he} can negotiate her/his intentions and reach a consensus. The undergraduate researcher will work with the graduate students to conduct a set of studies where the human-human interaction for co-manipulating an object will be investigated.Minimum Qualifications: Basic knowledge on Mechatronics, Programming with Matlab, C or python2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Experimental Investigations in Molecular HydrodynamicsMentor Name: Dr.?Jerry DahlbergMentor Department: Mechanical Engineering and Engineering MechanicsMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: This project is a continuation of ongoing experimental studies into molecular hydrodynamics utilizing vibrated grain systems and Particle Image Velocimetry. The experimental method used consists of using a high speed camera and force sensors to record the movement and impact force of high-restitution grains (various types) inside a vibrated bowl. This data is then processed to determine various fluid like properties present in the vibrated grain systems. The process allows direct, macroscopic observation of dynamical processes known and predicted to exist in strongly interacting, high density gasses and liquids. In the event of COVID 19 restrictions, the student will use existing data to develop computational models to study molecular hydrodynamics.Minimum Qualifications: Basic knowledge of Matlab, understanding of Fluid Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Electrical Controls of the M-15 Tire Testing MachineMentor Name: Dr.?TkacikMentor Department: Mechanical Engineering and Engineering MechanicsMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Develop electrical controls, hardware, and software for the UNC Charlotte cornering force tire testing machine.Minimum Qualifications: Basic knowledge of LabView and/or PLC programming, mechanical or electrical engineer with interest in machine design and experimentation; preferably a veteran.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Cylindrical Battery Shell Fracture Behaviors During Thermal Runaway PropagationMentor Name: Dr.?Jun XuMentor Department: Mechanical Engineering and Engineering MechanicsMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: This project is part of collaboration work between UNCC and NASA. The designed summer project will aim to understand the mechanistic behaviors of the shell fracture of lithium-ion batteries. Summer scholars will be guided and trained for typical research work combining both experiment study and numerical modeling under the direction of Dr. Jun Xu. Students will also be exposed to the cutting-edge facility of various types of mechanical characterization facilities. This project is a perfect fit for those students planning for early entry for our graduate program.Minimum Qualifications: Students are required to have mechanical engineering background with solid understanding of mechanics of materials (MEGR 2144) and initial mastery of commercial finite element software ABAQUS/LS-DYNA. Students should be highly self-motivated and self-disciplined. Students should have a good standing in overall GPA and plans for graduate school.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Advanced Measurement Techniques for 3D Metal Printing (Laser Powder Bed Fusion)Mentor Name: Dr.?Konstantinos FalaggisMentor Department: Mechanical Engineering and Engineering ScienceMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: Complex metal parts produced by additive manufacturing processes are often very difficult to be measured using non-contact measurement systems. The most efficient and effective approach to measuring metal additively produced parts, particularly those produced in a laser powder bed fusion process, is to measure each layer of the part as it is sintered. In this layer-wise measurement approach, it is possible to detect defects in the final part while the part build is still in process. In this project, the successful OUR research scholar will build and test a measurement system to actively monitor the 3d printing process.Minimum Qualifications: Matlab Programming (self-made functions, for-loops, if-statements), basic electronics, open to work on hands-on experiments using lasers2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Collaborative Marine Robot AutonomyMentor Name: Dr.?Artur WolekMentor Department: Mechanical Engineering and Engineering ScienceMentor College: EngineeringMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: This project will involve hands-on testing of 1-3 autonomous quadrotors on UNC Charlotte's campus. The drones serve as a research platform for two projects: (i) distributed wind sensing from perturbations in quadrotor motion, and (ii) GPS-denied formation control with acoustic/thermal sensing. The student(s) will conduct supervised research in support of one or both of these efforts. The research duties will include hands-on electro-mechanical and software integration of drone sensors and components, outdoor flight testing, and post-flight data analysis.Hybrid Format:Dr. Wolek's Laboratory has an approved research reopening plan that responds to the guidelines of the University for research work on campus during the COVID-19 pandemic. While much of the proposed work is hands-on, many aspects of the project can be done remotely (or outdoors) if needed. For example, meetings, coding, and data analysis can be done remotely. Students may also be permitted to take some physical components (e.g., electronics hardware) home to work on. Field work is outdoors and can be conducted safely with social distancing. For some activities requiring specialized supplies and equipment only available in the Lab, the students will follow our COVID-9 protocol and limit occupancy.Minimum Qualifications: The scope of the project can be tailored to the experience/strengths of the summer researcher. Preferred qualifications include knowledge and/or willingness to: learn a programming language (e.g., MATLAB, Python, C++), conduct outdoor field work, and gain experience with electro-mechanical integration for robotics (e.g., soldering, basic circuits, Arduino).2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Critical ELA Educator Collaborative: Building a Pipeline of Culturally Proactive TeachersMentor Name: Dr.?Heather CoffeyMentor Department: Middle, Secondary, and K12 EducationMentor College: EducationMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Despite growing diversity among U.S. public school children, and the relatively unchanged demographics of teachers (primarily middle class, monolingual, White females), critical approaches to teacher preparation are crucial. We propose the creation of Critical ELA Educators Collaborative (CEEC), a group of practicing and preservice teachers who will explore approaches to social justice-oriented teaching (Nieto, 2006) using culturally-proactive (Garcia & O’Donnell-Allen, 2015) pedagogy. Supported through our English teaching methods courses, CEEC will pair preservice English language arts (ELA) candidates with practicing novice teachers in local urban schools who are developing their own social justice-oriented, culturally-proactive approach to curriculum and pedagogy. Through CEEC, we seek to answer three questions:1. How do practicing ELA teachers report their experiences implementing social justice-oriented teaching practices?2. What questions or concerns do preservice ELA candidates have about implementing social justice-oriented and culturally-proactive teaching?3. How do mentor relationships mediate the experiences and questions of both practicing and preservice teachers? Data collection will include: pre- and post-surveys, written reflections, virtual group discussions, and bi-directional interviews. Using a mixed methods approach, we will quantitatively analyze surveys and qualitatively code written reflections and interview transcripts using a grounded theory approach. The project has the potential to a) enhance teacher candidates’ understanding of and sense of efficacy in culturally-proactive teaching for social justice; b) provide a model for enhancing candidate preparation for teaching in urban school settings with diverse student populations; c) recruit a more diverse pool of ELA teaching candidates; and d) provide leadership opportunities for practicing ELA teachers.**Please note this is a community based project working with The Urban Education Collaborative.Minimum Qualifications: Strong writing skills. Understanding of survey design preferred.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Recovering Lost Voices: Testimony of Holocaust Survivors from the Theresienstadt GhettoMentor Name: Dr.?James A. GrymesMentor Department: MusicMentor College: Arts and ArchitectureMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Victims of trauma often turn to art as a coping mechanism. The act of creating and sharing art serves as a form of resistance, if only through the preservation of a sense of normalcy and the reinforcement of cultural identity. This was certainly true during the Holocaust, when Jewish prisoners in Nazi camps and ghettos reacted to their suffering through poetry, visual art, and--most of all--music. This project will explore a community of amateur and professional singers who came together to make music in the Nazi ghetto of Theresienstadt (also known as Terezín). Working with the mentor, the Charlotte Research Scholar will transcribe and analyze the testimonies of Holocaust survivors who, while imprisoned in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, performed in an astonishingly large number of orchestral concerts, operas and oratorios, chamber music recitals, and cabarets. These testimonies were recorded between 1984 and 2000 in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States by David Bloch, musicologist and founder/director of the Terezín Music Memorial Project. After Professor Bloch’s untimely death in 2010, his family donated his collection, including the recorded testimonies, to the United States Holocaust History Museum, where they have gone largely ignored by the scholarly community. Through this project, however, the survivors’ voices and stories will not only be heard once more, but also documented for posterity. The result will be a presentation- and publication-ready scholarly paper that details how Jewish prisoners in the Theresienstadt Ghetto expressed resistance and resilience by making music together.Minimum Qualifications: Familiarity with Google drive, Google docs, and digital audio software.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: De-stigmatizing effects of Faith Based Organizations in an Effort to End the HIV Epidemic: A Scoping ReviewMentor Name: Dr.?Judith CorneliusMentor Department: NursingMentor College: Health and Human ServicesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: The purpose of this research project is to conduct a scoping review on the de-stigmatizing effects of faith based organizations in an effort to end HIV- a scoping review. The scholar will assist with the review of the literature by developing a literature review table. The scholar will also be an author on the review article**Please note this is a community based project working with Mecklenburg County Faith Based Working Group.Minimum Qualifications: Minimum student qualifications, word processing, reading comprehensive, able to input information into tables.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: A Text Messaging Enhanced Intervention for African American Heart Failure Patients with Depression and Anxiety and or Project II is Titled- PhD and DNP Nursing Theories Literature SearchMentor Name: Dr.?Charlene Whitaker-BrownMentor Department: NursingMentor College: Health and Human ServicesMentor Status: Clinical Associate ProfessorProject Description: Project I-The overall goal of this research is to improve health outcomes in African American heart failure (HF) patients who experience mild depression and anxiety by adapting the existing COPE intervention for supplemented text messaging delivery. The specific aims for this pilot study are to:1) Adapt/modify the COPE curriculum for delivery to HF patients using a text messaging component to improve depression and anxiety symptoms; 2) Administer the adapted intervention to 10 subjects to examine feasibility and acceptability of the approach and modify as needed;3) Examine trends in depression and anxiety symptoms post intervention.We hypothesize that patients will show an improvement in depression scores and anxiety symptoms post intervention.The Summer Scholar will be able to assist in the adapt/modify the COPE curriculum for delivery to HF patients using a text messaging component to improve depression and anxiety symptoms.Project II- If we have not moved further along on project I the Summer Scholar will be able to assist in the literature review for the Phd and DNP ( Doctor of Nursing Practice) Theories article.**Please note this is a community based project working with Novant Health- Heart and Vascular-Sonia Hart.Minimum Qualifications: Research skills, language skills, technical skills, computer skills.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Tracing Quantum Particle TrajectoriesMentor Name: Dr.?Donald JacobsMentor Department: Physics and Optical ScienceMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: This project involves implementing an alternative description of quantum phenomena by solving classical equations of motions that are modified by a quantum potential. It has been recently shown in the literature that this approach is equivalent to the standard wavefunction formalism of quantum mechanics for non-relativistic spinless particles. This project will simulate a few quantum systems using this new theory, and compare the ensemble averaged properties with the predictions of standard quantum theory for well-known cases. The student should be familiar with MATLAB, solving coupled differential equations numerically and data processing. The aim of the project is to understand how chaos from deterministic equations of motion lead to observed quantization of energy and interference patterns in probability density.Minimum Qualifications: Moderate skill in programming in general, and familiarity with MATLAB. Have taken classical mechanics I (Junior level) and/or differential equations, and modern physics. Preference will be for those students that had classical mechanics II.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: 3D Printing of Terahertz Photonic CrystalsMentor Name: Dr.?Tino HofmannMentor Department: Physics and Optical ScienceMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: Metamaterials and photonic crystals are composed of arrays of subwavelength structures which result in collective optical, mechanical, and electrical properties which can differ dramatically from the bulk properties of the constituents. We have demonstrated in recent years that terahertz metamaterials and photonic crystals can be fabricated using 3D printing techniques []. Our approach allows the tailoring of the THz optical response by design with engineered polarization-optical properties which might lead to multifunctional optical components in the terahertz spectral range. The Charlotte Research Scholar will participate in a research project which is focused on a novel approach to design and fabricate metamaterials. In this project finite-element calculation procedures and CAD methods will be employed in combination with additive manufacturing techniques. In contrast to other existing procedures, this approach allows the manufacturing of optical materials “by design” and opens exciting new avenues for rapid prototyping and the investigation of structure-property relationships. During the CRS period, the student will (a) use CAD software and state-of-the-art stereolithography 3D printers in order to design and manufacture a range of different terahertz metamaterials; (b) use terahertz ellipsometry techniques to measure the optical response of the designed materials; (c) participate in the data analysis using optical model calculations. These studies will expose the student to state-of-the-art CAD and 3D printing equipment, optical thin film characterization, numerical analysis techniques, and finite-element calculation procedures. The student will work closely researchers in the group. This interaction with experienced researchers ensures the training for equipment operation and the development of data analysis skills needed to interpret the experimental data obtained during the CRS period. The student will be required to maintain a laboratory notebook and to participate in weekly workgroup meetings. Reporting and publication activities will be coordinated with graduate students in the workgroup.References:[1] S. Park, Y. Li, M. McLamb, B. Norton, G. D. Boreman, and T. Hofmann, “Highly Localized Defect Mode in Polymer-Based THz Photonic Crystals Fabricated Using Stereolithography,” J. Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves 41, 825-833 (2020). [2] S. Park, Y. Li, D. B. Fullager, S. Sch?che, C. M. Herzinger, S. Lee, and T. Hofmann, “Terahertz-frequency dielectric anisotropy in three-dimensional polymethacrylates fabricated by stereolithography,” Opt. Lett. 45, 1982-1985 (2020).[3] S. Park, Y. Li, B. Norton, M. McLamb, G. D. Boreman, T. Hofmann, “One-dimensional Photonic Crystals Fabricated Using Stereolithographic Single Layer Assembly for the Terahertz Spectral Range,” J. Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves 41, 542-551 (2020).Minimum Qualifications: Laser safety training, basic electrodynamics background2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Enhanced Thermal Imaging for the Detection of Blood VesselsMentor Name: Dr.?Susan TrammellMentor Department: Physics and Optical ScienceMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Dr. Trammell’s research is in the area of biomedical optics - developing and applying new optical techniques and systems for use in medicine. This summer a CRS scholar will work on a project to develop an enhanced thermal IR imaging technique to map blood vessels in tissue and monitor blood flow through these structures. The ability to map vascular structures has many applications in medicine including cancer detection, limb reattachment, cardiac surgery and circulation monitoring in diabetics. The human body at normal temperature gives off light most strongly in the mid-infrared (8-10 microns) part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our eyes cannot see this long-wavelength light, however, mid-infrared imaging cameras provide a way to detect this thermal radiation. When viewed through a thermal camera warm objects look brighter than cooler objects. If blood vessels are warmer than the surrounding tissue, the vessels will appear brighter in the infrared images and can be detected. A temperature contrast between blood vessels and the surrounding tissue can be achieved through selective heating of the blood and vessels using light. The CRS scholar will model the heating of the blood vessels using a Monte Carlo computer model and will also conduct experiments in the lab to verify the results of the modeling.Minimum Qualifications: Completion of PHYS 2102 required; Completion of PHYS 3141 and/or PHYS 3282 preferred.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Infrared Laser Sealing and Cutting of Blood Vessels for Laparoscopic Surgical ApplicationsMentor Name: Dr.?Nathaniel M. Fried, Ph.D.Mentor Department: Physics and Optical ScienceMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: Ultrasound and radiofrequency electrosurgical, energy-based devices are currently used to thermally seal and bisect vascular tissues during labor intensive surgical procedures. However, these devices suffer from several limitations, including overheating of the devices which slows down the procedure and excessive collateral thermal damage to delicate adjacent tissue structures. Our biomedical optics laboratory is developing an alternative method using infrared laser energy to more rapidly seal and cut blood vessels with higher burst pressures and less collateral thermal damage. The undergraduate student will work alongside the professor and a graduate student to build a prototype laser vessel sealing device. Work will include learning how to (1) integrate lasers and fiber optics into the device, (2) take tissue temperature measurements using a thermal camera and thermocouples, (3) measure blood vessel burst pressures after sealing, and (4) use optical imaging systems to evaluate vessel seals.Minimum Qualifications: Student with background in Physics or Engineering interested in experimental biomedical engineering laboratory work. Previous machine shop experience, MATLAB, LabVIEW, or Solidworks computer programs a plus, but not required.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Volunteer Management: Examining Motivation, Inclusion & SatisfactionMentor Name: Dr. Jaclyn Piatak?Mentor Department: Political Science & Public AdministrationMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: Interested in volunteering or nonprofits? Would you like to help advance volunteer management and satisfaction?Working with an international environmental organization, this study examines: What volunteermanagement practices correspond to diverse, engaged, and dedicated volunteers?A Charlotte Research Scholar would:1) Analyze volunteer survey data to examine how volunteer motivation correspond to pathways to volunteering and feelings of inclusion. 2) Link volunteer satisfaction data to data from chapters of the organization to examine the effectiveness of various volunteer management practices.Findings have implications for understanding volunteers' motivations, inclusion, and satisfaction that will help the organization better serve their volunteers and advance their mission in addition to providing broader insights into volunteer management.Minimum Qualifications: Ability to work with Excel; SPSS or STATA skills would be a plus2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Campaign Money and Corruption in American PoliticsMentor Name: Dr.?Eric HeberligMentor Department: Political Science and Public AdministrationMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: I have developed a data that combines data on campaign donations from the Federal Election Commission, legislative effectiveness scores, voting records, and institutional positions of members of the House from 1996 through 2014. There are a number of analyses I’m working on and on which a student could collaborate. The main theme of the project analyzes the relationship between interest group money and legislative effectiveness. “Access-oriented” interest groups (especially corporations) have traditionally concentrated their campaign contributions on legislators with specific characteristics: members of the majority party, members serving on committees with jurisdiction over their agendas, and legislators who are more centrist ideologically. The political environment has changed substantially over the past decade, with Congress polarizing ideologically and great power being concentrated into the hands of party leaders. These changes undermine the viability of corporate Political Action Committees’ (PACs) strategies. I seek to analyze how and why their contribution strategies have adapted to the new environment. I hypothesize that contributions are increasingly oriented towards Republicans (ideologically aligned with corporations and the majority party), elected party leaders, and legislatively effective Democrats. Second, and relatedly, despite the reputation of corporate PACs being “access-oriented,” they clearly have greater policy agreement with Republicans. So we are analyzing how business PACs can target their donations strategically and selectively to certain Democrats who can help them achieve their goals while giving less enthusiastically to Democrats who could help the Democrats win majority party status. Third, we are analyzing how donors are reacting to the increased diversity of Congress, especially the increase in women and racial minorities. There is substantial evidence in psychology that people are threatened by “powerful” women, particularly in man dominated professions (like politics). Do donors evaluate and reward women (or minority) legislators’ accomplishments (legislative successes, institutional posts) in the same way they do men’s?Minimum Qualifications: Completed POLS 2220 (or equivalent) with a B or higher. Familiarity with data management and analysis programs such as Excel and SPSS and/or STATA.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Voter Registration and Voter AuditingMentor Name: Dr.?Zach MohrMentor Department: Political Science and Public AdministrationMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: When most people think of auditing, they think of financial auditing. However, auditing is an important tool in all types of critical data work. Working with the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections (BOE), the student will engage in critical data auditing work around the issue of voter registration. Having accurate and complete voter registration roles is critical for insuring that elections are conducted fairly. The student will use (or learn if they do not already know how to use) SQL coding in a Microsoft Access database, and the student will help the BOE to audit and ensure that the data in the voter roles is accurate. The student will also study the advanced practices of data auditing for elections.**Please note this is a community based project working with Will Crabtree, Elections Manager, Mecklenburg Co. Board of Elections.Minimum Qualifications: Proficient with Microsoft Word and basic knowledge of databases, such as Microsoft Access, required; programming skills preferred2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Technology and Relationships in Young AdulthoodMentor Name: Dr.?Erika MontanaroMentor Department: Psychological ScienceMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: Romantic relationships have an impact on both partners health and well-being, often with couples experiencing better health outcomes than their single counterparts (Holt-Lunstad, Birmingham, & Jones, 2008; Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010; Loving & Slatcher, 2013; Robles, Slatcher, Trombello, & McGinn, 2014). However, further research is needed into how health behaviors are shaped in the early stages of dating. Expanding our understanding of health behaviors are influenced by romantic partners early in the dating relationship is critical to designing interventions that promote healthy behaviors in young romantic couples. Advances in modern technology (i.e., texting) allow researchers an unprecedented window into exploring how couples communicate about alcohol during the early stages in their relationship. This study will examine how emerging adult couples use texting early in their romantic relationships (<6 months) to discuss various health behaviors and how this impacts each partner intrapersonally and interpersonally. A Charlotte Research Scholar student would aid in data management and text analysis.Minimum Qualifications: Minimum Qualifications: ? Completion of Research Methods in Psychology with a B or better? Experience using SPSS? Strong writing skills? Experience with literature reviews2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Assessing the Effect of Task Goals on Interpersonal Coordination During CollaborationMentor Name: Dr.?Alexia GalatiMentor Department: Psychological ScienceMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: This project assesses the effect of task goals on how people coordinate what they say and what they are attending to when working together. It examines whether interpersonal alignment helps task performance in different contexts. The benefits of interpersonal alignment on task performance are documented in tasks that require partners to closely monitor each other’s perspective, consistent with a prominent view that as task partners align their behavior they converge conceptually. However, it is still underexplored whether the benefits of alignment generalize to other tasks: for example, in joint visual search, performance could benefit from a “divide and conquer” strategy.In an experiment for which we have partially completed data collection, we examine this question directly by manipulating task goals as dyads interact with maps. Dyads completed 10 trials with their eye-movements tracked and conversations audio-recorded. Five trials involved planning a route from an origin to a destination (route planning) and 5 involved searching for landmarks (visual search). To quantify interpersonal alignment in speech, we will be transcribing the exchanges of task partners and coding for different linguistic phenomena of interest, including the types of spatial expressions used, references to landmarks, and metacomments about the state of the task and problem-solving strategies. Our findings will illuminate how alignment and complementarity in language use can serve task goals.The summer research scholar is expected to be involved in assisting with audio processing of the recordings, transcribing dialogues, coding expressions or events of interests in the transcripts, getting experience in coding for statistical analysis, and in scientific writing and presentation.Minimum Qualifications: Research Methods courses in the student’s major (e.g., Research Methods I and II for Psychology majors); introductory Statistics or similar course. Courses in linguistics, qualitative methods, and ethnomethodology are appropriate alternatives.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Viral Emotional Content and Digital Firestorms on Social MediaMentor Name: Dr.?Sara LevensMentor Department: Psychological ScienceMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: This grant funded research project examines the factors that predict the proliferation of emotional content and information on social media. In particular we examine emotion firestorms (also known as digital firestorms) and seek to identify the social media user attributes and message characteristics that predict the ebb and flow of emotional information on social media platforms. Social media activity is dominating politics, business, social movements, and affecting our health, mental wellness, and development. We aim to understand more about social media information exchange with an emphasis on identifying the different types of roles individuals can play in information contagion. Research assistant involved in this project will be able to identify a specific part of the project to develop, "call their own", and contribute to. Research assistants will help with coding of social media test data, literature reviews, data cleaning and analysis preparation, computational modeling (if desired), experimental and stimulus design, and dissemination of findings. This is a collaborative project with faculty in Computer Science and Communication, and is supported by a grant from the Department of Defense Army Research Office.Minimum Qualifications: Interest in the topic and research process is critical. Strong writing skills and attention to detail are also essential. Desirable, yet not essential qualifications, are experience with excel, Qualtrics, and research methods coursework.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Health Communication: Bystander Intervention for Alcohol use and Sexual Health Through Text MessagesMentor Name: Dr.?Jessamyn BowlingMentor Department: Public Health SciencesMentor College: Health and Human ServicesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: The Summer Scholar would work on two qualitative studies related to how individuals discuss health topics: Study 1) We will be conducting virtual focus groups related to how college students perceive problematic alcohol use and intervening. This is part of a study to create and test an intervention to address problematic alcohol use with college students. The Summer Scholar would be assisting with the literature review and analyses of these focus groups, gaining qualitative analyses skills. We would first create a codebook based on the reviewed literature and then, in a team, analyze the focus group data using Dedoose software. Study 2) This is an ongoing project collecting couples' text messages to analyze how sexual health is discussed. The Summer Scholar would be part of the team analyzing the couples' data using Dedoose software. The Summer Scholar would be trained in the codebook and conduct data analyses. The Summer Scholar would be part of a larger research lab that would enable networking with other students and mentorship from other faculty beyond Dr. Bowling (who would act as the primary mentor). For both of the studies, the student would complete trainings in Human Subjects Research through CITI and in Dedoose software.Minimum Qualifications: Strong writing skills required, experience with researching in academic literature (such as conducting a literature review) required, ability to discuss sensitive topics (such as sexuality) required, experience with qualitative research preferred but not required2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Assessing the Impact of COVID19 on the Health and Well-being of Healthcare ProfessionalsMentor Name: Dr.?Monika SawhneyMentor Department: Public Health SciencesMentor College: Health and Human ServicesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: The COVID19 pandemic has taken a huge toll in some shape or form on major aspects of life. One group of individuals bearing substantial impact are the healthcare professionals. A lot of recent research work focuses on COVID19 patients and their care providers. However, not much work has been done to understand and assess the impact COVID19 has on the well-being of healthcare professionals. The proposed research assignment aims to explore the impact COVID19 has on the health and well-being of healthcare professionals. The summer scholar will work closely with the faculty mentor as well as professional staff members from the community partner organizations, to conduct a thorough literature survey, maintain databases, evaluate available instruments, and assist other team members in setting up the background work for this research. .The Summer Scholar will also have the opportunity to collaborate with the UNCC stakeholders [such as the library staff and the Institutional Review Board (IRB)] and community partners in finalizing the research protocols, setting up online data collection tools, and administering the data collection protocols for the successful implementation of this research assignment. Finally, working closely with the faculty mentor, the summer scholar will gain skills in analyzing the data and preparing professional information for dissemination to various stakeholders.**Please note this is a community based project working with Independent Physicians of the Carolinas.Minimum Qualifications: Basic computer skills, readiness to learn and sharpen their research skills, at least a junior standing, diligent, self-motivated, passionate about making change through research, ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Examining Elementary School Teachers' Mathematics PracticesMentor Name: Dr.?Drew PollyMentor Department: Reading and Elementary EducationMentor College: EducationMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: This research project will include surveys and interviews of elementary school teachers to examine their use of specific curriculum resources, technology, and specific pedagogies while teaching mathematics. Research scholars will support this project by designing surveys, conducting interviews with teachers, and helping to analyze and write about results.Minimum Qualifications: The minimum qualifications include: an interest and awareness of educational topics and terms, access to an internet-connected computer, and some awareness of Google tools.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Cross Campus Entrepreneurial EngagementMentor Name: Dr. Laura Smailes?Mentor Department: Research and Economic Development (Ventureprise)Mentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: FacultyProject Description: Design and implementation of a cross campus entrepreneurial pipeline focusing on entrepreneurial mindset, research/innovation and engagement. The research will focus on ways to expand innovation training and engagement of faculty and students in social impact, entrepreneurship and research commercialization. Students would examine practices of competency-based micro-credentialing systems and immersive experiences of other college campuses. Further engagement would include designing and implementing a survey for UNC Charlotte students and faculty examining entrepreneurial mindset and interest and reporting on those results. Students will also engage former participants for updates and research/innovation needs.Minimum Qualifications: Research skillsSurvey design, implementation and resultsCommunication skills; including computer (Zoom), writing and outreach2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Examining Peer Supervision & Simulation for Curriculum Enhancement for Social Work StudentsMentor Name: Dr.?Ticola Ross PhD, MSW, LCSWMentor Department: Social WorkMentor College: Health and Human ServicesMentor Status: Clinical Assistant Professor & Field Education DirectorProject Description: This study seeks to examine the impact and usefulness of peer supervision and simulation in regards to providing support, developing student professionalism, building confidence in critical thinking, and enhancing social work practice skills. A Summer Scholar would contribute to this project by assisting in developing a survey, analyzing qualitative data, completing literature reviews, grant research and/or contributing to development of grant writing, developing a video presentation. There may be an opportunity to collect new data and conduct focus groups. The scholar would be required to complete the CITI training. The scholar would also have the opportunity to craft their own practice simulation. The scholar will be invited to participate in publication of research.Minimum Qualifications: Student should be able to use basic Google and Microsoft products, speak and read English, strong writing skills. Student should be self-directed and able to work independently when needed. Student should be eager to learn and develop research skills. Student should be able to develop tables and graphics. Student should be able to work within a team.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Learning How to Prevent Binge DrinkingMentor Name: Dr.?Annelise MennickeMentor Department: Social WorkMentor College: Health and Human ServicesMentor Status: Assistant ProfessorProject Description: Funded by the National Institutes of Health, this projects seeks to develop a measure to capture helpful bystander behaviors to prevent binge drinking among college students. Bystander intervention is a common method used to prevent interpersonal violence, however, it has never been applied to binge drinking situations. We are trying to change that! Summer work will include transcribing focus groups, coding data, and preparing summary reports. You will be joined by a team of other undergraduate research assistants working on this project, as well as benefit from a co-mentor model with faculty from social work, public health, and psychology.Minimum Qualifications: Preference for completion of a research courseDetail-oriented3.0 GPAIndependent worker2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Arts and Social Impact in CharlotteMentor Name: Dr.?Vaughn SchmutzMentor Department: SociologyMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: A variety of artists and arts organizations in Charlotte offer programs whose motivation and methods are focused on social impact. Many such programs aim to increase the cultural capital of disadvantaged individuals and communities through music training, visual arts lessons, community-based cultural events, and other types of arts education and experience. As part of a larger study of arts-based social impact in Charlotte, this OUR Summer Scholar project will support a particular arts-based program. Since 2017, we have partnered with Lorien Academy of the Arts, which offers an 8-week summer program in high-quality arts education classes to low income middle and high school students in West Charlotte. In this position, the OUR Summer Scholar provides practical support to the Lorien Academy by assisting the Director as well as research support by assessing the impact of the program on the students who participate. Practical support can take many forms and in the past has included things like organizing art supplies, setting up studio classrooms, assisting with photography or videography, interacting with students, and so on. Research support can also take various forms and has included things like administering surveys to students and families, interviewing students about their experiences, analyzing student videos and student assessments, and more. Specific duties are outlined each summer in a meeting with the faculty mentor, Director of Lorien Academy, and the OUR Summer Scholar(s).**Please note this is a community based project working with Lorien Academy of the ArtsMinimum Qualifications: Interest in social science research is essential. A desire to work with and mentor disadvantaged youth is a big plus. Interest in the arts is also a plus but not essential.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: An Exploration of Students who are Missed Opportunities for STEMMentor Name: Dr.?Martha BottiaMentor Department: SociologyMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: Wages and occupational status remain the conventional measures of workplace equality. The sex- and race/ethnic-segregation in the occupational structure is no longer as rigid as it was decades ago, but race- and gender- stratification among incumbents of most contemporary occupations continues even after controlling for workers’ educational attainment, region, industry, and other individual and structural factors. While jobs in STEM fields are among the best paid and most prestigious (Strauss, 2016), the majority of jobs in non-STEM majors offer less profitable opportunities. Regardless, while many students express an interest in STEM at an early age and/or obtain high levels of academic preparation to complete a STEM degree, few of these students decide to obtain STEM degrees in college. Less research has examined the experiences of students who are missed STEM opportunities (Stearns et al., 2019) and the missed potential they represent for the diversification of the STEM workforce. We use the term MSO to identify those who had an interest in and/or secondary school preparation for a STEM major, yet choose to major in non-STEM fields. Importantly, many of those students who are missed opportunities for STEM (henceforth, MSOs) are either women or members of a racial/ethnic minority group. We expect that analyzing their characteristics, family background, and earlier educational experiences will generate information leading to greater understanding and potential strategies to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM.We consider the problem of underrepresentation of certain subpopulations in STEM fields as rooted in the interaction of (1) cultural formations including norms, social institutions’ prevailing gender/race schemas, social networks, racism and racial formations, and structural conditions such as uneven opportunities to learn in the K-12 and college levels with (2) students’ own characteristics such as their gender, race, and socioeconomic status (SES). Thus, our project focuses on the interactions among students’ individual characteristics and aspects of the larger normative and organizational environment before college and during college that affect STEM outcomes. The proposed project will focus on an understudied student population, those who have an interest in STEM and/or are academically prepared to go into STEM but do not end up choosing a STEM college major; and a set of interviews to investigate factors that influence STEM outcomes in college and in the labor market.Our project involves a multi-method examination of the influence of prior individual and educational characteristics and experiences on college major decisions of women, minority, and low-SES students enrolled at the 16 campuses of the UNC system’s universities. Primary research activities where the Summer Scholar can collaborate include: (1) descriptive analysis of quantitative data of who are the students who are MSOs; (2) analysis of in-depth interviews of students who are MSOs. These analyses will allow us to answer multiple research questions regarding the individual, pre-college, college and post-college experiences of individuals who are MSOs, as well as those who graduated with STEM degrees.Minimum Qualifications: Research skills, basic quantitative skills and interest in the topic.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: Debt & Career ChoicesMentor Name: Dr.?Scott FitzgeraldMentor Department: SociologyMentor College: Liberal Arts and SciencesMentor Status: Full ProfessorProject Description: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of debt on the educational and career experiences of college students and young workers. Further, we are interested in how debt is related to financial literacy. In order to investigate this, we will conduct qualitative, semi-structured interviews in two phases, the first with college students at a public research university and the second with young workers. After interviews, we will then administer an electronic survey that collects demographics as well as assess financial literacy. Our guiding research questions are: "What are the effects of debt on the academic and career decisions of college students?" and "What are the effects of debt on the career experiences of young workers?" The Summer Scholar will be trained in interview and qualitative coding techniques and will participate in data collection and data analysis.Minimum Qualifications: At least some coursework in Sociology or related Social Sciences.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: North Carolina AIG District Plans: An Investigation of Recommended Differentiated Curriculum, Instruction, and Programming for Gifted LearnersMentor Name: Dr.?Cindy GilsonMentor Department: Special Education and Child DevelopmentMentor College: EducationMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: Would you like to learn more about how to differentiate for gifted learners? Then this project is the one for you! Here is some background information. Article 9B is the North Carolina legislation that requires all school districts to identify and serve Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) learners from kindergarten through grade 12. This state policy also requires that school districts submit a 3-year AIG District Plan detailing how the six standards from the 2018 NC Program Standards document will be implemented and monitored within that district. The AIG District Plans, particularly Standard 3 Differentiated Curriculum and Instruction, provide a wealth of potentially helpful strategies, tools, and resources for pre-service and in-service teachers alike to learn how to best differentiate for gifted learners. However, to date, no one has compiled a comprehensive list of these differentiated approaches across the NC school districts. Given that gifted learners spend most of their time in the mixed-ability classroom, all education majors would benefit from compilation of the information provided in these documents. This list will add to a teacher’s toolbox of strategies to be an effective teacher. This summer project will involve the application of qualitative content analysis methods to identify and evaluate the differentiation approaches as listed in the 2019-2022 NC AIG District Plans. These plans are publicly available through the NC Department of Public Instruction website, so we will not need to go through the IRB process. All analysis and project steps can be completed remotely if necessary. Here is what the Research Scholar will do, with assistance from Dr. Gilson:1. Each AIG plan will be analyzed and coded to identify major themes (using Google Sheets). 2. We will compile a list of the differentiated programs and approaches used in NC school districts. We will compile a list of websites that explain each of the options in more detail. 3. We will send surveys to AIG Directors in NC to confirm our findings, and then analyze the surveys. The findings of this study will help AIG directors and specialists better serve gifted students and support classroom teachers. It may also inform future research studies, publications, and professional development for pre- and in-service teachers. Research Scholars on this project will learn a lot about the nature and needs of gifted learners, and how districts are supporting them.The Charlotte Research Scholar on this project will participate in a supportive, collaborative, and intellectually stimulating mentorship experience. Dr. Gilson will provide the Scholar with foundational knowledge of qualitative research designs, as well as introductory skills analyzing qualitative data. Depending on the Scholar’s interests and writing skills, there is an open opportunity to co-author a manuscript for publication. Additionally, the Scholar is welcome to identify a research question to answer based on his/her particular interest in the study.Minimum Qualifications: Students should have access to a reliable computer and Internet connection. They should also have experience using Google docs, Google sheets, and uploading/downloading files.2021 OUR Summer ResearchFaculty Project Description____________________________________________________________________________Project Title: La BESTIA: Immigrant Voices in Charlotte in these Pandemic TimesMentor Name: Dr.?Carlos CruzMentor Department: TheatreMentor College: Arts and ArchitectureMentor Status: Associate ProfessorProject Description: In these pandemic times, in which racial inequalities have risen as an undeniable systemic issue, we continue to oversee the impact these times have had in various sectors of our population in this city. My current artistic project, La BESTIA produced by the social circus company the Nouveau Sud project is precisely examining and taking a look back at the immigrant journey, aiming to shine some light to the treacherous path of the migrant journey, and looking to humanize said experience as a crude reality for a big sector in our community. Nouveau Sud is a contemporary social circus initiative rooted in the “underground” dance/acrobatic/physical theatre scenes present in the vast array of cultures in the urban region of Charlotte. Through physical language — dance, movement, and circus — these communities tell stories of their struggles, histories, traditions, transformations, and iconography, as we examine the idea of what it is to be a citizen of the ‘new’ south. The company strives to create meaningful and thought-provoking dialogue on social issues that oftentimes are not addressed; poetry through acrobatics and spoken word. Community driven dialogue is key for the creation of our shows.This truth, combined with the fact that we have seen a signi?cant increase in the numbers of Central American families living in the Charlotte urban region and in our country at large, currently severely affected by these multiple pandemics, triggered the decision of tackling the phenomena of immigration as lived by this community. Therefore, we ?nd ourselves in the needed occasion to bring this project forward and tackle this reality from the point of view of a multicultural performance troupe. Charlotte is in fact a very diverse city, although not often truly represented in the arts. The phenomena of immigration is an international/intercultural one, and in our new production we aim to continue to bridge the gap within our communities in this our region, as we look to discuss together a national issue beyond our four walls- questioning all walls.We have a de?ned structure of onsite and online workshops both for the research process, but also as supporting work for a particular production. For La Bestia we will work with Comunidad Colectiva and the Latin American coalition as we will identify various locations primarily but not limited to East Charlotte, the main Latino sector. We will be working the Our Bridge program to bring forth the perspective of refugee families in this region. What is the path? Which are the different journeys? Where are we at today? How is the community handling this moment? These are driving the questions, aiming to address the main research inquiry of what can we do to best serve these communities. The goal with this particular research angle with the student assistant is to facilitate and compile the company's work with our community partners and help to document and collect the necessary data for both the practice based dissemination (live performance) as well as for a future written publication on the development of this project. We have had ongoing conversations with our community partners, therefore I anticipate a seemless transition for the student researcher to step in and complete the needed tasks.This project is an example of community based-community driven arts, where the artistic endeavor serves as a pretext for community engagement to empower and uplift all voices within diverse regions.**Please note this is a community based project working with Comunidad Colectiva, Our Bridge and the Latin American Coalition.Minimum Qualifications: Research skills, language skills, computer skills, able to drive to places, access to online conferencing, google drive proficiency, basic video/image editing a plus. ................
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