Patrick Beymer

Psychology

College of Arts & Sciences

Piloting a Weekly Self-Regulation Intervention in Applied Calculus

Findings are expected to be generalizable to other four-year universities, which provide career training for 70% of individuals who pursue STEM occupations, thus, impacting a large proportion of the STEM workforce. The broader insights from this project are particularly amenable to helping students most at risk of dropout from STEM career paths. Locally, this award will directly impact the UC community by focusing on student success in introductory STEM courses through the aims of increasing achievement, motivation, and STEM persistence among first-generation college students and racially marginalized students.

Wayne Black

Sports Administration

College of Education Criminal Justice and Human Services

A Narrative History on Historically Black Colleges and University College Athletics from 1852-1954

This project will offer new insights into Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) social contributions to advancing college athletics and higher education. This will help advance how society thinks about HBCUs role in society.

Shelina Brown

Composition, Musicology and Theory

College-Conservatory of Music

Queen of Noise: Yoko Ono's Music and Feminist Activism

My book project, Queen of Noise: Yoko Ono’s Music and Feminist Activism, will be the first scholarly work to center Yoko Ono's musical contributions and feminist politics. Despite her pivotal role in significant musical movements throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Ono’s trailblazing musical endeavors have been systematically denied legitimacy within music scholarship and rock journalism. In the current post-pandemic era, however, we are witnessing a surge of interest in Ono’s musical works, a phenomenon that I have termed Yoko Ono Revivalism. My book will draw attention to Yoko Ono's music as an enduring component of US popular music history, as well as a significant facet of Asian and Asian American women's musical contributions that have unjustly lingered at the margins of academic recognition.

Kathleen Grogan

Anthropology

College of Arts & Sciences

Acclimatization to extreme climate events in the ring-tailed lemur

This project will help address a major gap in our understanding of how variation or changes in the epigenome allow organisms to acclimatize to severe environmental fluctuations, such as occur during extreme climate events (ECEs). Understanding the epigenomic consequences of ECEs is an urgent need because: 1) these events are expected to increase in frequency and severity due to anthropogenic climate change and 2) ECEs pose significant threats to human health as they often lead to significant disruptions in food and water security, changes in air quality, and may even cause mass migration or death.

Donghoon Kim

Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Next-Gen Torque Generator for High-Efficiency Applications

The URC Faculty Scholars Research Award is anticipated to have significant societal impacts by advancing our understanding of sustainable energy solutions and promoting environmentally friendly technologies. Through the development of the Next-Gen Torque Generator, this research aims to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, improve operational efficiency in transportation and industrial sectors, and foster innovation towards a more sustainable future. Additionally, the establishment of industry partnerships for technology transfer and collaboration will facilitate the integration of these advancements into real-world applications, benefiting society by promoting cleaner and more efficient energy practices.

Christopher Platts

School of Art

College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

Diversifying Medieval Venice and Its Artistic Traditions: Towards a More Inclusive, Global Middle Ages

My URC project will help scholars, students, and the public to understand the critical role played by people of different genders, faiths, socio-economic status, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds in the creation and patronage of medieval European art. Through publications and an exhibition, audiences can learn that the European Middle Ages were substantially more diverse and global than previously thought, reflecting our world today and revealing important, positive links between the past and present.

Stacey Schutte

Biomedical Engineering

Uterine Fibroids: The Role of Mechanotransduction

The URC Faculty Scholars Research Award will allow us to continue our research investigating the impacts of mechanical forces due to uterine contractions on uterine fibroid growth. Over 30% of women will seek medical treatment for uterine fibroids due to symptoms of severe pain, heavy bleeding, and infertility. As the only current definitive treatment is hysterectomy, our goal is to identify fertility sparing methods for prevention and treatment.

Benjamin Yavitt

Chemical and Environmental Engineering