Faculty Achievements

Darlene Amendolair (Nursing) published the article “Art and Science of Caring of Nursing: Art Based Learning” in the International Journal of Human Caring.

Warren Bareiss (Communication) was appointed to the National Communication Association mental health and communication task force, which provides recommendations for how NCA can expand mental health research in communication and provide support for the mental health of students and faculty.

Mary Burns (Business), with co-authors Nishani Vincent and Amy Igou, published “Preparing for the robots: A proposed course in Robotic Process Automation” in the Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting.

Sarah Butler (Advisement and Career Enrichment Services director) was named as a member of the 2021 class of Leadership Spartanburg Program.

Logan Camp-Spivey (Nursing) presented “Barriers and Facilitators to Elementary School-Based Interventions Targeting Physical Activity and Nutritional Intake Behaviors to Address Childhood Obesity: An Integrative Review” at the 16th annual South Carolina Upstate Research Symposium.

Vincent Connors (Biology) co-authored the article “Molecular data reshape our understanding of the life cycles of three digeneans (Monorchiidae and Gymnophallidae) infecting the bivalve, Donax variabilis: It’s just a facultative host!” in the journal Parasite. He also co-authored the article “Dynamics of infection and pathology induced by the aporocotylid, Cardicola laruei, in Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus (Sciaenidae)” in the International Journal for Parasitology.

Michele Covington (Criminal Justice) has developed a new professional association for crime analysts in South and North Carolina. The Carolinas Crime Analysis Association (CCAA) is designed to enhance professionalism and collaboration among crime analysts in the Carolinas and also provides opportunities for USC Upstate students in the crime analysis concentration to communicate with working analysts.

Ona Egbue (Engineering) presented “Factors that Influence Electric Vehicle Adoption” at the Green Living Seminar at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Lynette Gibson (Nursing), Latasha Gooden (Nursing), Lindsay Grainger (Nursing), Toshua Kennedy (Nursing), Ginny Webb (Biology), David Marlow (Linguistics), Stephanie Barnhill (Nursing), Esther Godfrey (English) and Matt Donaldson (Graphic Design) were all presenters at the 2021 Gulf-South Summit.

Lynette Gibson (Nursing) has been accepted into the 2021 statewide Diversity Leaders Initiative.

Lindsay Grainger authored the post “Human Trafficking, a Public Health Crisis Exacerbated by a Global Pandemic: What is the Nurse’s Response?” on the Wolters Kluwer Nursing Education blog.

Uma Gupta (Business) co-authored the book “A Practitioner’s Guide to Data Governance: A Case-Based Approach.”

Araceli Hernández-Laroche (Modern Languages) was the keynote speaker at the Business & Professional Women of South Carolina Annual Convention in April. She was awarded the 2020 SC Career Woman of the Year by Business & Professional Women of South Carolina. Hernández-Laroche also will serve on a scholarship committee hosted by the Consulate of México in Raleigh (serving the Carolinas). In January, she presented on a Facebook Live panel in Spanish hosted by the Consulate of México, “Oportunidades para acceder a una educación superior en Carolina del Sur.”

Tracy Hudgins, Logan Camp-Spivey, and Shirleatha Lee (Nursing) co-authored the article “Leveraging Innovation to Design a Psychiatric Mental Health Simulation for Undergraduate Nursing Students During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic” in the journal Nursing Education Perspectives.

Lisa Johnson (Center for Women’s and Gender Studies) authored the article “"Neuroqueer Feminism: Turning with Tenderness toward Borderline Personality Disorder” in the journal Signs.

Colleen Kilgore (Nursing) led a public discussion on COVID-19 at Regenesis Health Center in Spartanburg.

Colby King (Sociology), along with Warren Bareiss (Communication) and sociology students Mo Swint and Emma Miller, co-authored the post “’On Your Time’: First Generation College Students’ Reflections” on the Everyday Sociology Blog. King also co-authored the chapter “Everyday Public Sociology” in “The Routledge International Handbook on Public Sociology”; the chapter “Class Beyond the Classroom: Supporting First Generation and Working-Class Students, Faculty and Staff” in “The Routledge International Handbook for Working Class Studies”; and the post “Binging Bob’s Burgers: Social Class, Shrimp Cocktail and First-Generation College Students” on the Everyday Sociology Blog. He co-presented “How Public Funding Shapes Mobility at Access-Oriented State Comprehensive Universities Across South Carolina,” at the Public Investment in Higher Education: Research, Strategies, and Policy Implications webinar; and “Have NSF S-STEM Scholarships Change SEISMIC Scholars’ Work Circumstances?” at the 2021 Massachusetts PKAL Network Minter Meeting.

Courtney McDonald (Criminal Justice), with Katherine Martinez, co-authored the article “Inter-sibling Violence as a Mechanism of Hegemony: Retrospective Accounts from a Non-binary and LGBTQ+ Sample” in the Journal of Gender-Based Violence.

Anita Nag (Biochemistry) received a grant from the University of South Carolina Office of the Vice President for Research COVID-19 Initiative for the project “Understanding the molecular function of nonstructural protein 1 in COVID-19 infection using computational modeling and proteomic studies.” She is also the author of “End of the Semester Review of Biochemistry Using a Case Study on Phosphoglucose Isomerase Deficiency” in the Journal of Chemical Education.

Kristi Miller (Nursing) presented “Effect of Root Cause Analysis Education on Patient Safety Attitudes and Practices” at the 16th annual South Carolina Upstate Research Symposium. Her abstract "Measuring Pre-Licensure Nursing Students' Perceptions of Safety Culture” has been accepted for presentation at the Sigma 46^th biennial convention in November 2021. Miller was also the first and only member from South Carolina to be selected for the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Academic Taskforce.

Maria Montesó (Spanish), Susannah Waldrop (Student Success Center) and Araceli Hernández-Laroche (Modern Languages), along with students in the USC Upstate Avanzando program, led the roundtable “An Opportunity to Have a Voice: UnidosUS Líderes Avanzando Through College at USC Upstate” at the Southeastern Immigration Studies Association conference.

Thanh Nguyen (Business) and USC Upstate student William Gregg co-authored the papers “Bitcoin: A New Form of Investment or Another Traditional Asset?” and “Contemporary Investment Strategies and Comparison Applications of Bitcoin” in the 13th Annual USC Upstate Student Research Journal. Along with McCrady Gwinn (Business), they also co-authored “An Efficient Portfolio for the Next Stock Market Crash” in the 16^th Annual SC Upstate Research Symposium proceedings.

Calvin Odhiambo (Sociology) received the Spring 2021 Scholarly Course Reallocation Award for the project "Male-Female Disparity in Covid-19 Severity in the United States."

Kristina Randall (Education) authored the article “Use of a iPhone Task Analysis Application to Increase Employment-Related Chores for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities,” which was selected as the 2020 Research Article of the Year within the Journal of Special Education Technology.

Laura Rikard (Theatre) received a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region XX medallion for her research on theatrical intimacy education. It is the most prestigious regional award given by KCACTF, and recognizes individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions to theater education.

Josh Ruppel (chemistry) is the co-author, with several USC Upstate students, of “Synthesis and evaluation of porphyrin glycoconjugates varying in linker length: preliminary effects on the photodynamic inactivation of Mycobacterium smegmatis” in the journal RSC Advances.

Kimberly Shorter (Biology) received an ASPIRE I grant from the University of South Carolina to investigate the effects of an IRAK1 knockout on autophagy and dendritic spines using Crispr-Cas9.

2020. Hubbard Smalls (Business) received his doctorate in 2020.

John Strandholm co-authored the book “Practice Exercises for Intermediate Microeconomic Theory.” He also had a grant proposal funded through the Scholarly Course Reallocation Program titled “Picking green teams: how environmental groups form alliances within a market.” His article “Promotion of Green Technology Under Different Environmental Policies” was published in Games magazine.

Julie Wade and Mike Dinger co-authored “A Great Escape: The Effect of Negative Public Affiliation on Belongingness to Virtual Com-munities” in Communications of the Association for Information Systems. They also co-authored “Social Media and Selection: Political Issue Similarity, Liking, and the Moderating Effect of Social Media Platform” in MIS Quarterly.

Carolina Webber (Communication) was awarded a 2021 RISE grant for her research project “Southern Professional Minority Women Communicating Experiences of Sexual Harassment.” She also edited the book “Working in the Margins: Domestic and Minority Women in Higher Education,” which draws on critical and feminist perspectives and intersectionality to develop strategies for teaching, surviving and/or thriving in higher education. Renu Pariyadath (Communication) contributed a chapter to the book, and the cover was designed by Bridget Kirkland (Graphic Design).

Tracey Woodard (Criminal Justice) and Courtney McDonald (Criminal Justice), under the auspices of the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, hosted an online series called Friday Focus. The series covered such topics as American politics post-inauguration; eugenics and disability in modern China; incarcerated women and forced sterilization; and women shattering the glass ceiling. Woodard and McDonald also co-authored “Criminal Justice Student and Alumni Perspectives on Advising” in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education.