April 23, 2024
Kansas State University faculty members complete Big 12 Faculty Fellowships
Nine Kansas State University faculty members who were named Big 12 Faculty Fellows this academic year have completed or are in the process of completing their fellowships at other institutions in the conference.
Created by the chief academic officers at each institution, the Big 12 Faculty Fellowship program provides funds for faculty to travel to other member institutions and participate in cross mentoring, develop working relationships and exchange ideas with experts at other universities.
This year's K-State Big 12 Faculty Fellows are Mary Cain, professor of psychological sciences; Jon Hunt, associate professor of landscape architecture and regional & community planning; Shakil Bin Kashem, assistant professor of landscape architecture and regional & community planning; Kim Klinger-Logan, assistant professor of mathematics; Davood Pourkargar, assistant professor of chemical engineering; Jason Scuilla, professor of art; Shannon Skelton, associate professor of theatre; Peter Stoepker, assistant professor of kinesiology; and Yue Teng Vaughan, assistant professor of hospitality management.
Mary Cain, professor in the department of psychological sciences
Cain studies the effect of the environment during childhood and adolescence on brain development, using a rodent model established in the 1960s that alters the rats' living environments and interactions.
Her current research examines the impact of various environmental factors during COVID, including increased isolation and use or abuse of alcohol, in middle-aged and older adults. Specifically, the project examines if isolation during adulthood will increase alcohol drinking, decrease markers of plasticity in the brain and increase markers of cellular damage in the liver.
Through the Big 12 Faculty Fellowship program, Cain is working with Wen-Xing Ding in the department of pharmacology, toxicology and therapeutics at the University of Kansas Medical Center to learn about liver pathology in alcohol-use disorder and considerations for the development of experiments to quantify cellular damage in adult rat livers as a result of alcohol use.
"Participation in the Big 12 Faculty Fellowship program enabled my laboratory to learn a new area of research, new techniques and extend our model beyond the brain," Cain said. "It has provided preliminary data to prepare a grant proposal to examine the impact of adult isolation on brain and liver function. In addition, it has enabled me to establish a collaboration with a leading laboratory in the country studying cellular damage in the liver to strengthen my research program in the future."
Jon Hunt, associate professor in the department of landscape architecture and regional & community planning
Hunt's scholarship research builds a foundation for visual thinking to help students hone their creative minds while limiting their anxieties, while his creative work studies the complete physical, temporal, sensual and dynamic qualities of landscape through the exploration of printmaking, encaustic, drawing and animation. This work has been exhibited at national and international galleries.
Hunt is working on a book manuscript, coauthored with Lori Catalano of Colorado State University, which focuses on finding one's unique way of making and staying mindful in creative practice by addressing fear and anxiety when making, the need for experimentation, overcoming creative blocks and incorporating methods that strengthen visual thinking skills through interpreting progress and iterative design process.
Hunt traveled to Baylor University to work with Virginia Green and Shaw Towers to explore new means of communication and making, including through three-dimensional pieces that better reflect the staging and layering qualities of the landscape. He learned advanced bookbinding and letterpress techniques and completed research on sculptural and handmade books and assembly techniques.
"Through the Big 12 Fellowship, I gained new skills and methods of working," Hunt said. "I can share these processes and imagery with my students, thus promoting new and different media and making in landscape architecture and design."
Shakil Bin Kashem, assistant professor in the department of landscape architecture and regional & community planning
Bin Kashem's research centers on disaster risk management, urban social vulnerability and community resilience.
He explores how plans and policies, with a focus on housing, influence the ability of socially vulnerable populations to find affordable and safe places in a multi-hazard urban environment.
For his fellowship, Bin Kashem is planning to visit the City & Metropolitan Planning Department at the University of Utah, which hosts several renowned scholars of community resilience, disaster recovery and housing. He will be working with C. Aujean Lee, a professor he has worked with before, to expand their prior research on affordable housing.
"Participation in the Big 12 Faculty Fellowship gives me the opportunity to expand my existing collaborative research and explore future research partnerships," he said. "Visiting the planning program at Utah will also be a great learning experience for me as a faculty member of the regional & community planning program at K-State."
Kim Klinger-Logan, assistant professor in the department of mathematics
Klinger-Logan's research is in automorphic forms and attempts to answer some number theoretic questions that appear in physics. These questions arise in the investigation of computational aspects of superstring theory that develop our understanding of gravity.
Klinger-Logan traveled to Oklahoma State University to work with Melissa Emory. During the visit, the researchers identified a gap in the literature they are now working to address.
Klinger-Logan also gave a talk in the Oklahoma State Lie Theory Seminar, participated in a Pi Day event hosted by the Association of Women in Mathematics and met with many faculty and students.
"The Big-12 Fellowship allowed me the time and space to develop collaborations and identify problems which will fuel my research program in the coming years," Klinger-Logan said.
Davood Pourkargar, assistant professor in the Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering and graduate faculty at the Food Science Institute
Pourkargar's research focuses on integrated process system engineering, process control, optimization, computational multiscale modeling and applying artificial intelligence to chemical, materials and agrifood processing systems.
Most of the work is computational, but he is intensely interested in laboratory automation to test hypotheses, validate model predictions and generate high-fidelity experimental data.
For his fellowship, Pourkargar will visit Michael Baldea, the Henry Beckman Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and a core faculty member in the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at at the University of Texas at Austin.
The visit will provide Pourkargar with better insights into the critical challenges and open problems in the field of process systems engineering and provide new ideas for research and teaching.
"Participation in the Big 12 Faculty Fellowship will give me an excellent opportunity to receive guidance and support for my professional advancement, extend my collaborative research and develop my highest potential as a researcher and educator," Pourkargar said.
Jason Scuilla, professor in the department of art and area coordinator of printmaking
Scuilla's research into safe and environmentally sustainable printmaking technology has been recognized internationally through exhibitions and publications and supported by grants such as the National Endowment for the Arts — Artworks Grant. Scuilla has been an invited lecturer and visiting artist around the world, and his fine art prints are shown nationally and internationally.
In May, Scuilla will travel to the University of Central Florida School of Visual Arts to develop a partnership between the school and K-State's department of art. The two institutions share a strong interest in innovative, safe and environmentally sustainable printmaking technology and materials. While at UCF, Scuilla will work with students and faculty on the research and development of silkscreen, letterpress and risograph and electrolytic etching techniques.
K-State's printmaking department is a leader in this field and has been chosen to host the 2024 Mid America Printmaking Conference, which will focus on artists, safe and sustainable materials and their relationship to the natural environment.
This fellowship will allow Scuilla to expand upon his research prior to the conference and bring this knowledge back to K-State to educate his students and showcase to printmakers from across the country through the conference programming and activities.
Shannon Skelton, associate professor in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Skelton's research is in 20th century American theater, with a particular focus on the works of Tennessee Williams. His findings will be presented at numerous conferences, as well as a piece of public-facing scholarship to be delivered in fall 2025.
Through the Big 12 Faculty Fellowship program, Skelton is traveling to the University of Texas at Austin this June to work with the Harry Ransom Center.
The internationally-renowned humanities research center hosts the largest collection of Tennessee Williams' archival material, and Skelton's visit will build on his prior research conducted at archives in New Orleans.
"This fellowship is granting me the opportunity to work directly with letters, correspondences, journals, unpublished essays and drafts by one of our great American writers, Tennessee Williams," Skelton said. "The result will be the introduction of new research to the fields of theatre, literature and American studies concerning how Williams approached the publication of his plays for the public."
Peter Stoepker, assistant professor in the department of kinesiology
Stoepker's research is in school-based physical activity promotion, with a focus on improving children's physical activity behavior and motor competency.
Stoepker visited and worked with Greg Welk, a university distinguished professor in Iowa State University's department of kinesiology.
During their time together, Stoepker and Welk laid the framework for multiple grant submissions that target child physical activity behavior, including one grant through the National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant program and one through the Spencer Foundation. The pair also published a paper that highlighted adolescent physical activity behavior trends.
"This was an outstanding experience for me," Stoepker said. "Through this connection, we were able to establish a joint partnership that opened up a new door of opportunity for quality collaboration for years to come. I highly recommend this fellowship, and I was very honored to have received it."
Yue Teng Vaughan, assistant professor in the department of hospitality management
Vaughan's research is on the intersection of strategic management and sustainability within the hospitality industry.
One of her research streams is in investigating the effectiveness of environmental, social governance, or ESG, measures and their impact in the industry, with the end effect of increasing awareness among the public about the importance of considering ESG factors in decision-making processes — including in investment choices, corporate behavior or government policies.
Vaughan visited and worked with Willie Tao in the School of Hospitality and Tourism in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. They worked on a project in which they interviewed hospitality students at Oklahoma State and asked about their knowledge levels regarding ESG and their perception of the importance of ESG to be incorporated into hospitality programs.
"As a researcher and faculty, I get to expand my professional career network with a new collaborator from a fellow Big 12 institution with a strong hospitality management program," Vaughan said. "This experience provided me a great opportunity to gain insight in teaching experiential courses and how ESG pedagogy is integrated into hospitality program curriculum. This opportunity also allowed me to develop new research ideas in the area of hospitality education and to seek external funding opportunities."