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JMU Research, Scholarship & Creative
Endeavors
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Greetings!
I would like to begin this issue by extending a warm welcome to our new Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs -- Dr. Heather Coltman. Provost Coltman arrived in Harrisonburg this past summer from Florida, where she previously served as Dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida Atlantic University. An accomplished concert pianist and lifelong music educator, Dr. Coltman has performed and lectured on five continents, all the while championing student success and student engagement initiatives. Please join us in welcoming Provost Coltman to the JMU community.
Speaking of accomplished musicians, congratulations to the Marching Royal Dukes, who have been selected to perform in the 2018 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (November 22, 2018). The 92nd edition of the beloved parade will mark JMU’s fourth appearance, and is expected to draw a crowd of 3.5 million, with another 50 million tuning in from across the country.
Join us for a public presentation of Science on a Sphere on October 21st. JMU’s Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability will explore the connection between the Earth’s polar regions and climate, using the sphere as a large, animated globe. Developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Science on a Sphere uses projectors to display scientific data onto a 68-inch sphere (photo below), providing a unique educational resource for JMU students and members of the Harrisonburg community.
More info
We and the JMU community were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Ron Carrier, JMU’s fourth president. Affectionately known to the JMU community as “Uncle Ron,” President Carrier transformed JMU from a small college into a respected, regional university during his 27-year tenure as president. A small sample of his accomplishments include the addition of more than 40 academic programs, international programs in 37 countries, the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, and the vision to establish the College of Integrated Science and Technology (now the College of Integrated Science & Engineering and the College of Health & Behavioral Studies). In the twenty years since his retirement, Dr. Carrier remained a tireless advocate for the students and faculty of JMU, having maintained office space in the library named in his honor. Our sincerest condolences to the Carrier family.
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Please read on below for more JMU scholarly highlights!
Sincerely,
Yvonne Harris
Vice Provost for Research & Scholarship
James Madison University
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JMU Science On a Sphere Theater
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For a monthly listing of recent faculty grant awards, please visit the Madison Scholar
website
. Here are some notable awards from September 2017:
Dr. Jennifer Coffman (Associate Executive Director, Center for Global Engagement; Associate Professor, Integrated Science and Technology) received $378,693 from the Institute of International Education, Inc. for Project Go, to provide ROTC students nationwide with eight weeks or 150 hours to reach ILR 1 proficiency in a critical language.
Dr. Suzanne Feiderlein (Associate Director, Center for International Stabilization and Recovery) and Dr. Kenneth Rutherford (Director, Center for International Stabilization and Recovery) received $495,000 from the U.S. Department of State to implement a Regional Senior Managers' Course in explosive remnants of war and mine action in Tajikistan and to include senior managers working in support of national programs in South Central Asia.
Dr. Jonathan Miles (Professor, Integrated Science and Technology) received $287,529 from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to provide engineering and design services and to support construction of solar photovoltaic facility on three Commonwealth of Virginia properties.
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The Fight & The Fiddle is Back!
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The Fight & the Fiddle
is an online journal published by James Madison University’s Furious Flower Poetry Center. This summer, the center launched a new quarterly format. In each issue you will find poetry, an interview, a critical essay and a writing prompt by the featured Black poet. Gregory Pardlo, a Pulitzer Prize winning editor, essayist, translator and educator, was the featured poet in the first issue of the new series.
https://fightandfiddle.com/
The fall edition of
The Fight & The Fiddle
was released in mid-October and features Danez Smith, author of
Don’t Call Us Dead,
which was longlisted for the National Book Award.
Additionally,
Furious Flower
will host Kwame Dawes and Matthew Shenoda, co-editors of
Bearden’s Odyssey: Poets Respond to the Art of Romare Bearden
at JMU on October 19th and Nicole Sealey, an author committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets, on November 15th. Visit the Furious Flower
website
to see all their upcoming events.
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Picturing Harrisonburg: Visions of a Shenandoah Valley City since 1828
, is a collaboration between JMU’s Institute for Visual Studies (IVS) and the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society to showcase the evolution of Harrisonburg through paintings, postcards, maps and photographs. The exhibit begins with a picture of the first hand-drawn plan of the town, completed in 1828. Dr. David Ehrenpreis, the director of IVS, authored a book of the same name to complement the exhibit. This work is part of a larger Picturing Harrisonburg project and events are scheduled to take place throughout the community this fall to honor the city’s history.
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Faculty Research Leads to Start-up Company, DermBiont
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Dr. Reid Harris and a student working in a biology lab.
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JMU’s research on fungal pathogens and skin probiotics played a critical role in the launch of DermBiont, a startup company seeking to create a topical probiotic to treat athlete’s foot and other skin diseases. James Madison Innovations, Inc. (JMI), JMU’s intellectual property commercialization partner, licensed a patent on the research to DermBiont. The patent was granted in 2013 to JMI for research conducted at JMU by Professor of Biology, Reid Harris (now Emeritus), and Professor of Chemistry, Kevin Minbiole, now at Villanova University. This is just one example of JMU collaborating with industry to advance beneficial discoveries, highlighting how JMU research addresses societal challenges.
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Management Professor's Publication a Top Resource
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Laura Leduc, College of Business faculty member and Management Professor, co-authored one of the top three most read articles on SAGE Journals since December 1, 2016. “Personality Traits and Personal Values: A Meta-Analysis” explored the ways psychological characteristics and individual differences, such as personality traits and values, impact the workplace. The article was published in
Personality and Social Psychology Review
in June 2014.
Dr. Leduc often includes students in research projects. Last year, Leduc and one of her students, Leigh Mulligan, submitted a paper about academic cheating to the
Journal of Management Education
. Leduc is currently partnering with another student, Hannah Creighton, to study motivation.
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Congressman Bob Goodlatte Attends Hemp Field Day
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Farmer Glenn Rodes, Representative Bob Goodlatte, and JMU Professor
Mike Renfroe at the hemp field.
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On September 15th, James Madison University showcased an industrial hemp research partnership for Virginia elected leaders and officials. Dr. Mike Renfroe, a JMU Biology Professor, and farmer Glenn Rodes, are in their second season of growing industrial hemp and advocating for legal changes regarding the crop. Consumers in the U.S. spend millions of dollars annually on hemp products produced in other countries. Unfortunately for the U.S. agricultural community, the United States federal government currently classifies hemp as a schedule one controlled substance, though it does not have the same properties or effects as marijuana.
One attendee was Congressman Bob Goodlatte, who recently co-sponsored H.R. 3530, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017, which, if passed, would remove industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. Mr. Goodlatte believes that when the law passes, the Valley will “become a prime spot for growing hemp and getting it into the market in large quantities.” Virginia Tech and Virginia State University are also researching hemp’s many uses.
Prior to the field day, Renfroe, Goodlatte and Rodes spoke with WMRA's Christopher Clymer Kurtz about hemp.
Listen here
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Addressing Diversity and Justice in Refugee Education
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Shin Ji Kang, Associate Professor in the Department of Early, Elementary, and Reading Education and Fellow at JMU's Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Terrorism and Peace, focuses much of her time and energy on bridging the gap between practice and research. Her scholarship focuses on teacher beliefs and refugee education. She became interested in refugee education when she realized the implications of her own identity in global society. Presently, Dr. Kang is working with North Korean refugee students and South Korean service providers to address diversity and justice. She says it is love and learning that sustains her as a person and a teacher.
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JMU X-Labs Wins a Governor’s Technology Award
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The JMU X-Labs team accepting their award from Governor McAuliffe and
Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson.
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Governor McAuliffe hosted the 2017 Governor’s Technology Awards during the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium (COVITS), held last month in Richmond. Governor McAuliffe congratulated award winners for their “innovation and efforts to increase efficiency in government.” Among the award winners were James Madison University's X-Labs and the Virginia Cyber Range. JMU X-Labs is a maker space filled with cutting edge technologies where students collaborate to find solutions to real-world challenges. Housed at Virginia Tech, the Virginia Cyber Range prepares students to enter into the field of cyber security. Dr. Edna Reid, retired FBI Intelligence Analyst and Associate Professor at JMU, and Sharon Simmons, Department Head of JMU Computer Science, both serve on the Range's Executive Committee. JMU Director of Research Development & Promotion, Ben Delp, has served on the COVITS Advisory Board since 2008.
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Futuro Latino Receives $125,000 Grant to Reduce and Prevent Youth Substance Abuse
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The White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) awarded Futuro Latino, an Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services outreach program, a $125,000 grant to support efforts to educate the Latino community on the consequences of underage drinking and alcohol misuse. Housed within the College of Health & Behavioral Studies, this community coalition evaluates local data to identify when and where potential underage drinking and drug use may occur and pursues a variety of environmental strategies to reduce availability and accessibility. Additionally, the program aids in the development of youth leaders through national conferences and local leadership opportunities. The Futuro Latino group is currently running a campaign called “No Por Ser Menor” (No, Because You are a Minor). Census data indicates that more than 17 percent of Harrisonburg city’s population is Hispanic/Latino.
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