The Vice President for Research is pleased to announce the 2017 recipients of the
Research Initiative for Summer Engagement, or RISE program. This year, 35 faculty
researchers from USC’s system campuses received RISE funds to support their summer
research projects. We are very happy to congratulate this group of outstanding USC
professors working at four-year and Palmetto College campuses, and online degree completion
programs, around the state. We would also like to thank the chancellors at four-year
campuses USC Aiken, USC Beaufort and USC Upstate for their collaboration in funding
RISE awards for their faculty.
The RISE, or Research Initiative for Summer Engagement, program provides financial
support to pay for summer salary, research supplies, travel related to research and
undergraduate student support. Read more about the RISE competitive research grant program.
Four-Year Campuses
2017 USC Aiken RISE Recipients
| Recipient Name |
Project Title |
| Richard Maltz |
Compose a Piano Concerto |
| Nicholas Marshall |
Layer-by-layer Techniques for Surface Modification Using Aryl Diazonium Salts |
| Adam Pazda |
Extraversion Predicts a Preference for High-Chroma Colors |
| Jeremy Culler |
Exploring the Connection between Creative Practice and Artistic Influence: A Contextual
Reading of the Art of Livio Orazio Valentini in Orvieto, Italy |
| Kristina Ramstad |
Developing a Non-Invasive Technique for Monitoring Nests of the Threatened Wood Stork
(Mycteria americana) |
| Kenneth Roberts |
Validation of the Proposed Mechanisms for the 2,4'-Dihydroxyacetophenone Dioxygenase
Reaction |
| Virginia Shervette |
Determination of the Lionfish Species Invading Offshore Waters of South Carolina and
Florida |
| Meredith Elzy |
Development of a Coding Protocol for Observable Emotional Validation and Invalidation |
| Titan Paul |
Computational Modeling of Ionic Liquids (ILs) Based Nanofluids for Solar Thermal Applications |
| Alexandra Roach |
Efficacy of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Pharmacoresistant Major Depressive
Disorder (MDD) in Active Duty Military Personnel |
2017 USC Beaufort RISE Recipients
| Recipient Name |
Project Title |
| Erin McCoy |
Exploring War: Healing from the Vietnam War in Australia |
| Eric Montie |
Understanding the Temporal Rhythms of an Estuarine Soundscape |
| Edward D'Antonio |
Synthesis and Evaluation of Trypanosoma cruzi Glucose Kinase Inhibitors from Structure-Activity
Relationships |
2017 USC Upstate RISE Recipients
| Recipient Name |
Project Title |
| Jack Cheng |
Nonlinearities of Mortgage Spreads over the Business Cycles |
| Michael Dinger |
IT Role Embeddedness: Testing A Theory of IT Professional Behavior |
| Ann Hoover |
The Role of Power in the Backlash Effect |
| Rebecca Mueller |
Learning by Doing: The Impact of Question Development and Implementation on Teachers'
Understanding of Compelling Questions |
| Allison Pingley |
Czeching out of Communism |
| Nolan Stolz |
Recording Two Original Orchestral Compositions: "From The Hudson" and "Prairie View" |
| Matthew Placek |
Online News and Citizen Support for Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe |
| Nicole Richardson |
Through a Glass Darkly: Ye Shaoyuan's Search for His Deceased Daughter in a Late Ming
Séance |
| Kimberly Shorter |
Effects of MTHFR Function on Epigenetics-Related Genes' Expression in Folic Acid-Treated
SH-SY5Y Cells |
| Ning Yu |
Developing an Open Source Deep Learning Tool Based on a Novel Auto-Encoder Algorithm |
| Emily Kofoed |
Silence at the North Pole: Russia's Rhetorical Strategy for Arctic Sovereignty: An
Analysis of International Political Discourse in an Information Age |
| Tina Herzberg |
Case Studies of Established Print Readers Learning and Using Braille and Technology
in School and Home |
| Calvin Odhiambo |
Black-White Racial Disparity in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among People with HIV-AIDS
in America: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis |
| Felicia Jenkins |
Physical Activity and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in African American Women |
Palmetto College Campuses and Online Programs
2017 USC Lancaster RISE Recipients
| Recipient Name |
Project Title |
| Steven Campbell |
Explaining and Forecasting Leaders’ Decisions: A Poliheuristic Analysis of the Iran
Hostage Rescue Decision |
| Sarah Sellhorst and Elizabeth Easley |
Increasing Potential and Widening Horizons: Promoting Undergraduate Research at a
Two Year Regional Campus |
| Brooke Bauer |
An Enduring People: Catawba Indian Women and Education |
2017 USC Palmetto College Online Program Recipient
| Recipient Name |
Project Title |
| Shelley AJ Jones |
Mary Robinson's Lyrical Tales: An Electronic Edition |
2017 USC Salkehatchie RISE Recipients
| Recipient Name |
Project Title |
| Fidele Ngwame |
On the Construction, Analysis, and Implementation of an Energy Conserving Numerical
Method for Solving Intital Value Problems |
| Rodney Steward |
The Creation of the Southern Rights Party: Secession in North Carolina |
| Sarah Miller |
Walterboro's House: History Viewed from Home |
2017 USC Sumter RISE Recipient
| Recipient Name |
Project Title |
| Mary Ellen Bellanca |
Unpublished Contextual Materials on Dorothy Wordsworth's Reader Reception |
15 February 2017