Featured Researchers

Dr. Christine Norton, associate professor, College of Applied Arts
“Adventure therapy is the prescriptive use of outdoor adventure activities by licensed mental health professionals that kinesthetically engage clients affectively, cognitively and behaviorally on their path to mental health and wellbeing.”
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Adventure therapy
Dr. Araceli Martinez Ortiz, executive director of the LBJ Institute for STEM Education and Research; research associate professor, College of Education
“Women entering the field are historically underrepresented, as are many other minority populations. There are psychological and social barriers that make it difficult for women to remain in STEM fields. They often feel that they don’t belong because they don’t have the support they need. My job is to discover and implement interventions that mitigate these barriers.”
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Systemic barriers and supports in STEM education and careers


Dr. Ty Schepis, associate professor, College of Liberal Arts
“A lot of folks who use [drugs] do mature out of it, but a lot of folks don’t, and if you can catch the folks who aren’t going to, who are more likely to have problems, and set them on a better path, the impact that you could have is much larger than if you’re intervening when they’re 45.”
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Prescription drug misuse among young people
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Dr. Jose Garza, lecturer, College of Fine Arts and Communication
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Music theory
“Music theorists, especially the handful of researchers discussing metal music, tend to focus on things like pitch, melody, harmony and lyrics. I felt that there were techniques artists were using in relation to rhythm and meter that were being somewhat taken for granted.”
Dr. Missy Fraser, assistant professor, College of Education
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Biomechanics and sports medicine
“The heart of our mission is to have all of the research we do be clinically relevant. We want our work to directly benefit the athletes, coaches and athletic trainers.”
Dr. Toni Watt, professor, College of Liberal Arts
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Child and adolescent health
“If we have a better understanding of how trauma affects the mind, body and behavior, then we can develop interventions that address the root cause of the problem, rather than offering treatments that only suppress the symptoms.”
Dr. Tahir Ekin, associate professor, McCoy College of Business Administration
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Data analysis for detecting healthcare fraud
“We can flag specific transactions or provider networks for auditors or law enforcement to take the next step and investigate.”
Dr. Mark Wistey, associate professor, College of Science and Engineering
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Materials science
“Our major strength in the Epitaxy Research Service Center is our ability to grow different kinds of materials on top of one another. Then we test them experimentally and with computer models.”
Dr. Robert McLean, Regents’ Professor, College of Science and Engineering
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Polymicrobial growth in low-gravity environments
“In relative terms, there’s a small number of people who have sent this work to space… A discovery that was made here might help us get to Mars.”
Ivilina Popova, Tom and Jo Roddy Professor in Finance, McCoy College of Business
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Derivatives pricing and portfolio management
“Standard models do not allow for default risk, extreme events and volatility regimes. I consider all of them in my research.”
Jiyun Kang, associate professor, College of Applied Arts
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Corporate social responsibility initiatives
“Because of the global environment we live in, we are all global consumers. There are well-known challenges in the fashion industry involving labor, transparency and the environment. My research seeks to bridge the gap between companies’ socially responsible behavior and consumer decision-making so that both companies and consumers can be better informed to meet their needs.”
Semih Aslan, associate professor, College of Science and Engineering
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Signal processing, internet of things
“One of the biggest problems we’re going to face in the future is freshwater shortage. Water will always need to be transported from point A to point B. We can determine if there are problems along the way and address them.”
Nathan Cannon, Scott Emerson Professor in Business Administration, McCoy College of Business
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Auditing and financial reporting
“The bulk of my research to date focuses on specialized areas in accounting where I have developed a recognized expertise: fair value measurements and the broker dealer industry. I have been able to consult with U.S. regulators — including the SEC — on these research endeavors.”
Christopher Rhodes, assistant professor, College of Science and Engineering
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Electrochemical energy storage and conversion
“We’re designing new materials and, broadly, looking at how their structure and properties correlate to give us something with some improvement. We mostly focus on nanomaterials that are going to have some improved performance or lower cost, that may be practical at the end of the day.”
Erica Nason, assistant professor, College of Applied Arts
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Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder
“Given some of the barriers that exist in rural communities, such as a lack of mental health providers, it’s important to think outside the box and identify mechanisms for increasing support.”
Ana Baer Carrillo, associate professor, College of Fine Arts and Communication
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Dance choreography
“As a video-choreographer, my philosophy is to provide a habitat for experimentation, creation and reflection. I craft dance and video with the purpose of expressing the inner condition of underrepresented communities.”
Farzan Irani, associate professor, College of Health Professions
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Interventions for stuttering
“The goal is not just that a person will take the two-week program and leave fluent, but rather to increase confidence in their speech to the point that they do not have to constantly think about how they are talking.”