Faculty professional leave for 2010-2011announced

May 28, 2010

By WSU News & Media Relations

From Pullman to Paris to Palestine and many points in between, WSU faculty will be extending their professional development in 2010-2011 with exciting plans for research and scholarship.

Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick M. Bayly reports that he has approved 48 professional leaves listed below and that there will be no additional costs to the University for this program.

Preston Andrews, horticulture and landscape architecture, July 2 – Dec. 31, to write a textbook, “Principles of Fruit and Nut Production” for students, instructors, extension personnel, and horticulturists.

Lindsey du Toit, plant pathology, Nov. 1- April 30, to study with molecular plant pathologist at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, to advance vegetable seed pathology program and conduct research on Iris yellow spot virus in onion crops. South Africa.

Jana Ferris, WSU Extension, Nov. 1 – April 30, to examine the psychological attachment of volunteers to organizations and to develop materials to assist WSU Extension in building volunteer commitment. This work will assist WSU in becoming more active in the volunteer management arena. Washington, Illinois and Michigan.

Laura Hill, human development, Aug. 16 – Aug. 15, to acquire new skills and knowledge in prevention science methods and to strengthen relationships with other prevention scholars at WSU, in the US, and internationally. Pullman, University of Georgia, the Social Research Unit in Dartington, England, and the universities of Zagreb and Oslo.

Janetta McCoy, interior design, Aug. 16 – May 15, to launch the Rural Communities Design Initiative, a service and research program addressing environmental restoration and economic development for rural, impoverished communities in Washington. University of Idaho, Michigan State University, Clemson University, North Carolina State University, and Texas Historic Commission.

Carolyn Ross, food science, Jan. 1 – June 30, to do research at Lincoln University in New Zealand, in the area of wine sensory quality and to publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal. Christchurch, N.Z.

Nicole Werner, human development, Aug. 16 – May 15, to do an independent study of prevention theories and methods, increase collaboration with state partners and prevention researchers abroad, and prepare manuscripts and grant proposals in both prevention and relational aggression research. Pullman, various locations in Europe.

Sung Ahn, management and operations, Jan. 1 – May 15, to investigate statistical methods for mixing high-frequency financial time-series data with low-frequency economic data. Seoul National University in Korea and the European University Institute in Italy.

Hyun Kim, hospitality business management, Jan. 1 – May 15, to examine issues of relevance to the hospitality industry involving emotional intelligence, hospitality employee burnout and the validity of various models of emotional intelligence. Kyung He University in South Korea and National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan.

Claire Latham, accounting, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to develop a research model investigating how individuals internalize ethics and what cues ethical behavior. Will rely on resources provided through the Aspen Institute Center for Business and Washington and Oregon public accounting firms.

Shung Shin, management and operations, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to do research activities such as data collection, experiments with Koewa students and writing academic papers for cross-cultural studies. Korea University Business School.

Douglas Hindman, Jan. 1 – May 15, to expand existing research program on the social contexts of communication to include the social contexts of health communication. Pullman.

Elizabeth Hindman, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to build a comprehensive database of state court media cases, investigate the moral/health implications of news coverage of celebrity and politician extramarital affairs, and study the first amendment implications of new FTC policy on bloggers and traditional journalists. Pullman.

June Canty, teaching and learning, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to study the support new teachers are given by their school district and/or the state during their first two years of teaching. Will follow four beginning teachers in four schools in SW Washington.

Gail Furman, educational leadership and counseling psychology, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31,to complete the analysis of a large data set from the Stuart Foundation funded project, Leadership for Learning, conducted with the Spokane School District; complete a comprehensive literature review related to leadership for social justice in K-12 schools; and develop a book proposal. Spokane.

Stephen Kucer, teaching and learning, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to explore the relationship between how scientific expository text is processed in terms of fluency – speed, prosody, miscues – and what is recalled by 35 proficient fourth grade readers. Vancouver.

Laurie McCubbin, educational leadership and counseling psychology, Aug. 16, – May 15, to continue the Kauai longitudinal study which began with a total of 698 participants who were all born in 1955. This study is the only prospective longitudinal study of the baby boomer generation with a sample that consists of predominantly racial and ethnic minorities.

Darcy Miller, teaching and learning, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to conduct analyses/syntheses of clinical data and research related to students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, adolescent females with behavior/emotional disorders, and juvenile offenders; to produce book draft, submit three manuscripts for journal articles and three to four proposals for international/national presentations; and write two grant proposals. Pullman, the University of Washington, Seattle, and a possible trip to Drake University.

Judith Morrison, teaching and learning, Aug. 16 – May 15, to complete current research projects including writing and submitting journal articles; to submit a proposal for an edited book on the role of scientists in the professional development of science teachers; and to submit a proposal for external funding to extend and develop current research. Tri-Cities.

Bruce Romanish, Aug. 16. – May 15, to prepare to return to the faculty in fall 2011 and recharge research and writing. Research foci are critical thinking and societal views/treatment of children and their relationship to public education policies and practices. Vancouver.

Richard Sawyer, teaching and learning, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to complete two book projects, both accepted by publishers, on the research methodology of duoethnography, a relatively new qualitative research methodology which promotes critical self-change and praxis in relation to educational and societal issues. Portland,with trips to Brock University, Ontario, Canada.

Dae-Wook Kim, engineering and computer science, Jan. 1 – May 15, to study how the manufacturing processes induce damage on the composite material systems. Failure mechanisms of composite material systems during the final assembly process will be investigated experimentally, analytically, and numerically. Will collaborate with Fatigue Technology, Seattle.

Scott Wallace, engineering and computer science, Aug. 16 – May 15, to work on textbook that focuses on introducing traditional computer science learning objectives using games as a vehicle, and to improve understanding and familiarity with the sub-discipline of machine learning research through a technology transfer collaboration with a Vancouver-based business. Vancouver.

William Andrefsky, anthropology, Aug. 16 – May 15, to continue archaeological excavations at the Birch Creek Site in Southeastern Oregon, complete a book on the prehistory of the site, and write a grant to begin an innovative new analysis on tool stone sources from the region. Vale (Oregon District of the Bureau of Land Management) and a remote setting along the Owyhee River in southeastern Oregon and southern Idaho.

Mary Bloodsworth-Lugo, comparative ethnic studies, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to complete a book under contract, “Containing (Un-)American Bodies,” examining post-September 11th constructions of citizenship and connections to race, gender, and sexuality and compile articles on philosophy, race, and film, serving to close the scholarly gap between philosophy and film and its neglect of race. Pullman.

Robert Eddy, English, Jan. 1 – May 15, to create contacts with appropriate officials at Washington’s 15 prisons to establish connections for future literacy work to discover prison literacy efforts that already exist within some prisons, evaluate current efforts and establish a week-articulated theoretically rich, coordinated statewide prison literacy. Will visit each of the 15 prisons in the state.

Lisa Fournier, psychology, Aug. 16 – May 15, to enhance development as a WSU mentor/scholar, will submit an NSF grant and conduct collaborative research as part of a long-term research effort, Technologies for Immersive Decision Environments, underway at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Mesa, Ariz.

Lisa Guerrero, comparative ethnic studies, Jan. 1 – May 15, to work on a critical history of Blacks in television, a prospectus and chapter of a monograph on race and new media, and one or two articles on race and commodification, for review in different journals. Pullman.

Michael Hanly, English, Aug. 16 – May 15, to conduct research in and around Paris that will result in scholarly journals and a book. This research will also provide material for courses, including the possibility of an advanced undergraduate course on “Literature, War, and Peace in the Middle Ages.” Paris.

Ryan Hare, music, Aug. 16 – May 15, to compose Symphony No.1 for orchestra.

Jon Hegglund, English, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to write a book, “Ambient Narrative: Film and the Sensory Environments of Late Modernity,” showing how film can break down conventional oppositions within eco-critical discourse: the man-made and the natural, the home and the worked, and the local and the global. Pullman, Los Angeles (UCLA Film and Television Archive), and London (British Film Institute Film Library).

Harrison Higgs, fine arts, Aug. 16 – May 15, to extend research on the printed image and mechanical reproduction. Will focus on digitally-assisted polymer gravure printing, creating printing plates in consultation with a photogravure printer based in Portland, Ore. Vancouver.

John Jones, anthropology, Aug. 16 – May 15, to concentrate on securing future funding for research and publishing a number of significant articles. Pullman.

Francisco Manzo-Robledo, foreign languages and cultures, Aug. 16 – May 15, to work on critical literary analysis of Herman Cortes’ Juicio de Residencia (Spain 1520 – 1545). This project answers one of the most intriguing questions pertaining to Herman Cortes: Considering Cortes’ position as the first illegal in the continent, how was he able to evade punishment from the Spanish justice system with such serious charges against him? The final result would be a book (bilingual, English/Spanish) with the analysis and most important documents in court proceedings. Seville, Spain (Archive General de Indies)

Thomas Reed, English, Aug. 16 – May 15, to finish one nearly completed book manuscript, a book on a Northwest novelist who achieved prominence in the 1930s: “Critical Fellow-Traveling: Robert Cantwell, the Literary Left and the Re-Working of American Literature,” and make significant progress on another, “Webs of Power: Critical Digital Culture Studies.” Pullman, Eugene (University of Oregon), and New York City (Columbia University).

Travis Ridout, political science, Aug. 16 – May 15, to finish a book about ad targeting in American presidential campaigns in the fall. In the spring, will conduct research on the attack behavior of political parties during campaigns, focusing on New Zealand. Christchurch, N.Z., (University of Canterbury).

Augusta Rohrbach, English, Aug. 16 – May 15, to write a book entitled “The Gallow’s Diary of Mary Surratt,” an interdisciplinary undertaking that will yield an intellectual and cultural history of one of the most tumultuous periods in the United States. Harvard, MIT and Boston College.

Noel Sturgeon, women’s studies, Aug. 16 – May 15, to define the emerging interdisciplinary field of environmental justice cultural studies through preparation of a co-edited anthology at York University in Toronto; facilitating dissertation proposal workshops and a summer faculty institute at WSU; drafting a monograph on women and climate change.

Orlan Svingen, history, August 16 – May 15, to research and write three chapters of a book manuscript entitled “American Indian Forestry, From the Dawes Act of 1887 to Today’s New Indian Forestry Program”; develop a Sacajawea National Historical Park conceptual plan; develop a Virginia City Indian treaty reenactment plan; finish an article manuscript on the Treaty of Virginia City of September 24, 1868; and finish an article length, edited manuscript about the landmark New Mexico voting rights case, Miguel Trujillo v. Eloy Garley. Pullman, Virginia City, Mont., and Fort Hall Indian Reservation, Idaho.

Linda Eddy, nursing, Aug. 16 – May 15, to teach pediatric nursing at Birzeit University in the West Bank and mentoring nursing faculty and staff in Ramallah. Will interview parents of children with special health-care needs and prepare the data for publication. West Bank.

Alan Black, School of Biological Sciences, Aug. 16 – Dec. 31, to evaluate environmental restoration at the Hanford Reservation in cooperation with PNNL scientists. Disturbances have degraded habitats and herbicides and reseeding have been used for restoration over 10 years without environmental review. Hanford.

Robert Dillon, mathematics, Jan. 1 – May 15, to develop new immersed boundary models for hyperactivation in sperm motility, models of sperm and ciliary motility in complex fluids, a new 3D model of ciliary motility using the method of regularized Stokeslets, and parallel algorithms for the immersed boundary method. New Orleans (Tulane University).

Philip Marston, physics and astronomy, Aug. 16 – May 15, to collaborate on research on the scattering of sound. Activities include the preparation of manuscripts for publication and related visits to other universities and researchers. Seattle (Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington), Panama City, Fla., (Naval Support Activity).

Charlotte Omoto, School of Biological Sciences, Aug. 16 – May 15, to explore a novel biochontro strategy using a competitor to malaria in the mosquito gut to reduce malaria transmission in Colombia. Will survey the mosquito vector for presence of the competitor and its impact on malaria development. Medellin, Columbia (University of Antioquia and National University of Colombia).

Dirk Schulze-Makuch, earth and environmental science, Jan. 1 – May 15, to focus on the analysis and interpretation of data from on-going space missions such as Mars Express, Cassini, and the COROT Mission. Berlin, Germany (Institute of Planetary Research at the German Aerospace Center).

Brian Tissot, earth and environmental science, Aug. 16 – May 15, to write a major research proposal to study the ornamental trade in the Philippines, collaborate with the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary on deep-sea corals, and conduct studies on reef fish on Maui. Bohol, Philippines, Port Angeles, Wash., Maui, Hawai’i, and Vancouver.

Steve Tomsovic, physics and astronomy, Aug. 16 – May 15, to investigate the statistical behaviors of extremes in quantum eigenfunctions whose classical analog systems possess chaotic dynamics. Chennai, India, Dresden, Germany, and Orsay, France.

Subramaniam Srikumaran, veterinary microbiology and pathology, July 1 – Dec. 31, to learn procedures involved in the production of plant-based immunogens for vaccination against Mannheimia haemolytica isit at the University of Guelph, Canada, and to analyze the immune response of calves immunized with the plant-based immunogent. Will visit the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India, to learn about the infectious diseases of mountain ungulates. Canada and India.