Profiles of Faculty Research Interests

Name: Sandy Stevens

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Health and Human Performance

Research interests/expertise: Underwater treadmill research in persons (complete/incomplete spinal cord injury, diabetes, stroke) with gait impairments; promotion of physical activity in youth with physical disabilities

Experience with external funding agencies: National Institutes of Health, American Diabetes Association

Name: Kelly Bloom

Title: Assistant ProfessorDepartment: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Kelly.Bloom@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Measurement design; survey research; ecotourism; human-nature interactions;experiential education; most current research deals with travel as a liminal experience and psychological insights revealed through travel

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Stephen R. Schmidt

Title: Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Stephen.schmidt@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Human memory and cognition

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Richard C. Meeks

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Nursing

Campus email: Richard.Meeks@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Clinical alarm fatigue; entry-level requirements into BSN programs; clinicalcommunication style and patterns.

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Helen M. Binkley

Title: Associate Professor/Athletic Training Education Program Director

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Helen.Binkley@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Aquatic research (e.g., exercise techniques, rehabilitation techniques, effects onbody, training programs, plyometrics, orthopedics, strength, fitness); strength training and conditioning (e.g.,techniques, program design, rehabilitation, sport performance, fitness and health); emergency response inathletic training (e.g., environmental conditions, latex allergies, emergency preparedness, first aid techniques)

Experience with external funding agencies: NFL Charities; National Institutes of Health; American College ofSports Medicine

Name: Rudy Dunlap
Title: Assistant Professor
Department: Health and Human Performance
Campus email: Rudy.Dunlap@mtsu.edu
Research interests/expertise: Ongoing project in Austin, TX examining the interaction of place sentiment and participation in civic agriculture and urban farming activities; community development aspects of civic agriculture; potential interest in examining nutritional aspects of participation in local, civic agriculture;
exploring volunteer participation in civic agriculture as a form of civil leisure
Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Beverly Burke

Title: Associate Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Beverly.Burke@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology; international I-O psychology; pro-social I-O psychology and social responsibility; valid responding in surveys; personality and work performance

Experience with external funding agencies: Community Assessment Project for Rutherford County – contracted through COHRE (Center for Organizational and Human Resource Effectiveness) and funded by various entities within Rutherford County; professional consulting with various clients

Name: Catherine Crooks

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Catherine.Crooks@mtsu.edu

Current research interests/expertise: Health and literacy; meditation and health; stress management

Experience with external funding agencies: Middle Tennessee Medical Center; National Institutes of Health

Name: Lisa Sheehan-Smith

Title: Associate Professor

Department: Human Sciences

Campus email: Lisa.Sheehan-Smith@mtsu.edu

Current research interests/expertise: Family-centered outdoor exercise/nutrition; presence of the glass escalator in the dietetics profession; nutrition habits and nutrition knowledge of figure skaters

Experience with external funding agencies: Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program

Name: Ariana Postlethwait

Title: Associate Professor

Department: Social Work

Campus email: Ariana.Postlethwait@mtsu.edu

Current research interests/expertise: Scholarship of teaching – learning outcomes for service learning and group projects and factors that predict positive outcomes; agency-based research (e.g., program evaluation); gender differences in risk and protective factors among at-risk and delinquent youth

Experience with external funding agencies: National Institute of Justice; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Center for Substance Abuse Treatment; Department of Justice; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

Name: Cyrille Magne

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Cyrille.Magne@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Interface of linguistics, education, psychology and neuroscience -- current projects focus on the neural markers of linguistic prosody, and the comparison of the processes (and associated neural correlates) involved in language and music.

Experience with external funding agencies: National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research

Name: Amanda J Flagg

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Nursing

Campus email: Amanda.Flagg@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Development of a healthcare provider uncertainty scale to assist in the continuance of my studies in healthcare provider/patient concordance in outpatient healthcare

Experience with external funding agencies: TriService Nursing Funding (military-based funding)

Name: Yun Soo Lee

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: YunSoo.Lee@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Assessment of teacher knowledge and knowledge acquisition, especially content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in physical education, using pedagogical content knowledge tools and concept map assessment; professional development for teacher effectiveness

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Joey Gray

Title: Associate Professor

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Joey.Gray@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Art of pedagogy (e.g., faculty grading practices, student perceptions of teaching evaluations, use of technological innovations in the classroom; youth development; childhood obesity; promotion of youth development through recreation

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Vaughn Barry

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Vaughn.Barry@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Influence of sedentary behavior and physical activity on health outcomes; measurement of sedentary behaviors and physical activity levels in adults; impact of physical activity, cardiorespiratoy fitness and obesity on health outcomes

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Gina Pisut

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Human Sciences

Campus email: Gina.Pisut@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Fit preferences of female consumers relative to body shape; body cathexis and clothing benefits; apparel sizing and hip shape of plus-size female consumers; relationship between body mass index indicators and body image and vanity sizing as it relates to vanity sizing in women's apparel

Experience with external funding agencies: National Textile Center and Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation

Name: Glenn Littlepage

Title: Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email:mailto:Glenn.Littlepage@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Group performance; utilization of expertise in group decisions; training to improve coordination among aviation professionals

Experience with external funding agencies: National Science Foundation

Name: Jacqueline Wade

Title: Associate Professor

Department: Social Work

Campus email: Jacqueline.Wade@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Strength of African-American families; strength of single African-American women and their family life; institutional and cultural racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of institutionalized/culturalized human degradation and subjugation

Experience with external funding agencies: United States Department of Education

Name: Martha Jo Edwards

Title: Professor and Chairholder, Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Martha.Edwards@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Population health; diabetes; obesity; infant mortality; community-based cancer control; tobacco use prevention; health workforce; allied health supply and demand

Experience with external funding agencies: Tennessee Department of Health, March of Dimes

Name: Kathleen H. Darby

Title: Associate Professor, MTC-MSW Program Coordinator

Department: Social Work

Campus email: Kathleen.Darby@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Healthcare disparities (focus on breast cancer/screening), co-occurring disorders (mental health and substance abuse programs), community engaged participatory research; program design, implementation, and evaluation

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Kim Ujcich Ward

Title: Associate Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Kimberly.Ward@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Development of/influences on body image and body perception, with a current focus on body dissatisfaction and distorted body image in preschool aged and young children and the relationship between distorted body perception and parietal lobe function; relationship between quality of life factors and family functioning of children with chronic health conditions

Experience with external funding agencies: Tennessee Department of Children's Services

Name: Sandy Neal

Title: Professor

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Sandy.Neal@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Women's health and school health

Experience with external funding agencies: Tennessee Department of Education; American Cancer Society

Name: Mark C. Frame

Title: Associate Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Mark.Frame@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Role play simulations; computer versus traditional assessment centers; adaptive performance; research engagement; gay, lesbian, bisexual , and transgender; work-related issues and concerns faced by GLBT persons; stress, health, exercise, and performance; in-basket workload and relationship to stress; ethical decision-making; leadership and gender issues; leadership and ethnicity-related issues; job analysis

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Scott Colclough

Title: Associate Dean, College of Behavioral and Health Sciences

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Scott.Colclough@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Physical education pedagogy; history of sport and physical education; adapted physical education; coaching and officiating; sport education; sports skills

Experience with external funding agencies: A.D.A.M. Software, Inc.

Name: Shelley Moore

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Nursing

Campus email: Shelly.Moore@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Structural empowerment of direct care nurses in acute care and long term care settings; structural empowerment of learning environment for students; critical thinking; geriatric care; simulation

Experience with external funding agencies: Assisted many primary investigators with NIH grants at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Name: Tina Hall

Title: Associate Professor

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Tina.Hall@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Physical education teacher and program evaluation; effective teaching; teacher education; school policy in physical education and physical activity

Experience with external funding agencies: None

Name: Norman L. Weatherby

Title: Professor

Department: Health and Human Performance

Campus email: Norman.Weatherby@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Maternal and child health; midwifery; HIV and other infectious diseases; migrant farmworkers; drug and tobacco use; childhood lead poisoning prevention; healthy home

Experience with external funding agencies: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Cancer Institute; Department of Housing and Urban Development; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Tennessee Department of Health; Florida Department of Health; Florida Tobacco Control Program; March of Dimes; Kellogg Foundation; John A. Hartford Foundation

Name: Lee M. Wade

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Criminal Justice Administration

Campus email: Lee.Wade@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Police operational and management issues regarding use of force, police pursuit, investigation techniques, and use of technology in police operations

Experience with external funding agencies: Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Name: Elroy Sullivan

Title: Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Elroy.Sullivan@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Analysis of metabolic and biomechanical data collected from children with orthopaedic disabities

Experience with external funding agencies: Shriners Hospitals for Children Research Advisory Board

Name: Gloria Hamilton

Title: Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Gloria.Hamilton@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Prevention of and intervention to lessen at-risk behaviors among youth in Tennessee, using a school/family/community involvement approach and outcome evaluation; studies of chronic diseases and the patients' perception of factors (e.g., nutrition and physical activity) that contribute to health and illness; also have data sets on addictions and trauma

Experience with external funding agencies: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; States of Tennessee and Indiana; National Healthcare Corporation; National Institutes of Health; numerous private foundations

Name: Janet Colson

Title: Professor

Department: Human Sciences

Campus email: Janet.Colson@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Maternal and child nutrition; food safety research

Experience with external funding agencies: Tennessee Board of Regents; Blue Cross/Blue Shield

Name: Tom Brinthaupt

Title: Professor

Department: Psychology

Campus email: Tom.Brinthaupt@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Psychology of the self (self-concept/self-esteem, development of self, methodological issues in self research, inner speech and "self talk"); health psychology (self-regulatory processes, obesity prevention, family health processes, faculty and staff wellness, personality psychology (narcissism, optimism, self-monitoring, evolutionary psychology); instructional technology and online pedagogy (costs and benefits related to the use of instructional technologies and online learning, best practices for online teaching, models of course delivery, educational technology decision-making processes, faculty development planning)

Experience with external funding agencies: Society for the Teaching of Psychology Small Grants Program; Hospital Corporation of America; Tennessee Board of Regents Access and Diversity Research Grants Program

Name: Barbara F. Turnage

Title: Professor

Department: Social Work

Campus email: Barbara.Turnage@mtsu.edu

Research interests/expertise: Impact of verbal and physical aggression on body image, friendship patterns, and self-esteem; African-American mother-daughter relationships; relationship between completion, body image, and friendships among women; understanding how parenting styles affect emotional health; impact of language on self-esteem development; relationship between frustration and global self-esteem level; rationalization of relationship violence by the abused and the abuser; identifying ways to redirect self-destructive behaviors

Experience with external funding agencies: Health Resources and Services Administration; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Name: Don W. Morgan

Title: Professor

Department: Health and Human Performance; Center for Physical Activity and Health in Youth

Campus email: Don.Morgan@mtsu.edu
Research interests/expertise: Effects of underwater treadmill training on fitness and mobility in persons with disease and disability; promotion of physical activity and fitness in youth and adults across the lifespan; relationship between locomotor economy and athletic performance; association between ambulatory energy demands and daily physical function
Experience with external funding agencies: National Institutes of Health; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; United States Olympic Committee; AVIA Group International, NIKE, Inc.

Name: Deborah Weatherspoon
Title: Assistant Professor
Department: Nursing
Campus email: Deborah.Weatherspoon@mtsu.edu
Research interests/expertise: Use of electronic interactive simulation to enhance critical thinking disposition and clinical judgment skills; experiential learning; use of computer-based simulation and conceptual, competency-based models of online education
Experience with external funding agencies: Tennessee Nurses Foundation

Name: Steven Estes
Title: Professor and Chair
Department: Health and Human Performance
Campus email: Steve.Estes@mtsu.edu
Research interests/expertise: Sport culture; postmodern sport; leadership in higher education; United States Army ROTC leadership development
Experience with external funding agencies: None

Note to College of Behavioral and Health Sciences Faculty Members:

If you would like to have your research interests listed on this page, please contact Dr. Don Morgan. He will send you an information sheet so that you can be added to this website.