Fin-Tastic Vol. 7 May-December 2022
Message from Dr. Al M. Panu, Chancellor
Welcome to the University of South Carolina Beaufort’s ocean teaming with achievements for Summer and Fall 2023, a coastal institution where bright energies unfold, and distinction thrives within our university family. As we reflect on the merits and accolades of our institution, it becomes evident that our collective dedication to student-centered engagements is the cornerstone of our success. With each faculty recognition comes a multiplying impact on student success, creating ripples that reverberate throughout our institution and beyond.
The following compilation celebrates the scholarly and professional achievements of faculty and staff members. Their diverse contributions encompass a wide array of disciplines, reflecting the university's commitment to excellence in education, research, and service. This collection not only highlights individual achievements but also reflects the collective commitment to academic excellence and community engagement that defines the ethos of USCB.
To our remarkable Fin-tastic Sand Sharks, we extend our sincerest gratitude for your tireless efforts in distinguishing our students and elevating our university's reputation. Your dedication and passion fuel our collective success, inspiring us to reach greater heights together.
Barnes, Mollie, PhD • Associate Professor of English
(Department of English, the Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies)
Published. “‘To Mold in Clay and Carve in Stone’: Sculptural and Political Form in Margaret Fuller’s Italian Dispatches.” ESQ: A Journal of Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture, volume 69, no. 1, 2023, pp. 1–37. Publication Link.
Published, with Theresa Burriss. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute Podcast Episode, “Transcendentalism and Social Reform: Activism and Community Engagement in the Age of Thoreau.” Spring 2023. Publication Link.
Presented. “First Impressions, Preserved and Erased: Reading Charlotte Forten and Laura Towne
Next to One Another.” African-American Life Writing Collective Panel. American Literature
Association Conference, Boston, MA. May 2023. Conference Link.
Presented. “Unsettling Modernist Poetry Pedagogy Roundtable.” Modernist Studies Association
Conference. Brooklyn, NY. October 2023. Conference Link. (invited roundtable speaker)
Local Event Invited Speaker, with Jennifer Putzi. “The Reconstruction-Era Diary of Frances 'Frank' Rollin Whipper.”
Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era (ISRE) Conversation. Beaufort, SC.
December 2023.
Epstein, Sheldon • USCB Campus Police Officer (USCB Campus Police Department)
Developed. Involved in the development and passage of legislation that awarded a Line of Duty
Death Benefit to First Responders in the State of South Carolina. Program Description Link.
Farrell, Carmen, PhD • Assistant Professor of Psychology
(Department of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Published. “Adapting Interteaching to a Hybrid Format: A Framework for Implementation.” Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence. Fall 2023. Publication Link.
Heiens, Richard, PhD • Professor of Marketing
(Department of Business and Communications)
Published. Along with Larry Pleshko (KIMEP University, Kazakhstan) “Using Direct Observation to Examine the Relationship between Smoking and Consumption Patterns in a Middle Eastern Food Services Setting,” Anthropology of the Middle East. Publication Link.
Kelley, Kimberly, PhD • Director of Libraries and Professor
(USCB Library)
Awarded. Harvard Law School. CopyrightX Certification. Award Link.
Kilgore, Robert, PhD • Associate Professor of English
(Department of English, the Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies)
Published. “Stop Trying to Make Academia Great Again: The Necessity of Solidarity and Organizing to Make Better Futures for All of Us,” Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, and Composition, 23.2 (2023): 235–47. Publication Link.
Presented. “On Not Remaining Respectful: Professionalization v. Labor Consciousness in the Teaching of College Writing.” Corridors: The Blue Ridge Writing and Rhetoric Conference. Virginia Tech. Blacksburg, September 2023. Conference Link.
Elected. 2023. At-Large Executive Committee member, South Carolina Conference of chapters of the American Association of University Professors.
Awarded. Folger Institute. 2023. Travel and lodging funds for “Early Modern Intersections in the American South” Folger Institute and The University of Alabama. Tuscaloosa and Montgomery, AL.
Lahar, Cindy, PhD • Professor of Psychology
(Department of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Published. Research article, “Relations between risk perception, perceptions of peers’ driving, and risky driving among Cambodian adolescents (2023, with B. Lim, H.M Dang & B. Weiss) in Frontiers in Psychology: Personality and Social Psychology, 14. Publication Link.
Fulbright-Hays Participant Selection. Awarded 2023-224 Fulbright-Hays Training Grant for Project SKALE – South Korea $8,077. Award Link.
Malphrus, Ellen, PhD • Professor of English
(Department of English, the Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies)
Awarded. The Pen: Grounded Issue received the rank of Distinguished in the 2023 NCTE Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) program. Fall 2023. REALM/NCTE Award Link.
Awarded. The Pen: Grounded and Flight Issues First Place Award—2023 American Scholastic Press Association Annual Literary Journal Competition. Fall 2023. ASPA Award Link.
McCombs, Kelly, MS, RD, LD, CDCES • Senior Instructor & Sports Dietitian
(Department of Public Health and Human Services & Athletic Department)
Local Event Invited Speaker. “Performance Nutrition for Middle and High School Athletes” for middle and high school
athletic coaches meeting at Bridges Preparatory School, Beaufort, SC. Fall 2023. Event Link.
Reviewer. Research and Presentation Abstracts for 2024 Annual Conference of the Society of
Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB). Fall 2023. Organization Link.
McCoy, Erin • Associate Professor of English & Interdisciplinary Studies
(Department of English, the Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies)
Published. “Attempted Reconciliation: The Role of Karl Marlantes in Burns & Novick’s 2017 Documentary
The Vietnam War.” The Vietnam War: Un Analisis Historico Militar. Pp. 65-77. Ed. David
Odalric de Caxial i Mata. SOTEC Editorial, ISBN: 978-84-17746-39-1. 202. Publication
Link.
Guest Lecture. Masterclass on World War I, Istitutio Internacional de Estudios en Seguridad Global
(INISEG, Madrid ES): “Narratives of World War I as Insights to Contemporary PTSD Depictions.”
Recorded 15 September 2023. Recording Link.
Local Event Invited Speaker. Hilton Head Island Rotary Club, 30 Oct 2023. Event Link.
Presented. “De-Mining Buried War Crimes: UXO Workers in Viet Nam & Cambodia.” at the “War, the
Holocaust, and Human Rights Conference.” Ackerman Center of UT-Dallas and the US Air
Force Academy, October 11-13, 2023. Conference Link.
Presented. “‘Home – A Candle You Can Hold’: Yearning and Ideations of “Home” in US Refugee &
Migrant Narratives" for "RHome 2023: Representations of Home in Literatures and Cultures
in English (Dis)locations: The Shifting Thematics of Home.” University of Lisbon University
of Lisbon Centre for English Studies, June 2023. Presented virtually via Zoom due
to Covid-19 infection. Conference Link.
Messick, Kyle, PhD • Assistant Professor of Psychology
(Deptartment of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Fulbright-Hays Participant Selection. Awarded 2023-224 Fulbright-Hays Training Grant for Project SKALE – South Korea $8,077. Award Link.
Montie, Eric, MS, PhD • Associate Professor of Biology
(Department of Natural Sciences)Awarded.
Received the third year of funding ($100,000) for a five-year grant from the NOAA
Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) / Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional
Association (SECOORA) for the project entitled, “The Estuarine Soundscape Observatory
Network in the Southeast (ESONS)”. Award Link.
Awarded. Received a grant ($15,087) from the Port Royal Sound Foundation for the project,
“Bottlenose Dolphin Monitoring in the Port Royal Sound Area.” Award Link.
Published. Tribble, C., Monczak, A., Transue, L., Marian, A., Fair, P., Balmer, B., Ballenger,
J., Baker, H., Weinpress-Galipeau, M., Robertson, A., Strand, A., Montie, E.W. (2023).
Enhancing interpretation of cetacean acoustic monitoring: investigating factors that
influence vocalization patterns of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins in an urbanized estuary,
Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, USA. Aquatic Mammals, 49(6):519-549. Publication Link.
Local Event Invited Speaker. “Estuarine Soundscapes and the Lowcountry Dolphin Conservation Program,” at Oldfield
Club in Bluffton, South Carolina. October 18th, 2023.
Local Event Invited Speaker. “Estuarine Soundscapes and the Lowcountry Dolphin Conservation Program,” at Colleton
River Plantation in Bluffton, South Carolina. November 14th, 2023.
Nadeau, Angela, MA • Instructor of Psychology
(Deptartment of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Fulbright-Hays Participant Selection. Awarded 2023-224 Fulbright-Hays Training Grant for Project SKALE – South Korea $8,077. Award Link.
Panu, Al M., PhD • Professor of Chemistry and Chancellor
Awarded. The Excellence and Innovation Award for International Education, with Babet Villena-Alvarez, in Chicago Nov. 2023 by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) for the academic year 2023-2024. Award and AASCU Link.
Reibel, Melody, PhD • Associate Professor of Nursing
(Department of Nursing)
Published. Dual application of interactive whiteboard technology to develop students’ clinical judgment skills. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, Fall 2023. Publication Link.
Presented. Comparing Students’ Self-Assessments of Clinical Judgment to Peer Assessment in Simulation [Podium presentation]. South Carolina Education Simulation Alliance Annual Conference, Summer 2023. Conference Link.
Sawyer, Caroline, PhD • Associate Professor of Communication Studies
(Department of Business & Communication)
Awarded. 2023 Telly Award, Silver, Television Series: Cultural – By The River. Award Link.
Awarded. 2023 Telly Award, Silver, Television Series: Education & Discovery – By The River. Award Link.
Awarded. 2023 Telly Award, Bronze, Television Show: General- Cultural – By The River – Anjali
Enjeti. Award Link.
Awarded. 2023 Telly Award, Bronze, Television Show: General- D&I– By The River – Anjali Enjeti. Award Link.
Fulbright-Hays Participant Selection. Awarded 2023-224 Fulbright-Hays Training Grant for Project SKALE – South Korea $8,077. Award Link.
Sidletsky, James, MFA • Assistant Professor of Media Arts
(Department of English, the Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies)
Presented. “Animating for my Humanity.” CASP, Collective of Animation Scholars and Practitioners Affiliate Session at SECAC (formerly the Southeastern College Art Conference). Richmond, VA. Fall 2023. October 11-14, 2023. Conference Link.
Skipper, Eric, PhD • Provost & EVCAA
(Academic Affairs)
Invited Panelist. “Continuing and Workforce Development.” South Carolina Association for Continuing Higher Education (SCACHE) Symposium. October 2023. ACHE 85th Annual Conference. Charleston, SC. Conference Link.
Smith, Emily, MM, MLS • Research and Instruction Librarian
(USCB Library)
Certification. (Open Education Network (OEN), University of Minnesota). 2023 Certificate in Open Education Librarianship. Fall 2023. OEN Certificate Link.
Villena-Alvarez, Babet, PhD • Professor of French, Spanish & Global Studies, Assistant
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
(Department of Humanities & Social Sciences)
Awarded. The Excellence and Innovation Award for International Education, with Chancellor Al M. Panu, in Chicago Nov. 2023 by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) for the academic year 2023-2024. Award and AASCU Link.
Anouncement
Greene, Patricia • Financial Aid/VA Director
(Financial Aid Office)
For the first time in 40 years, the U.S Department of Education has made major changes to the FASFA form, which changes go into effect starting with the 2024-2025 FASFA, released on December 31st, 2023. The changes will allow students an easier process of completing the FASFA form and will result in 610,000 more students from low-income backgrounds to receive Pell Grants. As employees of higher education, we all know just how life-changing this FASFA update can be for our current and future students, and we advise that you learn more about it here: Information Link.
USCB Collaborations
Boniecki, Kelli, EdD • Adjunct Instructor (Department of Education)/TCL Early Care and Education Program
Director, Smith, Emily, MM, MLS • Research and Instruction Librarian (USCB Library).
Presented. (2023 Arizona Regional OER Conference). Remixing OER to Meet the Needs of the University
101 Student. Spring 2023. March 3, 2023. OERizona Network Link.
USCB Grants
We salute our faculty and staff for continuing to strengthen USCB education with sponsored research. It takes a special type of person to be inventive, inspired, and ingenious to come up with ideas and have others believe in them to the point of approving funding to concretize and make them real. We also comprehend that the Sand Sharks in the list below belong to extended teams who have also been supportive of their inventiveness and assist in transforming thoughts into results. We honor you.
Angell, Joanna. SC Arts Commission, $11,865.00. USCB Emerging Artists 2023-2024 (Renewal).
Beachkofsky, Sarah. Town of Hilton Head Island, $238,985.00 (Renewal). Vision for the Future: A Collaboration between USCB ad the Town of Hilton Head Island.
Beachkofsky, Sarah. Town of Bluffton, $32,500.00 (Renewal). Bluffton Ambassador Program.
Brugler, Mercer. University of Michigan/National Estuarine Research Reserve Association (NERRA)/NOAA, $25,593.00. Evaluating oyster reefs as habitat: Comparing the utility of ecological metrics to assess ecosystem function.
Brugler, Mercer. Office of the Vice President for Research, Support for Minority Advancement in Research Training (SMART), $1,000.00. Characterizing the biodiversity and anticoagulant repertoires of marine leeches in Port Royal Sound.
Brugler, Mercer. Office of the Vice President for Research, Support for Minority Advancement in Research
Training (SMART), $1,000.00. Characterizing Oyster Reef Biodiversity using eDNA. Cavanagh, Kimberly. SC Humanities/NEH, $12,617.00. From Mahrabouy to Barnwell Tabby: Unearthing the
250-Year Journey of One Hilton Head Island Building.
D'Antonio, Edward & Ritchie, Kimberly. Sea Islands Institute. $5,000.00. Rapid wound healing observed in the Great White
Shark: Identification and molecular characterization of a key antibiotic produced
from a symbiotic bacterium.
Dudas, Kimberly. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)/Health & Human Services, $1,000,000.00. USCB: Increasing Pre-Licensure Educational Capacity in the Lowcountry.
Elyaderani, Hadis. Office of the Vice President for Research, Support for Minority Advancement in Research Training (SMART), $1,000.00. Community Solutions to Increase Healthfulness of Grocery Stores: Perspectives from Immigrant Parents.
Epstein, Sheldon. SC Department of Public Safety (SC DPS), $11,403.00 (Renewal). 2024 Fiscal Yr.- South Carolina DPS Body Worn Cameras.
Erdei, Ron. Sea Islands Institute. $2810.00. USCB & The Children’s Center: Early Learning Application [Phase 3].
Gill, Diana. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)/HHS. $500,000.00 (Renewal). Public Health Scholarship Program.
Lahar, Cindy & Sawyer, Caroline; Cavanagh, Kimberly; Nadeau, Angela. Sea Islands Institute. $5,000.00. USCB Global Learning Experience (GLE) Project: Support for Capturing and Editing Asian Video Content.
Marlowe, Bruce. US Department of Education (USDE). $899,552.00 (Renewal). Melding Academics, Support, and Training of Educators for higher Retention Yields (MASTERY).
Montie, Eric. NOAA/IOOS via Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA).
$100,000.00 (Renewal). Estuarine Soundscape Observatory Network in the Southeast (ESONS).
Montie, Eric. Port Royal Sound Foundation $15,087.00 (Renewal). Bottlenose Dolphin Monitoring in the Port Royal Sound Area - Establishing a Flagship Program for the Port Royal Sound Foundation.
Pettay, Daniel. Town of Bluffton, $185,000.00 (Renewal) Town of Bluffton Water Quality MOU.
Pettay, Daniel. Port Royal Sound Foundation, $20,831.00 Maintaining a Long-term Environmental Monitoring Program in the Port Royal Sound Estuary.
Sawyer, Caroline. Office of the Vice President for Research, Support for Minority Advancement in Research Training (SMART). $1,000.00. Mather School Digital Walking Tour Sample.
Skipper, Eric. National Science Foundation (NSF), $549,219.00. NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing cyber security technologies for the maritime system (SC).
Villena-Alvarez, Juanita. US Department of Education (USDE) / Fulbright-Hays, $125,474.00. USCB South Korean and Asian Literacy Education (SKALE).
Villena-Alvarez, Juanita & Messick, Kyle; Morris, Sam. Sea Islands Institute. $4,920.00. The Lowcountry and Coastal Empire One-Day Conference on Asian Studies.
Total for the period (new & renewal): $3,749,337.00
Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Research
Hill, Kari (student). USC Office of Undergraduate Research, Magellan Scholar. $2,486.
Assessing Dollar Store Food Environments in Alignment to Nutrition Support Programs
in the Lowcountry. Mentor: Elyaderani, Hadis
O'Neil, Destiny (student). USC Office of Undergraduate Research, Magellan Scholar.
$2,500. Biochemical and Biological Evaluation of Gossypol-based Analogues as Inhibitors
of Trypanosoma cruzi Glucokinase. Mentor: D’Antonio, Edward
Zalapskaia, Tatiana (student). USC Office of Undergraduate Research, Magellan Scholar.
$2,495. Implementing Selective Laser Sintering in Figurative Ceramic Sculpture. Mentor: Sidletsky, James