Research and Creative Inquiry Activities

 

My research focuses on the effects of stress on the individual. I am interested in how physical activity, sleep, and the environment affect our ability to function, our health, and our well-being. Almost any topic that relates to stress and fatigue can capture my interest. My research includes laboratory-based studies and field studies. My research team and I use a wide range of measures including performance, physiological, subjective, and emotional cognition measures. My goal is to develop and test potential countermeasures that can help individuals adapt to work and life demands in modern society.

I also work with a Creative Inquiry team (Brain Tips team) that uses social media to share information about the human brain, how the brain works, and how it affects our daily lives, behaviors, and choices.


Project Descriptions FitDesk

Student Involvement

Graduate and undergraduate students interested in learning more about the research process and in gaining research-related skills are welcome to join my research team.  Graduate students can participate through course credit (i.e., independent research, thesis, and dissertation credit) or as volunteers.  Undergraduate students participate through Clemson University's Creative Inquiry program and register for course credit through PSYCH H4900, H4910, 4980, or H4980.  I encourage interested undergraduate students to join our research team no later than their junior year.  Both graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to stay involved in the research team for multiple semesters to take full advantage of the learning opportunities intrinsic in our research team and effort.  Students can be involved in any of my research projects, depending on their interest and our current research topics.

Students have the opportunity to be involved in several stages of the research process depending upon the number of semesters that they remain on the team including: literature searches to find necessary background information, reading and critically evaluating background literature, data gathering, data management in Excel, data analyses in SPSS, and data presentation and publication. Students involved in my research team during the spring semesters will also complete a poster presentation at the research exhibition on campus. Because of the on-going nature of our research effort, students have the opportunity to become immediately involved in the research process beginning in their first semester. Furthermore, students who work for a minimum of 3 semesters on our research team have the opportunity to attend regional and national research conferences to give presentations about our work.

Students also work on the Brain Tips team. This group works to identify interesting and pertinent scientific articles about a wide range of productivity, health, and well-being topics that would be of interest to other students. The students write a short summary of the topic and then promote their ideas using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This team provides in-depth experience in reading scientific literature and applying the ideas in ways that will interest others. They also practice summarizing the ideas in a meaningful way and write multiple posts for our Facebook page. Students work on my Brain Tips team for a minimum of 2 semesters and complete a poster presentation at the research exhibition on campus each spring semester.

Please contact me if you are interested in joining any of my Creative Inquiry and research teams.

Student Success

The students who join my creative inquiry teams are very successful as they move to the next steps in their careers. Creative inquiry students who are proactively engaged for at least 3 to 4 semesters are typically involved in presentations at a variety of professional conferences (e.g., SEPA, APS; see list of recent student presentations below). They can also choose to work in more depth than the average research student and work on publications (e.g., FitDesk manuscript; sleep & self-control manuscript). This type of experience gives the students on my creative inquiry teams many topics to talk about in interviews for graduate school or employment.

My creative inquiry students have been successful in gaining entrance to many types of graduate programs including: MD program at the Medical University of South Carolina, DDM (doctor of dental medicine) at the Medical University of South Carolina, MD program at St. George's University, MD program at USC School of Medicine Greenville, Ph.D. program in Behavior and Brain Sciences at the University of Georgia, Ph.D. program in Anatomy and Neurobiology at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology at University of South Carolina, Ph.D. program in Human Factors at Clemson University, Ph.D. program in IO at Clemson University, Ph.D. program in Sports and Exercise Psychology at University of Florida, Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy program at Washington University (St. Louis, MO), Ph.D. program in Physical Therapy at Emory University, PsyD program at Adler University, PA (Physician Assistant) program at Duke University, MA program in Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, MA program in Sports Psychology at Temple University, MA program in School Psychology at University of Kentucky, MA program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Clemson University, MA program in Social Work at the University of South Carolina, MMR program in Marketing Research at the University of Georgia, MA program in Human Resources Management at Texas A&M, and the Accelerated Second Degree Nursing program at Clemson University.

Recent Student Honors (student names in red)

Student Theses and Dissertations (student names in red)

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