Faculty Research Day 2025 celebrates faculty, researchers, and awards
On May 13, 2025, the second annual DSU Faculty Research Day took place, once again joining professors, researchers, and students alike with the opportunity to meet and collaborate during a day created for the sharing and recognition of critical University-wide research projects and initiatives.
The event began with opening remarks from the Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Patrice Gilliam, who expressed the University’s recognition of the hard work of faculty members. This was followed by a Scholarship of Teaching forum event led by Dr. Cara Gomez, Chair of the Faculty Senate. This session featured a diverse group of faculty presentations that highlighted the ways in which faculty teaching activities can be harnessed into publishable research projects that advance pedagogy.
The day showcased 26 different presenters of “lightning talks” and posters, as researchers shared their latest work and findings throughout the event.
The lightning talks included researchers and topics that spanned a diverse range of fields and disciplines. In one presentation given, Dr. Kalpalatha Melmaiee, a plant scientist and Associate Professor of Agriculture & Natural Resources, spoke on DSU efforts and accomplishments towards pursuing sustainable global agricultural production, in partnering with international research programs involving scientists from across regional and national agricultural research hubs in Senegal, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh.
Other faculty researchers, including members of CHESS or Wesley College (WCHBS), shared projects in the fields of psychology, public policy, education, communications, and literature and the humanities, among others. Dr. Albee Mendoza, Assistant Professor of Psychology, spoke on research at the intersection of psychology and education in her presentation on the Collaborative Replication and Education Project (CREP), an initiative designed to enhance the quality of psychological research while simultaneously providing valuable educational experiences for undergraduate students.
Following these engaging presentations showcasing the diversity of work spanning the DSU research community, President Tony Allen provided concluding thoughts in a brief speech, reiterating his and the University’s unwavering support towards research efforts across disciplines and colleges, particularly given recent uncertainties surrounding research funding across university institutions.
Dr. Allen’s sentiments resonated with faculty, researchers, and attendees, as his support and reassurance set the atmosphere for the networking, lunch, poster session, and awards acknowledgments that would follow, in the day’s latter half.
The event concluded with a ceremony and recognition of grant submissions and awards for the 2024-2025 year. This year, DSU faculty and researchers were responsible for over 60 grant submissions, including notable Principal Investigators (PIs) with multiple submissions: Dr. Jianli Sun, Dr. Hacene Boukari, Dr. Yanfeng Yue, and Dr. Shahidul Islam, who also leads a research project within the Interdisciplinary Health Research (IHER) Center.
Across colleges and departments, DSU saw awards and research funding totaling over $22 million in the 2024-2025 year, a remarkable accomplishment and testament to the active and robust efforts of the University community to ceaselessly innovate and grow.
The event was organized by the Office of the Vice President for Research (Dr. Melissa Harrington, Ms. Brittany Maday, Ms. Jasmine Peterson, and Ms. Thasin Islam) and the Faculty Research Committee (Dr. Janeese Brownlow, Dr. Melissa Harrington, Ms. Renee Jones, Dr. Hakeem Lawal, Dr. Robert Marstellar, Dr. Karl Miletti, Dr. Zi (Nancy) Ning, and Dr. Katarzyna Rosikon).