Office of Research & Economic Development

Stories of support, collaboration, research and community engagement

Dr. Shirl Donaldson: Bringing STEM Education to Life with Donk Racing

Posted by & filed under Faculty Profiles, Motor life, Physics, Research Matters, Societal.

Daba Coura Mbow Dr. Shirl Donaldson, a passionate educator from Detroit, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Flint. She grew up in metropolitan Detroit where cars are more than just machines; they’re a way of life. Growing up in an automotive family, Dr Donaldson knew that the “motor life” was her destiny. As a professor

Jacob Lederman was awarded a fellowship at the Institute for the Humanities in Ann Arbor

Posted by & filed under Art, Faculty Profiles, Research Matters, Societal, Spotlights, UM-Flint Research.

Jacob Lederman, associate professor of sociology, has been awarded a much sought after fellowship at the UM-Ann Arbor’s Institute for the Humanities for the 2024-2025 academic year. Lederman will use this opportunity to work on his next book manuscript. The Institute for the Humanities, located in the U-M’s college of Literature, Sciences and the Arts (LSA), examines

IST: Examining the Societal Impact of Technology

Posted by & filed under Faculty Profiles, Flint community, Research Matters, Societal, Technology, UM-Flint Research.

Daba Coura Mbow Jacob Lederman, associate professor of sociology, is the driving force behind the newly established Institute for Society and Technology (IST) at the University of Michigan-Flint.  IST emerged from a discussion during the pandemic about the growing relationship between technology and society. Lederman, with a deep-rooted curiosity about the relationship between changes in

Decoding Emotion: Enhancing Human-Computer Interaction through Emotional Understanding

Posted by & filed under Artificial Intelligence, Computer science, Student Research Spotlight, UM-Flint Research.

Daba Coura Mbow As a senior pursuing a degree in computer science, Allison Gaspard has been deeply engaged in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program at the University of Michigan Flint.  She has been involved in a project led by Dr. Mark Allison for the past two years. The work focuses on computationally analyzing the intricate

Persistence and Mattering in Undergraduate Education

Posted by & filed under Faculty Profiles, Flint community, Research Matters, UM-Flint Research.

Daba Coura Mbow A group of educators from different departments at U-M Flint has joined forces to enrich undergraduate education. As part of a joint research effort known as the PMUE (Persistence and Mattering in Undergraduate Education), Kazuko Hiramatsu, Stephanie Roach, Jennifer Alvey and others have been working on teaching methods that help students think

Mapping the Health of Flint River: Bridging Data and Ecology for Ecosystem Preservation

Posted by & filed under Biology, Computer science, Data science, Ecosystem, Faculty Profiles, Flint community, Research Matters, Student Research Spotlight, UM-Flint Research.

Daba Coura Mbow A key project for IDEAS (the Institute for Data Engineering, Analytics, and Science) this fall, explains its Director Cam Mcleman, associate professor of mathematics, connects UM-Flint’s wildlife biology faculty with scientists at the Flint River Watershed Coalition (FRWC). Joining ongoing efforts to monitor the river’s health, looking at organisms inhabiting the watershed,

Exploring Flint River’s Aquatic Ecosystem: Nicklas Smith’s Journey in Wildlife Biology

Posted by & filed under Biology, Ecosystem, Flint community, Research Matters, Student Research Spotlight, UM-Flint Research.

Nicklas Smith, a third-year student majoring in wildlife biology, is from the Genesee County area, with a strong connection to Flint. Last summer, he was inspired by Larissa, a graduate student working as a lab assistant from a previous biology class. When Nicklas expressed his interest in field research, Larissa told him to reach out

Advancing Pediatric Telehealth: Equity, Engagement, and Enhancing Care

Posted by & filed under Faculty Profiles, Flint community, Research Matters, Spotlights, Student Research Spotlight, telehealth, UM-Flint Research.

Daba Coura Mbow Dr. Gergana Kodjebacheva’s research revolves around parental and child health, with a particular focus on understanding the effects of socioeconomic circumstances. Her journey into this field began during her time as a master’s student at UCLA, where she collaborated with mentors Leo Estrada and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris on a project aimed at improving

UROP Student Uses Algorithms to Improve Benchmark Query Runtimes

Posted by & filed under Computer science, Data science, Flint community, Spotlights, Student Research Spotlight.

Dylan Binu is an international student from India and has been in the United States since January of 2020, pursuing his bachelor’s degree in computer science. He graduates this December, after completing his studies during the Fall 2023 semester. He works as a research assistant with one of his professors, Murali Mani, and the assistantship

Telehealth’s Impact on Adolescent Healthcare

Posted by & filed under Flint community, Research Matters, Student Research Spotlight, telehealth, UM-Flint Research.

Daba Coura Mbow Amid a technological revolution, Taylor Culinski is immersed in research examining the impact of telehealth on adolescent populations. In a recent conversation, Culinski shared her vision of the potential impact of this ongoing work. With training in psychology and childhood education, Culinski’s passion for developmental psychology and social work is evident in