Office of Research & Economic Development

Stories of support, collaboration, research and community engagement

Racism, the psychology behind it: Jennifer LaCosse

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

Daba Coura Mbow Dr. Jennifer LaCosse grew up in the small farming town of Fowlerville, Michigan. In a majority White community,  Dr. LaCosse, a White woman, witnessed how widespread prejudice toward Black people still is.  Seeing members of her community display such hostility sparked her interest in psychology and led her to pursue the study

Jeffrey Yackley: Active learning, a way for students to gain soft skills.

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

By Daba Coura Mbow Originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan, Jeffrey Yackley graduated from the University of Michigan in Dearborn with a doctorate in Computer Science.  In the new College of Innovation and Technology, Yackley begins an academic career at the University of Michigan Flint with an opportunity to dig more into his passion for computer

Flint Community Engaged Research Program

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

Daba Coura Mbow                As the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) celebrates its 20th anniversary, a new opportunity for student research is launching that includes community engagement.  Building trust between the university and the community is a major goal of any higher education institution.  Many community partners in Flint have been asking the university to

Understanding parenting across the world

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

Daba Coura Mbow Children who witness aggressive behavior at home, from parents, are more likely to be aggressive in social situations later in life. Some parents use physical punishment when kids misbehave, while others take away privileges.  But do we know the consequences on children as they grow up? In 2016 the World Health Organization

Woojong KIM: a passion for her social work research

Posted by & filed under Faculty Profiles, Student Research Spotlight, UM-Flint Research.

Dr. Kim joined the social work department at the University of Michigan Flint in 2017, after earning her Ph.D. at Michigan State University.  She is originally from South Korea, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work at the Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. After obtaining a master’s, she worked for

Borders and Crossings: First-Year Experience Classes Prompt Big Questions

Posted by & filed under UM-Flint Research.

In January 2020, the Mellon Foundation made a $600,000 award to University of Michigan – Flint professors Daniel Birchok and Jacob Lederman, just before the emergence of the COVID pandemic. The project, entitled ‘Borders and Crossings:  Exploring Global Questions at the University of Michigan-Flint,’ began with the premise that community-engaged humanities courses needed to be

Donk Racing and STEM Equity – CIT Professor researches Informal Learning pathways

Posted by & filed under UM-Flint Research.

Shirl Donaldson sits behind a UM-Flint College of Innovation & Technology table loaded with T-shirts with a red Dodge Challenger GT behind her.

Shirl Donaldson is an assistant professor of project management, STEM education and entrepreneurship in the University of Michigan-Flint’s College of Innovation and Technology. She is researching Donk car racing and whether it can help change the way minoritized kids think about STEM subjects in relation to themselves.  “When it comes to racing, tons of money

Student Research Spotlight: Taylor Culinski

Posted by & filed under Student Research Spotlight.

Culinski poses on campus for a professional headshot. She is seated, in a sharp suit, and has shoulder length blonde hair surrounding a genuine smile.

Most students use their first year in college to take care of the basics, like exploring student clubs or learning how to find their way around campus. For Taylor Culinski, a junior psychology major from Swartz Creek, Michigan, her first year was the perfect time to begin conducting research alongside her professors. And it was