Office of Research celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science

KENNESAW, Ga. (Feb 10, 2021) — Today, the Kennesaw State University Office of Research celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, an initiative launched in 2015 by the United Nations to recognize the critical role that women and girls play in science and technology. The day of recognition aims to fight gender stereotypes, end the gender pay gap and diminish discrimination against women and girls in the field by showcasing the remarkable work they have to offer.

Join us as we highlight some of the amazing KSU female faculty and students who have used their talents to create impactful contributions to science:

College of Computing and Software Engineering

• Ruth Bearden, 2020 computer science graduate: Bearden was an Honors student who  served as Kennesaw State’s representative last year for the University System of Georgia Board of Regents’ Academic Recognition Day and completed research focused on finding methods to detect macro malware.
• Joy Li, assistant professor of computer game design and development: Li headed a project started by her students in the game design degree program that focused on developing a state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) simulation as a training tool for medical students to offer a glimpse inside the head of someone suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
• Jennifer Priestley, director of the Ph.D. program in analytics and data science and professor of statistics:  Priestley is the director of the Ph.D. program in analytics and data science, launched in fall 2015 as the first of its kind in the nation. She also helped launch the “Women in Data Science” initiative at KSU. 

College of Science and Mathematics

• Carrie Lyn Barron, senior majoring in cellular, molecular and developmental biology: Barron is a non-traditional student who has overcome homelessness, donated a kidney to her husband, and is researching a cure for his kidney disease. She is an Honors student who is determined to pursue a Ph.D.
• Kay Butts, Ashley McDonald, and Makayla Ferrari, graduate students in the integrative biology program, and biology major Nia Campbell are among the students in the BioInnovation Laboratory involved in projects ranging from combatting white-nose syndrome in tri-colored bats to studying emerging fungal pathogens. 
  
• Olivia Hawkins, master's student in integrative biology: Hawkins won the Top Graduate Student Presentation at the fall KSU Symposium of Student Scholars with her project "Contribution of the Body, Pectoral Fins, and the Ribbon Fin to Turning Maneuvers of a Gymnotiform Swimmer."
• Sarah Guindre-Parker, assistant professor of biology: Guindre-Parker's research focuses on how European starlings cope with changing environments on both surface and cellular levels through their breeding, their behavior or their physiology.
• Martina Kaledin, associate professor of chemistry: Kaledin's research aims to unravel the molecules in hydrogen-bonded systems, using the University’s supercomputer, to contribute to the development of molecular dynamics computer simulation models.
• Basirat Olorunlambe, senior biochemistry major: Olorunlambe’s research on the use of bacteria to reduce infections from MRSA, an infection caused by drug-resistant Staphyloccocus bacteria, in healthcare facilities won the top award at this year's Birla Carbon Symposium.

Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences

• Ebony Glover, associate professor of neuroscience: Glover's research explores the biological factors that contribute to the higher risk that women have for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Alice Gooding, assistant professor of anthropology: Gooding is a forensic anthropologist for the state who is currently working on a research project with Yuri Feito, associate professor of exercise science, to study bone health by collecting geometric properties of the bone and measuring bone density.
• Evelina Sterling, associate professor of sociology, along with associate professors of social work Carol Collard and Vanessa Robinson-Dooley in the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services, are developing a new self-management and support intervention program for low-income African-American men with multiple chronic conditions.

Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

• Ayse Tekes, assistant professor of mechanical engineering: Tekes has been focusing her research efforts on improving educational aids used to teach abstract concepts to mechanical engineering students during introductory courses.
• Roneisha Worthy, associate professor of civil engineering: Worthy has dedicated herself to being an advocate for underrepresented groups in STEM and serves as the faculty advisor for the student chapters of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). 

Wellstar College of Health and Human Services

• Katherine Ingram, associate professor of exercise science: Ingram's research explores the influence of factors like abdominal fat, fitness and inactivity on gestational diabetes, a transgenerational health issue that impacts nearly 1 in 10 pregnancies. 
• Doreen Wagner, professor of nursing: Wagner's research focuses on the relationship between perioperative care and patient outcomes as related to the consequences of stress and anxiety caused by the trauma of surgery. This week she received a research grant from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses to study "Unplanned Hypothermia and Inflammatory Biomarkers on Delirium Incidence in Critically Ill Adult Surgical Patients."

—Dorothy Corbett