HIGH POINT, N.C., Sept. 28, 2020 – Members of the High Point University community frequently conduct, publish and share research and creative works in a variety of ways. Below is a recap of recent research initiatives.
Dr. Brianna Cark Publishes Article in Leading Professional Magazine
Dr. Brianna Clark, assistant professor of event management, recently published an article in “ie magazine.” The magazine is a leading professional resource for the international festivals and events industry that helps advance knowledge and innovation in events and is associated with the International Festival and Events Association.
Clark’s article highlights the difficulties COVID-19 has imposed regarding internships. The article provides tips for how employers can still involve interns virtually during this time. It also highlights ways industry professionals can continue to support students during these uncertain times.
“Being published is really exciting as this is my first industry publication for event professionals,” says Clark. “Advancing my profile and that of the HPU event management program within the event professional community certainly helps in creating more experiential opportunities for our students.”
This year’s International Festival and Events Association conference was not held due to the pandemic, but virtual webinar forums were offered. Clark was a presenter with Cindy Lerick, president of The Art of Events LLC, during a webinar series titled, “The Internship Dilemma: Creating Successful Internship Experiences and Relationships During Uncertain Times.” There, they presented her article with both academic and industry perspectives to navigating student connections and internships within the event industry during a pandemic.
Dr. Veronica Segarra Publishes Research in Peer-Reviewed Journal
Dr. Veronica Segarra, interim chair and assistant professor of biology, recently published an article in “Genes,” a peer-reviewed open access journal of genetics and genomics published monthly online by MDPI, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.
The article summarizes and discusses Segarra and other researchers’ current knowledge about important proteins that cells use to traffic or transport materials between organelles or cellular compartments. This work looks at the differences between human cells and other cells that are often used as an experimental system in the undergraduate classroom, such as baker’s yeast.
“Dr. Chi is one of my scientific collaborators at UNC-Charlotte,” says Segarra. “This publication is a sample of some of the ways in which HPU connects with other scientists and contributes to team efforts that advance different areas of research.”
Dr. Brad Barlow Publishes Research in Astrophysical Journal
Dr. Brad Barlow, director of HPU’s Culp Planetarium and associate professor of astrophysics, and several collaborators recently published a peer-reviewed paper on the study of the classical nova “V906 Car” in Astrophysical Journal, the highest-ranked academic journal for astrophysics in the world.
“V906 Car” is a system that consists of two stars orbiting one another very quickly, once every few hours. Occasionally, the lower mass star in the pair can transfer some of its outermost atmosphere, made of hydrogen, over to its neighboring white dwarf companion. When this fresh hydrogen fuel impacts the white dwarf, it builds up a layer that eventually becomes thick enough to trigger a nuclear reaction. As the white dwarf quickly burns all of this new fuel, the star system can brighten significantly.
“Nova like ‘V906 Car’ fall outside my area of expertise, so this project forced me to get uncomfortable and work on something challenging, while being surrounded by experts in the field,” says Barlow. “That shows students aren’t the only ones who must adopt a growth mindset in order to be successful. At the end of the day, I had a blast, pun intended, working on this project.”
The research was conducted by a team of international astronomers at HPU, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of California Santa Barbara, Radboud University in the Netherlands and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.
Dr. Arden Anderson Publishes Articles in Two Sport Management Journals
Dr. Arden Anderson, assistant professor of sport management, and other researchers recently published two articles, one in the Journal of Sport Management and one in the Sport Management Education Journal.
The first article, titled “Creating New Sport Opportunities for Girls: Resource Acquisition and Mobilization across Competitive Environments,” was published in the Journal of Sport Management. Anderson’s research looked at adolescent sport participants, particularly girls, who continue to drop out of sports at high rates. Researchers found more resources are needed to grow the programs to maximize sport opportunities for adolescent girls.
The second article, titled “Enhancing Holistic Learning through a Sport Management Short-Term Study Abroad,” was published in the Sport Management Education Journal. Anderson and other researchers looked into how sport management scholars have called on educators and students to increase their global perspectives to better reflect the globalization of the industry through study abroad experiences. Anderson found that it’s important for educators to identify opportunities to assist students in making memorable experiences that correspond into lessons associated with those experiences. Her findings provide guidance for educators on how intentionally planning pre-trip and in-trip lessons can enhance holistic learning for short-term study abroad students.
“As a scholar, it is always exciting to see your work through to publication, especially in such a difficult year in higher education,” says Anderson. “My hope is that this work helps to expand sport participation opportunities for girls and enhance the learning of sport management students.”