UNT Research Magazine 2023

INSTITUTES OF RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

ADVANCED ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

AERI features a thriving interdisciplinary research team exploring fascinating questions about our environment and uses basic and applied research to find solutions to the complex problems that we face. The team conducts ongoing research in a wide array of areas related to local, regional, national and international environmental problems.

940-369-5555 AERI@unt.edu aeri.unt.edu

1155 Union Circle #310559 Denton, Texas 76203-5017

ADVANCED MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES INSTITUTE

AMMPI brings together a diverse group of faculty members who are focused on structural materials, functional materials, computational tools and advanced manufacturing processes. The strength of the institute’s members lies in designing high-performance materials for the aerospace, automotive and energy sectors.

940-369-8438 AMMPI@unt.edu ammpi.unt.edu

UNT Discovery Park Annex 3940 N. Elm St. Denton, Texas 76207-7102

BIODISCOVERY INSTITUTE

BDI delivers research solutions to underpin the utilization of plants and microorganisms for the sustainable production of biofuels, polymers, new materials for construction and transportation, and bioactive small molecules, with applications ranging from agriculture to health care.

940-565-2491 BDI@unt.edu bdi.unt.edu

1155 Union Circle #305220 Denton, Texas 76203-5017

JIM MCNATT INSTITUTE FOR LOGISTICS RESEARCH

The institute’s multi-disciplinary research team provides the capability to develop effective solutions to complex logistics and supply chain problems confronting public and private organizations. Specialties include business logistics, engineering, aviation, economics, information technology, geographic information systems, transportation and operations research.

940-565-8666 JMI@unt.edu logisticsresearch.unt.edu

1155 Union Circle #311396 Denton, Texas 76203-5017

To the Skies and Beyond

Whether its studying the logistics of drones or reporting the latest discoveries in space, the UNT community is helping NASA and other government agencies reach their goals.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

12 | ADVANCING EQUITY

UNT researchers are fnding innovative and interdisciplinary ways to advance equity in all areas of society, from health care and education to industry.

16 | CREATIVE ENDEAVORS

Faculty members receive a semester of from teaching to pursue arts research as part of the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts Faculty Fellows program.

34 | BEYOND THE PLATE

From biochemistry and nutrition to history and anthropology, UNT scholars are carving out new paths of discovery in food studies.

40 | PROTECTING DATA

Using innovative technology and creative thinking, UNT researchers are working to outsmart cyber criminals and help build a growing workforce of professionals.

44 | MEET THE DEAN

College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism Dean Jana Hawley — a sustainable textile scholar — understands the value of collaborative research.

A MILESTONE YEAR

It has been a year full of milestones for research at the University of North Texas.

We are proud that the university increased its total research expenditures by more than $10 million from fscal year 2021. Faculty across disciplines have made discoveries in everything from nanotechnology to Advanced Air Mobility technologies, earned top awards in their felds, and secured research funding from major national agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities and NASA.

A testament to our continued rise as a major national research university, UNT was reafrmed as a Tier One research university by the Carnegie Classifcation of Institutions of Higher Education’s™ 2022 report and was invited to join the Association of Research Libraries. More than 60 faculty members were included in the Stanford University rankings of the world’s most cited researchers.

We’ve also made strides that will increase opportunity for those historically underserved by higher education. Tis year, UNT was among 21 of the nation’s top research universities who became a founding member in the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities and also became a member of Presidents for Latino Student Success.

UNT faculty continue to innovate, create, and discover. For example, for the frst time in university history, UNT-sourced intellectual property for a SARSCoV-2 (COVID-19) testing tool received FDA approval. Te technology, which was named on TIME ’s list of “Te 200 Best Inventions of 2022,” could lead to possible noninvasive diagnostics for other diseases as well.

I am proud of the meaningful contributions our research community has made in the last year and am excited for what the future will bring as we carry forward our mission of research excellence to make a diference in our region, state, and beyond.

RESEARCH OFFICE

Vice President for Research and Innovation

Pam Padilla

Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation

Aaron Roberts

Associate Vice President for Research Commercial Agreements

Michael Rondelli

UBSC

Interim Vice President for University

Brand Strategy and Communications

Kelley Reese

Editors

Heather Noel

Julie Elliott Payne

Randena Hulstrand

Designers

Robert Bratcher

Cliffton Caster

Ciera Schibi

Photographers

Angilee Wilkerson

Gary Payne

Ahna Hubnik

Leo Gonzalez

Ben Torres

Videographers

Carlos Marquez

Paul Slavonik

Timothy Stevens

Paige Thomas

Writers

Jessica DeLeón

Amanda Fuller

Trista Moxley

Heather Noel

Online Communications

Stephen McMinn

Jacob King

Eric Vandergriff

Project Management

Jan Clountz

Harsh Sangani

Student Contributors

Sky Allen

Nabeela Iqbal

Cristina Sandoval

Erikah Woodworth

FOR MORE INFORMATION

UNT Research is published for the Division of Research and Innovation by the Division of University Brand Strategy and Communications, University of North Texas. The research office can be reached at 1155 Union Circle #310979, Denton, Texas 76203-5017, 940-369-7487. Articles may be reprinted in their entirety with acknowledgment unless they are published in UNT Research by permission of another source. Requests for photographs or illustrations should be addressed to the editors at UBSC, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #311070, Denton, Texas 76203-5017, 940-565-2108.

The University of North Texas does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, political affiliation, disability, marital status, genetic information, citizenship, or veteran status in its application and admission processes, educational programs and activities, university facilities, or employment policies, procedures, and processes. The university takes active measures to prevent such conduct and immediately investigates and takes remedial action when appropriate. The university also prohibits and takes actions to prevent retaliation against individuals who report or file a charge of discrimination or harassment; participate in an investigation, or oppose any form of discrimination or harassment. Direct questions or concerns to the equal opportunity office, 940-565-2759, or the dean of students, 940-5652648. TTY access is available at 940-369-8652. AA/EOE/ADA

Pam Padilla Vice President for Research and Innovation

The UNT System and the University of North Texas are the owners of all of their trademarks, service marks, trade names, slogans, graphic images and photography and they may not be used without permission.

© 2023 UNT UBSC 02/23 (23-022)

LIBRARY INNOVATION

UNT JOINS ELITE GROUP OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES

IN U.S. AND CANADA

The University of North Texas Libraries became a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) effective Jan. 1.

ARL is a nonprofit made up of research libraries and archives in Canada and the U.S. with a mission “to create a trusted, equitable and inclusive research and learning ecosystem and prepare library leaders to advance this work in strategic partnership with member libraries and other organizations worldwide.”

ARL members voted to invite UNT into the association during its fall meeting in Washington, D.C.

The ARL Membership Committee noted UNT’s designation as a Tier One research university and Hispanic-Serving Institution as well as its commitment to multiple initiatives supporting system-wide expansion of diversity, equity, inclusion and access.

As the most-used service on campus and an essential component of education and research at UNT, the Libraries offer access to more than six million print and digital items along with programs, support services and expert personnel to assist patrons with their academic and scholarly goals.

UNT is the 128th member organization for ARL. Other members include libraries at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Yale universities as well as the U.S. Library of Congress and National Archives and Records Administration.

“We have been successful in supporting learning, research and digital collections in a culture of innovation and inclusivity,” says UNT Libraries Dean Diane Bruxvoort. “Membership in ARL allows us to now take our initiatives to the next level as we gain new opportunities to collaborate.”

CROP POLICY FRAMEWORK

Richard Dixon, a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences and founding director of UNT’s BioDiscovery Institute, was among an interdisciplinary committee of researchers hoping to spur governments to rethink regulations on genetically engineered crops.

Dixon coauthored a paper published in Science, which outlines possible options for a policy overhaul that would bring more consistency and scientifc merit to safety

standards across the world and put more emphasis on regulating the product rather than the methods used to genetically engineer crops.

Troughout his career, Dixon has made signifcant contributions to plant science, especially in better understanding how molecules are made within plants and the implications that has for agriculture and human health. UNT celebrated his career and retirement during the Plant Biochemistry Symposium in October.

FUNGAL-DERIVED MEDS

Researchers in UNT’s BioDiscovery Institute secured a $1.4 million grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation to explore the potential to cultivate fungal-derived pharmaceuticals like penicillin in plant hosts for more accessible and environmentally sustainable medicine.

Tis study will establish a new concept for producing valuable fungal products and may lead to medicines that can be delivered in plant seeds.

“What we’re thinking longterm is that if plants can store

medicines in seeds, you eat the seeds, and the medicine is already contained. You don’t have all these factories, and you don’t need any chemicals,” says Elizabeth Skellam, assistant professor of chemistry. Skellam is leading the research team that includes Kent Chapman, director of the UNT BioDiscovery Institute, Ana Paula Alonso, associate professor of biological sciences, and Michael Carroll, professor and director of UNT’s Economics Research Group.

BIO-BASED SOLUTIONS

College of Science faculty member Calvin Henard (above) earned a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the Agile BioFoundry, a consortium of national laboratories committed to accelerating biomanufacturing. His work will further research to develop a methanotroph that can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by eating carbon

dioxide and methane. Specifcally, the project will create more advanced genetic tools that will reduce the genetic modifcation time of methanotrophs from months to a matter of weeks.

Te research proposal was one of only six selected nationwide for this inaugural funding opportunity. Te research is part of UNT’s BioDiscovery Institute, which includes an interdisciplinary team of researchers focused on creating innovative bio-based solutions to create a sustainable bio-based economy.

STORMWATER CONTROL

Lauren Ames Fischer, associate professor in public administration, is part of a team that received a National Science Foundation CIVIC 2022 Stage 1 Planning Grant to address urban water sustainability challenges.

Te collaboration with Texas A&M AgriLife and Te Nature Conservancy addresses urban fooding and the concern that traditional food control systems are less efective under climate change. Te project’s initial phase collaborates with the City of Denton to create and pilot solutions that can be adapted for the Dallas-Fort Worth area and beyond.

Members of the group say that nature-based stormwater solutions can be an efective strategy for food resilience, but are more successful when aligned with community needs.

Tis project aims to educate stakeholders on the benefts of Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) – a globally recognized nature-based alternative to traditional stormwater infrastruc-

ture – and develop a Community Green Asset Management (CGAM) tool that augments existing asset management software used by municipalities to manage and identify sustainable infrastructure solutions.

“Infrastructure planning and management has evolved considerably in the past few decades to accommodate shifting climate conditions, but it remains difcult for many local governments to strategically integrate nature-based and sustainable solutions into current practices,” Fischer says. “Tis project targets known barriers to change while also prioritizing community needs and concerns using innovative engagement strategies.”

Te project will include interactive workshops to provide hands-on exposure to BGI, such as rain gardens and blue-green roofs, and to gather community feedback, address concerns and explain the benefts of the technology.

NUCLEAR RECYCLING

Engineering professor Haifeng Zhang (above) is helping advance technologies for recycling used nuclear fuel (UNF).

He earned a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a self-powered, wireless sensor that provides long-term, real-time monitoring of high-temperature molten salt density and level. Tis will enable accurate safeguarding and

monitoring of the electrochemical processing of UNF.

“Tere is a lot of wasted spent fuel in the United States,” Zhang says.“More than 90% of energy remains in spent fuel rods in the form of unused fssile metals. Reprocessing is a means of using the remaining energy. If we can do that, we can improve fuel utilization as well as drastically reduce the high volume of radioactive waste that has been deposited where spent fuel is stored.”

GROWING NANODIAMONDS

UNT chemistry researchers discovered a novel way to grow nanodiamonds. Te new growth method researched by Hao Yan, assistant professor of chemistry, and his team yields nanodiamonds that are extremely small and uniformly sized.

Previously, they were created using explosives and required further modifcation for consistent sizes. Te novel method to produce these tiny diamonds — only a few nanometers wide and used in drug delivery, sensors and quantum computer processors — will allow them to be more easily modifed for various uses.

“Many of the applications of nanodiamonds, particularly for drug delivery, depend sensitively on their sizes,” Yan says. “Making them smaller has two benefts. First, a smaller diameter means a larger specifc surface area, thus higher capacity as a drug vehicle. Second, the smaller size eases the removal and excretion of these diamond particles and reduces their toxicity.”

GUGGENHEIM FELLOWS

College of Music faculty members Panayiotis Kokoras (left) and Sungji Hong (right) earned the coveted John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship.

Hong and Kokoras, who both teach in the Division of Composition Studies, were two of 180 recipients of the prestigious fellowship in 2022. Te award honors mid-career individuals in the U.S. and Canada for their “exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.”

Hong’s compositions include works for solo instruments, orchestra, chorus, ballet and electroacoustic media with special interest on timbre and pre-determined pitch structures. Her musical language is colorful, with a wealth of imagery and exquisite delicacy.

She previously earned commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, Tongyoung International Music Festival, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and National Flute Association, among many

others. In 2022, she also earned a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as an election as an associate by the Royal Academy of Music upon its 200th anniversary.

Kokoras, who serves as director of UNT’s Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia, is an international award-winning composer and computer music innovator. His compositions have been selected by juries in more than 300 international calls for music and have received 84 distinctions and prizes in international composition competitions.

In both instrumental and electroacoustic writing, his music calls upon a “virtuosity of sound,” a hyper-idiomatic writing which emphasizes the precise production of variable sound possibilities and the correct distinction between one timbre and another to convey the musical ideas and structure of the piece.

NEW BIRD SPECIES IN CHILE

Ricardo Rozzi, director of the UNT Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program in Chile, made a substantial aviary discovery along with international collaborators including UNT biology alumnus Ramiro Crego (’17 Ph.D.).

Te interdisciplinary research team identifed a new terrestrial bird species, Subantarctic Rayadito (Aphrastura subantarctica), in the Diego Ramírez Archipelago — the southernmost location in Chile and the Americas.

“Tis discovery is a great expression of what international collaboration can bring,” Rozzi says.

Previously, scientists only have identifed two bird species in the genus Aphrastura (rayadito), one native to the Juan Fernandez Archipelago in the Pacifc Ocean of Chile and the other native to the forests of Patagonia, the geographical region in the southernmost tip

of South America that is governed by both Argentina and Chile.

Subantarctic Rayadito difers from other Aphrastura species in its genetics; morphology (larger beaks, longer tarsi, shorter tails and larger body mass); and behavioral preferences to move at shorter distances from ground level and nest in ground cavities, mainly at the basis of albatrosses’ nests, in a non-forested habitat.

“Tis is a signifcant fnding for the bird species itself and for the conservation of its habitat, which is protected by the Diego Ramirez Islands – Drake Passage Marine Park, the largest marine protected area in southern South America that UNT helped create with the Chilean government in 2018,” Rozzi says.

Rozzi and his team of international collaborators wrote an article about the new bird species that was published in Scientifc Reports.

BRIDGING THE EDUCATION GAP

Sarah Evans, an assistant professor in the College of Information’s Department of Information Science, is studying whether graphic novels can be used as a medium to improve health literacy among a variety of populations.

She is working with diverse populations in North Texas libraries to study the understanding of health information by adults by both reading and creating graphic novel pages.

Being able to express medical issues and concerns with mediums other than words can add to research as well as the future understanding of treatment and side efects of diseases, Evans says.

Evans also created a new program to help bridge the STEM education gap in rural areas. Raise Up Radio uses local radio stations to broadcast STEM content produced by local libraries to families who may not have access to internet at home.

Te radio broadcasts connect to activity kits that community members can check out from the library, creating further learning opportunities.

Raise Up Radio was piloted at Pottsboro Area Library and Tuscaloosa Public Library. Te work is being funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.

ADVANCES IN HEARING LOSS

Researchers in the Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology in the College of Health and Public Service are working to understand how factors such as emotions, psychological wellbeing, social relationships and stress impact whether adults continue to use hearing aids once they’re purchased.

THIS WAY FORWARD

Te TEDxUNT event hosted in October featured nine speakers — including faculty members and UNT alumni — tackling issues centering on the theme “Tis Way Forward.”

Teir talks described how technology, personal development and other issues can shape people’s lives for the better.

Andrew ColomboDougovito ofered a call to action for people to take a

Read more about the speakers and watch videos. tedxunt.org

Te study by Erin Schafer, Sharon Miller and Boji Lam — supported by a grant from the Hearing Industry Research Consortium — will include 40 participants between the ages of 50 and 85 who purchase hearing aids from the UNT Speech and Hearing Center.

Separately, Miller also was involved in research targeting people with hearing loss. Miller was part of a team of researchers whose work led to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updating its cochlear implant candidacy criteria

and providing coverage for a broader spectrum of hearing loss.

Miller took part in the CMS National Coverage Analysis that led to the recommendation that older individuals who receive Medicare benefts with speech test scores of greater than 40% and less than or equal to 60% qualify for cochlear implantation.

Previously, only those whose score was below 40% could qualify. Te change to coverage will drastically expand care for older adults with a broader spectrum of hearing loss.

step toward equitable change by recognizing ableism and acknowledging our complicity and Angel Durr urged that fghting cybercrime is not just one of the most urgent issues facing modern society — it’s a matter of equity.

Violinist Scott Tixier (right) encouraged people to harness the power of improvisation while artist James Turman said people should embrace their inner child and never stop trying to answer the question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

FULBRIGHT HSI LEADER

UNT was one of 43 HispanicServing Institutions nationwide to be named a Fulbright HSI Leader by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Afairs.

Te designation is given to HSI universities who have demonstrated noteworthy engagement with Fulbright exchange participants during the 2021-22 academic year and have promoted Fulbright Program opportunities on campus.

For the 2022-23 awards cycle, 11 faculty members and students earned awards from the prestigious Fulbright Program.

Tree former students — Samuel Gaskin (’18 M.M.), Alexa Torres Skillicorn (’22 M.M.) and Megan Kelly (’22 M.S.) — will conduct research as recipients of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program Award for 2022-23.

Andrew Torget, associate professor of history, was named an award winner in the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. He is teaching at the University of Bremen in Germany this spring and is working to advance his research on German migration to Texas. Additionally, faculty members Sarah Moore and Cindy Watson were selected for the Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad to Norway in Summer 2022. Faculty members Rose Baker, Dorothy Bland, Sian Brannon, Julie Leventhal and Dipakkumar Pravin were selected for the Fulbright Specialist Roster.

CAREER TRAINING

Te UNT Workplace Inclusion & Sustainable Employment (UNT WISE), in collaboration with Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), will use a $12.7 million grant to educate employers who use subminimum wage contracts about the benefts of competitive, integrated employment.

Te partnership will create the Texas Beacons of

MACHINE TOOL WORKFORCE

Te UNT College of Engineering and Texas A&M SecureAmerica Institute are collaborating to ofer the America’s Cutting Edge (ACE) Machine Tool Workforce Development Program for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

ACE is supported by the U.S. Department of Defense Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program from the Ofce of Industrial Policy.

Te initiative was launched in 2020 to reestablish American leadership in the machine tool industry through transformative thinking, technology innovation and workforce development.

Te program uses online coursework and hands-on machining camps to connect top national experts with students such as John Creley (right) and incumbent

Excellence (TBE) to help employers enhance their skills in recruiting, retaining and accommodating employees with disabilities.

UNT WISE will provide training across communities and connect employers, self-advocates, Section 14C certifcate facilities, educational staf and community rehabilitation providers in order to create communities of practice that enhance opportunities for competitive, integrated employment.

“UNT WISE is thrilled to have an opportunity to partner with TWC where together we will improve competitive, integrated employment opportunities for people with disabilities, enhance the labor market for Texas businesses, and create a lasting and meaningful impact on our communities across the state,” says UNT WISE Director Lucy Gaford.

industrial workers from all backgrounds, levels of education and work experience. Hector Siller-Carrillo, a mechanical engineering assistant professor, is leading the ACE bootcamps at UNT’s Discovery Park.

“Te most important thing is to cultivate curiosity in students,” Siller-Carrillo says. “Since the ACE program is very engaging, they’ll be more interested in learning practical applications.”

SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

Iva Jestratijevic (below), assistant professor in merchandising and digital retailing, is looking at ways the fashion industry can reduce waste produced from packaging throughout its supply chain.

In October, Jestratijevic and her research partner Urška Vrabič-Brodnjak presented the frst global report on sustainable packaging innovation in the fashion industry in scientifc journals Sustainable Production and Consumption

and Sustainability. Teir research earned the Distinctive research award from the International Textile and Apparel Association.

Trough her research, Jestratijevic also found that a combination of sustainability strategies could help fashion brands lessen waste from their packaging. Te seven strategies include – rethinking packaging logistics, refusing to use single use packaging, reusing packaging, reducing the packaging quantity, recycling packaging, repurposing packaging and providing rot or compostable packaging solutions.

SWEET CREATIVITY

Research published by Lidan Xu, assistant professor of marketing, and her co-authors in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes shows that just a taste of something sweet can boost your creativity.

It’s not due to a sugar rush to the brain, but is related instead to the positive experiences people tend to associate with a sweet taste, such as celebrations.

BOOK USAGE

An international team led by UNT scholars was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to develop core scholarly infrastructure for the community governed sharing of quality, interoperable, open access book usage data.

Te

OA Book Usage

Data Trust project aims to make book usage data more accessible for libraries, presses, publishers and others interested in scholarly impact.

Christina Drummond, an expert in data stewardship,

“We often associate sweet things with a positive and safe environment,” Xu says. “When we are in this environment, we are more willing to take risks.”

Xu says this research is a frst step in understanding how what people eat can infuence how they think and behave, which could be valuable knowledge for employers to use in boosting innovation in their companies.

Learn about UNT research in The Lab series on YouTube.

joined UNT Libraries as executive director of the OA Book Usage Data Trust and principal investigator of the research.

As a pioneer in open access, UNT was the frst public institution in Texas to adopt a policy in support of open access and has hosted an annual Open Access Symposium since 2010.

“Advancing accessibility to research is a priority for UNT as a Tier One public research university,” says Diane Bruxvoort, dean of UNT Libraries.“We are proud to remain on the forefront as leaders in open access.”

TAKING FLIGHT

UNT’s Center for Integrated Intelligent Mobility Systems (CIIMS) is paving the way for the future of transportation and mobility — working to accelerate collaboration between manufacturers, logistics professionals and emerging technologies to develop unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous cars and robots.

Learn more about CIIMS and other innovative UNT research. research.unt.edu

ADVANCING EQUITY

As a classified Minority-Serving and Hispanic-Serving Institution, UNT researchers are finding innovative and interdisciplinary ways to advance equity in all areas of society, from health care and education to industry.

TEXT: AMANDA FULLER

PHOTOGRAPHY: AHNA HUBNIK

Maria Otero (right) was volunteering at a summer camp for children with special needs when she frst witnessed the life-changing power of applied behavior analysis.

“I’d hang out with some kids one summer, and by the next summer they’d made a ton of improvement,” she says.“It was a common thread that a lot of these kids were getting applied behavior analysis therapy.”

Born in Colombia, Otero migrated to the U.S. at the age of fve as a political refugee with her mother and older sister. After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in behavioral analysis at UNT — one of few universities in the nation to ofer the program to undergraduates — she’s now a second-year doctoral candidate and a member of G-RISE, a National Institutes of Health-funded program that recruits and prepares a diverse pool of doctoral scientists for careers in the biomedical research felds.

She’s well on her way, currently serving as a board-certifed behavior analyst at Cook Children’s Hospital providing early intensive behavioral interventions to children with autism spectrum disorder.

Trough her research in the lab of Manish Vaidya, associate professor of behavior analysis, Otero is working to develop technologies that enable clinicians, teachers and other caregivers to be more efcient and efective in providing datadriven interventions for children with learning difculties.

“I focus on creating technologies that help facilitate learning for children,” she says.“Systemically speaking, there just aren’t enough people to provide the services they need, and that can set them behind for the rest of their lives. But we can make a diference; through research and through technology that is user-friendly and accessible, we can bridge those gaps.”

As a classifed Minority-Serving and Hispanic-Serving Institution, UNT’s research is more than ever focused on creating equity and addressing real issues plaguing our society from health care, research and education to opportunities for those often underserved entering the workforce. Tis past year, UNT saw a number of frsts for its HSI initiative, including membership in Excelencia in Education’s Presidents for Latino Student Success, a network of college and university leaders committed to cultivating a learning environment where Latino students thrive.

Te partnership came shortly after UNT announced its founding membership in the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities, a group of 21 of the nation’s top research universities committed to increasing opportunity for students historically underserved by higher education. Members strive to achieve two key goals by 2030: to double their number of Hispanic doctoral students and increase their Hispanic professoriate by 20%.

“Becoming more intentional in the steps we take to serve all of our students will have far-reaching benefts for not just all of the members of UNT’s diverse and caring community,” says Pam Padilla, vice president of research and innovation,“but our society at large as these innovative thinkers create solutions for a more equitable future.”

HEALTH CARE GAPS

UNT’s Center for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Health and Society (CREEHS) continues to increase its impact, engaging faculty from all disciplines to increase the quality of life for all Texans by narrowing longstanding racial and ethnic gaps in health care. Created in 2020, CREEHS investigates health inequity in the systems and conditions in which people in Texas, live, work and learn.

As part of the center’s research, Head Start to Healthy Lifestyles is a fve-year project led by Tao Zhang and Jean Keller, professors of kinesiology, health promotion and recreation. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Texas Department of Health and Human Services, the program is a large-scale partnership with Child Care Associates, Texas Woman’s University, Denton ISD and Tarrant Area Food Bank administered through Head Start and by parents at home to explore how physical activity and evidence-based nutrition can improve health outcomes for preschoolers from underserved communities.

“We want to help these children live healthier, more meaningful lives, and that starts with establishing good physical activity habits at a young age,” Zhang says.

Additionally, medical sociologist Gül Seçkin, an associate professor of sociology and CREEHS faculty associate, was struck by how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a growing threat to health equity in the U.S.: digital health misinformation and how it afects marginalized communities and communities of color. She is working to create a tool for a wide range of communities that will strengthen digital health literacy and build more trust in the medical system.

“Te goal is to help people, especially older adults, develop the skills to assess the credibility of information they access online,” she says.

CHANGING EDUCATION

For Karisma Morton, assistant professor of mathematics education, the frst step to transforming the future landscape of education is transforming future teachers. How children learn math — and more importantly, what they believe about how they learn math — is deeply infuenced by cultural and societal factors. Trough her scholarly work and teaching, Morton investigates the mechanisms through which gender and racial inequities in STEM education occur and works to instill the principles of equity-minded pedagogy in preservice elementary teachers. In her classes, Morton cultivates opportunities for her students to interact with the concepts of justice-oriented pedagogy, to refect on their own experiences as math learners and deepen their understanding of the various challenges and approaches.

“It’s meaningful to have diversity and equity work recognized by industry. That’s how you grow opportunities for students. We can do so much more together.”

Nandika D’Souza, associate dean of undergraduate studies in the College of Engineering

“I want to leave them with tools and a new perspective of what math learning can be for all children,” she says.

Morton was a member of the 2022 cohort of the UNT D.C. Faculty Research Fellows Program, which provides tenure-track assistant professors with connections to national agencies and mentorship in how to secure funding for research.

“My focus is the students in front of me,” she says,“and the students in front of them.”

Additionally, Nandika D’Souza, Regents Professor and associate dean in the College of Engineering, is serving as lead principal investigator on a new $800,000 NSF grant awarded to UNT and the North Central Texas College to create more opportunities for Latino/a students and communities in engineering. Te program will incorporate community-building, networking, academic assistance and career coaching to create research-informed institutional change.

In addition to receiving the 2022 Distinguished Service Award from the Women in Engineering ProActive Network, D’Souza also earned the 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award from the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering for her commitment to incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion in her research and teaching.

“It’s meaningful to have diversity and equity work recognized by industry,” D’Souza says. “Tat’s how you grow opportunity for students. We can do so much more together.”

STEP IT UP

Melissa Savage, assistant professor of educational psychology and faculty asso ciate in UNT’s Center for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Health and Society, is research ing a group that often faces barriers to in clusion in healthy habits: individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Despite laws that have been enacted to facilitate inclusive participation, many of the most popular opportunities — like the Special Olympics and community pro grams — are still segregated.

Savage, along with colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have created a program called Step It Up to research self-management strategies to support individuals with disabilities in exercise and use that information to cre ate effective, scalable interventions.

Her project began with a $30,000 pilot re search grant from the Organization for Au tism Research that focused on the individ ual factors contributing to adults with disabilities participating in physical activi ty, employing self-management tech niques and social support through individ ual coaches. The study reinforced Savage’s belief that although it is crucial to build skills and capability at the individual

level, meaningful inclusion requires a sys temic solution.

“Equality and access are there, but the social barriers make inclusive partici pation more challenging,” she says, adding that the next phase of the proj ect will be a multi-site partnership with UNC researchers.

The teams will build on Savage’s pilot pro gram, engaging with caregivers, support professionals, exercise professionals and community leaders to remove barriers to inclusion, shift perspectives and establish inclusive fitness experiences ranging from classes and programs to community events. She will work with CREEHS to re cruit participants representative of the ra cial and socioeconomic diversity of North Texas communities and has already be gun securing community partners includ ing The Rec of Grapevine.

“Another big part of our work is to ensure we involve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in our research and find better methods to help us do that,” Savage says. “Learning from indi viduals directly and their experiences can support increasing healthy habits for all.”

Faculty members Lauren Cross, Jon Nelson, Liss LaFleur and Katherine Sobering are pursuing their creative endeavors as part of the 2022-23 Institute for the Advancement of the Arts Faculty Fellows program.

UNT is committed to fostering creativity and launched the IAA in 2009 to support and advance excellence in the visual, performing, creative and literary arts. Each year, the university selects professors to be part of the Faculty Fellows program, which enables UNT faculty to focus on creative endeavors for a semester and then bring their enhanced perspectives to teaching.

From a new media music composition inspired by time and sound and an exhibition on African American fber art traditions to original research on the childbirth experiences of queer people in America, this year’s fellows come from a range of disciplines to ofer unique contributions in their felds of study.

CREATIVE ENDEAVORS

Faculty members pursuing research projects in the arts as IAA Fellows

Jon Nelson, professor of composition, was inspired by the extreme gravitational pull of black holes to create the composition “Toward the Event Horizon,” which will stretch and granulate sound recordings to echo the notions of time and sounds during black holes.

Lauren Cross, assistant professor of interdisciplinary art and design studies, is curating an exhibition of artists of African descent who work with fber art traditions. Te works will be displayed at CVAD Galleries and her research will be included in the book, African American Women Artists & the Fiber Tradition: History & Impact.

Liss LaFleur, associate professor of new media art, and Katherine Sobering, assistant professor of sociology, are working together on Te Queer Birth Project, which includes an exhibition and publication about the childbirth experiences of LGBTQ+ people in America. Te frst installation of this work exhibited at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas last summer.

TEXT: HEATHER NOEL

ILLUSTRATION: CLIFFTON CASTER

INNOVATORS TO WATCH

CREATING A CULTURE OF DISCOVERY

UNT STUDENTS ARE LEARNING FIRSTHAND HOW THEIR INNOVATION CAN IMPACT MUSIC, SCIENCE AND EDUCATION.

MONITORING BIRD NUMBERS

Tessa Boucher (’20), a master’s student in environmental science, is tracking how the North Texas Municipal Water District’s restoration of the 15,000-acre Riverby Ranch is changing the bird population there. Preliminary results have found the eforts have helped increase bird diversity — one of the indicators of success for a restoration project. A lover of animals, Boucher was originally on the path to become a veterinarian, but her undergraduate research on painted buntings with UNT principal lecturer James Bednarz at Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area made her realize she was passionate about working in ecosystem restoration. Her research has earned multiple awards from the Texas Society for Ecological Restoration.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Megan Kelly (’22 M.S.), a recent graduate of the international sustainable tourism master’s program, was inspired by her work as a fight attendant to be part of the solution in preserving travel destinations. Her graduate research focused on the Costa Rican destination image on Instagram and how to tie destination image to sustainable tourist behaviors. As a recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Award for 2022-23, Kelly will continue this research by looking at the impact social media and government policy have made on destination image and tourist behavior in Puerto Williams, Chile. Te results will provide data and strategies for tourism businesses to build pro-environmental behaviors and online communities to protect their delicate destinations.

POLITICS OF CHINESE HIP-HOP

Meng Ren, a doctoral ethnomusicology student, is documenting the evolution of Chinese hip-hop in her dissertation titled “Forbidden Sound: Te Art, Culture and Politics of Chinese HipHop,” the frst full-length work on this topic. Trough her research, Ren speaks to how hip-hop gives the marginalized a voice to express their political discontent through creative sound. Her contribution to music research earned her the 2021 Presser Foundation Graduate Scholar award as well as second place in UNT’s Tree-Minute Tesis (3MT®) competition. She plans to expand her research by exploring the preservation of Yunnan reggae and investigating music as a mode of healing.

PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HEART

Percyval Seddoh, a teaching assistant and master’s student in biomedical engineering, is studying cardiovascular tissue engineering, with an emphasis on creating microscopic representations of the heart to model issues such as diseases and aging. His research is under the guidance of assistant professor of biomedical engineering Huaxiao Yang, whose lab is working to establish the next-generation tissue engineering system for modeling and treating cardiovascular diseases. Seddoh’s graduate research specifcally is focused on recreating the physiology of the human heart. In the future, he plans to become a neurosurgeon helping patients who have experienced traumatic brain injuries, strokes or anyone sufering from a rare neuronal disease.

INCLUSIVE PATHWAYS

Kenzie Duwe, an undergraduate integrative studies major with concentrations in rehabilitation studies, sociology and education, has been researching the UNT ELEVAR Transition Pathways program alongside Melissa Savage, an assistant professor of educational psychology. Duwe is helping observe coaching sessions between UNT pre-service teaching students and middle and high school students with disabilities at North Texas school districts. Te study will ofer insight on the experiences of students with disabilities transitioning from K-12 to adulthood as well as the preparation of pre-service students to work with this population. In her career, Duwe wants to help international families who have children with disabilities to navigate the U.S. public school system.

UNDERSTANDING ECOSYSTEMS

Joyradyn James-Rollins, a McNair Scholar and undergraduate majoring in ecology and minoring in chemistry, is conducting research in the lab of Zacchaeus Compson, a biological sciences assistant professor affiliated with UNT’s Advanced Environmental Research Institute who specializes in food web ecology, aquatic ecology and DNA metabarcoding. JamesRollins’ project is titled, “Assessing the controls of C and N transfer from leaves to aquatic insects in streams of the National Ecological Observatory Network,” and is part of a larger stream ecosystem research project. Their research can be used to not only understand trophic systems in stream environments, but also to develop a comprehensive understanding that can help accurately predict how climate change or other factors may affect these ecosystems.

BILINGUAL LEARNING

Maria Ortega (’22), a frst-generation education major with EC-6 bilingual certifcation, had her frst research publication,“Juntxs with the comunidad: A collaboration across two universities and one school district,” in the Texas Journal of Literacy Education. Te paper shares her experiences with the Bilingual Homework Hotline, an online homework help platform created in response to COVID-19’s impact in Denton’s Latinx community. It critically examines bilingual education with a look toward improving the feld for future students. Trough her work in education, Ortega hopes to help underrepresented students who speak English as a second language by not only advocating for them, but also being an example of what they can achieve when they see someone who looks like them in positions of authority.

NEURAL NETWORKING

Sahar Behpour (’22 Ph.D), a recent doctoral graduate in information science, realized her strong interest in developing data-driven universal artifcial intelligence after taking a machine learning course with Mark Albert, assistant professor of biomedical engineering. While studying the visual information processing in the brain, also known as efcient coding, Behpour wondered,“How can we use similar processes when making artifcial neuron networks?” From this inquiry, she chose her dissertation topic – weight initialization of convolutional neural networking using unsupervised machine learning. Each new research discovery and focus leads Behpour to her ultimate goal of becoming a leader in the artifcial intelligence feld. She hopes to create diferent infostructures to analyze data and models to provide a diverse set of services for the greater community.

FASHION EDUCATION

Jennifer Stanley, a design graduate student with a concentration in fashion design and creative technology, is discovering ways to transform fashion design education. Stanley partnered with UNT fashion design faculty Chanjuan Chen and Hae Jin Gam to explore how students’ learning ability can improve when using technology along with collaborative teaching strategies. Stanley hopes to encourage fashion design educators to critically refect on traditional coursework and to promote improved learning experiences that can prepare students for a future in an industry that stands on the culture of collaboration. As a domestic violence survivor, Stanley’s Jen•Ley fashion label shares empowering designs inspired by social issues and women’s rights while raising awareness for domestic violence victims. Stanley next plans to research how wearable technologies can be taught to aspiring fashion designers.

BOREN FELLOW IN MILITARY HISTORY

Andrew Huebner (’19 M.A.), a doctoral student in history, became the frst UNT graduate student to be named a Boren Fellow. Te highly competitive Boren Fellowship, funded by the National Security Education Program, is open to U.S. graduate students and funds research and language study in “world regions critical to U.S. interests.” Huebner is spending a full academic year learning Russian at Russian Language Academy in Latvia, as well as conducting archival research in the Baltic Sea region for his dissertation examining how American humanitarian relief operations in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) during the years immediately following WWI played a key role in the rise of new nation-states and the development of humanitarian relief. As a Boren Fellow, Huebner will work for at least one year in a federal agency after completing his doctoral degree at UNT.

Whether it’s studying the logistics of drones, using satellite imagery or the power of big data, UNT researchers through the support of NASA are making innovative discoveries that are out of this world.

TEXT: JESSICA DELEÓN

In an emergency, every minute is critical and could mean the diference between life or death. Flying an unmanned air ambulance along predefned “air routes” could get help to an accident scene more quickly after a 9-1-1 call. Tose same “air routes” could connect various hospitals, drastically speeding up delivery times for donated organs and human tissue needed for lifesaving transplants.

Tis vision of “air routes” — creating set paths in the airspace for drones to fy from point to point — would be like “highways in the sky,” says Kamesh Namuduri, UNT professor of electrical engineering. It’s not a reality yet, but that vision from Namuduri and other researchers in UNT’s Center for Integrated Int e l l i g e nt Mo b i l i t y Systems (CIIMS) got one step closer to reality on a bright day this past October.

A surrogate electric Vertical Take-Of and L a n d i ng ( e V TOL ) aircraft, accompanied by a Bell 407GXi helicopter, took of from CIIMS partner Hillwood’s AllianceTexas Flight Test Center in Justin and few to UNT’s Discovery Park in Denton. Namuduri and other researchers monitored the test fight, using their radios and tablets to stay connected.

Te project moved researchers closer to a high-demand air route for unmanned, autonomous cargo- and passengercarrying air transport. As part of the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign Project, the exercise involved the work of 15 entities including NASA as well as Bell Textron, Unmanned Experts Inc., AAMTEX, Hillwood and the Federal Aviation Administration.

“CIIMS works with all 15 partners very closely,” Namuduri says. “Te highways in the sky help move people and cargo much faster, thus contributing to local and regional economic growth as well as preparing the future workforce through education and training.”

But it’s not the only project that UNT researchers are conducting with NASA, one of the nation’s most prestigious government agencies. From examining satellite and aerial images aimed at improving farmers’ irrigation techniques to using shape memory alloy technology to make aircraft fy faster, researchers are using NASA’s many tools and funding — and putting UNT, a Tier One public research university on the rise, on the map for its interdisciplinary, forward-thinking approaches — to create innovative projects that could transform lives.

Namuduri, who frst learned about the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign at a conference in 2020, is excited for the prospects for these “highways in the sky.”

“In the future, we are going to see a lot of vehicles. And if we are guaranteeing the safety and security of people and infrastructure, then we are going to see a

lot of scaling up, thousands of vehicles are going to fy,” says Namuduri. “We are the pioneers in this new technology and are seeking to make this vision a safer, better future reality for all of us.”

INTELLIGENT MOBILITY

Tose two years of work preparing for the simulation involved detailed planning and research to make sure the systems were working, which included technologies such as future airspace system automation and advanced communications infrastructure. Te sprints were scripted and well-planned ahead of time by the UNT team and their partners to make sure the trafc management system was working properly.

Te researchers had to consider what issues and challenges the unmanned aircraft may encounter — such as regulations, safety and how to handle weather. Tey even simulated a rainstorm during its second test run. Tey also needed to determine how drones “talk” to each other, such as giving the right of way at an intersection.

Te simulation provided vital data for industry standards in airspace management, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication and autonomous fight operations, as well as expanded on earlier NASA-led research to include the integration of live weather data and dynamic capacity balancing into a complex hardware and software solution needed to realize the next generation of airborne travel.

“Te test moves the North Texas region one step closer to a future where

“The test moves the North Texas region one step closer to a future where air taxis, air ambulances and delivery vehicles are a normal part of

Watch a video about how CIIMS is changing transportation and mobility.

life.”

— Kamesh Namuduri, co-director of UNT’s Center for Integrated Intelligent Mobility Systems

CREATING INTELLIGENT MOBILITY

UNT researchers from across disciplines work together to deploy intelligent mobility systems, including autonomous vehicle and aerial drone technology, in rural and urban settings.

UNT’s Center for Integrated Intelligent Mobility Systems (CIIMS) is paving the way for the future of transportation and mobility working to accelerate collaboration between manufacturers, logistics professionals and emerging technologies to develop unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous cars and robots.

Texas Flight Test Center in Justin and UNT’s Discovery Park in Denton, the university announced another new collaboration.

—

Established in 2020, the center is focused on integrated, intelligent mobility systems as well as creating solutions for the systems’ complexities, such as the technology, data and policy. It brings together more than 50 researchers across disciplines, from the College of Engineering and the G. Brint Ryan College of Business to the College of Information and College of Health and Public Service.

“The whole concept of mobility we’re tackling is very broad and encompassing,” says Terry Pohlen, senior associate dean of the G. Brint Ryan College of Business, director of UNT’s Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research and co-director of CIIMS. “It ranges from personal mobility to supply chains and the movement of freight.”

INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS

The center’s projects have tapped into partnerships with national and global implications. In addition to this past October’s live flight test of emerging Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) technologies, including a simulated air route between industry partner Hillwood’s Alliance-

During the summer, UNT partnered with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to develop an Advanced Regional Mobility Corridor that will offer future economic opportunity and growth. Leadership from both sides are collaborating to create a plan for facilitating a multi-modal advanced transportation corridor that will leverage progress with emerging transportation technologies, including automated ground vehicles and AAM.

Choctaw Nation also is developing an Emerging Aviation Technology Center on more than 44,500 acres of tribal-owned land within the Choctaw Nation Reservation and has already built an extensive aviation testing safety infrastructure to support research, development and testing of emerging aviation technologies.

“The future opportunities associated with advanced transportation technologies are exciting and are happening faster than we may realize,” says James L. Grimsley, executive director of advanced technology initiatives with the Choctaw Nation Oklahoma and an Oklahoma Transportation Commissioner. “Future economic growth and even quality of life and quality of health in our communities will be directly impacted by emerging transportation technologies.”

And UNT’s expertise and industry connections in North Texas position it at the forefront of the development of intelligent mobility systems that can solve big problems.

“We are advancing all aspects of research from intelligent mobility ideas to business practices to the community acceptance of the autonomous ground and air vehicles with the cooperation of industry,” says Andrey Voevodin, co-director of CIIMS and associate dean for research in the College of Engineering.

TEST FLIGHT FACILITY

The center also is constructing a $1.2 million outdoor Advanced Mobility Test Facility for researching autonomous air and ground vehicles at UNT’s Discovery Park, which will be the first of its kind in Texas. Researchers can conduct field tests in all weather conditions and in full compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration, while ground-based equipment can test communications for autonomous cars. In spring 2022, legislative staffers and industry partners visited Discovery Park to learn more about the center.

“When we develop and integrate the intelligent mobility innovations, business models and technologies into one cohesive focus, and when we co-operate closely with our industry, federal, state and regional government partners and policy makers, all of this is for one purpose,” Voevodin says. “To improve the quality of life for citizens and communities in Texas and beyond.”

air taxis, air ambulances and delivery vehicles are a normal part of life,” Namuduri says.

His work is part of CIIMS, in which faculty in various disciplines — from business to engineering — have collaborated and brought their expertise together around intelligent mobility since its founding in 2020.

Namuduri, who has eight active grants and has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA and U.S. Air Force, is principal investigator on another project — funded with a three-year $746,000 grant from NASA — that will explore the supply chain logistics of high-volume manufacturing, such as the gaps that need to be addressed to be able to build drones.

Te research also involves faculty members Terry Pohlen and Ila Manuj from the G. Brint Ryan College of Business and Nandika D’Souza from the College of Engineering. Tey are creating processes for commercialization of unmanned aircraft systems and components. Te research received additional funding from the U.S. Air Force and North Central Texas Council of Governments.

“What we’re doing here at UNT is at the very forefront of the transformation in transportation,” Pohlen says. “With advanced air mobility combined with artifcial intelligence and machine learning, we are going to open up a tremendous amount of opportunities and new applications that we haven’t even dreamed of.”

SHAPING ALLOYS

Marcus Young, associate professor of materials science and engineering, also has his eye on the sky. He used his skills in shape memory alloys — those that

can be deformed when cold but return to their pre-deformed “remembered” shape when heated — for a future hypersonic aircraft for NASA.

Young served as part of its University Leadership Initiative, a group of university researchers and industry partners. Team members characterized and processed materials to make torque tubes that extend and contract based on electrical heat and result in shape morphing of the airplane’s body. Tis shape morphing reduces the loudness of the airplane as it travels at hypersonic speeds, since people often complain when it’s 75 decibels or above. Unsurprisingly, the measure of this unit is also known as the “noise annoyance level.”

“If we want to fy fast through residential areas, we need aircraft to be quiet,” Young says.

Te alloys make the fight more efcient as well. Te researchers shaped the panel so it can change from concave to convex and it breaks up the airfow which can be tuned to reduce the noise. His group made new alloys, from which he created wires and tubes that are signifcantly lighter and smaller.

“In doing so, manufacturers can put them in smaller places within the aircraft body that wouldn’t have been possible before,” he says.

Te team was the frst to make a high temperature version of shape memory alloy wire, which has a fatigue lifetime of over 20,000 cycles, meaning it has a longer service time before needing to be replaced. Tis goal is important for opening the door to many more applications in industries including and beyond aerospace. Tey’ve set a goal to extend that to 100,000 cycles.

Shape memory alloys ofer functions here on Earth. Te Jaguar car has used

“If we want to fly fast through residential areas, we need aircraft to be quiet.”

Marcus Young, associate professor of materials science and engineering

shape memory alloy on the side of its autos so it’s faster and more efcient. Cell phones and cars use the alloys for their antennae. And alloys are used in mechanisms to heat or cool car seats as well.

“Tey end up making their way into things that people often use but wouldn’t think about,” Young says.

Young’s work with metals has varied from his career as a scientist who bends metals to ft the needs for manufacturers and other institutions to his role as an artist who makes sculptures. He has worked with fellow UNT researchers to use shape memory alloy technology for making bulletproof protection material for the U.S. Army and improving superconductive wires. He used a dual beam ultra-high resolution feld emission scanning electron microscope to research the processing and manufacturing techniques such as what base metals were used and details on grain size and plating behind the alterations of a 500-year-old painting for the Dallas Museum of Art.

He won the Visiting Scholar Program Award at Chemnitz University of Technology, where he was a visiting researcher in 2022, and he won the College of Engineering’s PACCAR Distinguished Faculty Fellow Award in 2020.

Young’s membership in the Consortium for the Advancement of Shape Memory Alloy Research and Technology (CASMART) has paved the way in his career. He joined the group when he was a graduate student at Northwestern University and a research metallurgist with ATI, a company that creates specialty alloys. He continued his membership when he joined UNT in 2012 and has brought UNT students with him for its conferences and competitions.

But the ULI project with NASA was unique. Ofcials at the agency provided guidance and helped the group focus on aspects important to NASA based on feedback from annual reviews.

“It was nice to see the big picture of implementing a new device into an aircraft,”Young says.“Te large team with many diferent disciplines interacting was helpful to understand the role of the material within this context. Seeing a fnal shape memory alloy device, which we created as a team, morphing its shape to simulated changing weather conditions in real time was one of the highlights of the fve-year program.”

GAINING PERSPECTIVE

But the work for NASA isn’t always limited to the sky. Back on the ground, the crops in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley are constantly changing the environment. Some methods to measure the changes such as fux towers collecting data on water vapor and carbon dioxide exchange rates between the Earth and atmosphere, and a census of water assessing its supply and use — may not always be accurate.

“But satellite photos can tell a story,” says Lu Liang, associate professor of geography and the environment, adding

“There are a lot of things NASA does besides looking outside to space — they also look back toward the Earth for discovery.”

— Xiaohui Yuan, associate professor of computer science and engineering

that satellite and aerial images cover a broader landscape and allow researchers to see how the sun lies on the felds.

Of the freshwater consumed in the world annually, 70% is used for agricultural irrigation. However, 40% of water used by farmers is wasted through evaporation as well as poor irrigation and water management.

Liang and Xiaohui Yuan, associate professor of computer science and engineering, are examining high-quality satellite and aerial images to see what irrigation techniques farmers in that region are using and to determine how techniques have been changed to accurately assess water use efciency on farmlands.

Tey have received $650,000 in grants from NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey and UNT (as a seed grant). In addition, they have earned other honors. Liang is a 2021-22 Early Career Professorship Award winner for her transformative research. Yuan was an Air Force Summer

Faculty Fellow, Air Force Ofce of Scientifc Research from 2012 to 2013.

Te researchers take the images with each pixel representing one square meter and divide them into small square patches. Using their skill sets and artifcial intelligence for model generation and processing, they can annotate those patterns on the imagery.

“Tere are a lot of things NASA does besides looking outside to space — they also look back toward the Earth for discovery,” Yuan says.

TAKING A MOONSHOT

For the astronauts who are traveling in space — specifcally to the moon — Huseyin Bostanci, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and his students want astronauts to have healthy air.

Tey’re creating solutions for the Artemis mission, which is expected to launch with humans in 2025 as part of the 2022-23 Moon to Mars eXploration Systems and Habitation (M2M X-Hab)

Academic Innovation Challenge, sponsored by NASA and the National Space Grant Foundation.

Te team from UNT — one of only six universities selected for the program — is trying to fnd alternative technologies for removing carbon dioxide from cabin air since the current technology has reliability issues and requires maintenance. Deep space missions, such as trips to Mars, will require months of travel, so the team is working on a prototype system to demonstrate efcient and reliable air revitalization, and enable astronauts to breathe as normally as possible.

“Separation of liquid and gas phases plays a critical role in air revitalization technologies, but it’s very challenging in microgravity conditions,” Bostanci says.

Te project, titled “Regenerable Liquid Desiccants for High-Efciency Humidity Control in Microgravity,” received $50,000 and Bostanci, who has participated in related projects since 2019, has received $340,000 so far in

Ruth

grants from NASA. He also received the New Investigator Award from the NASA Texas Space Grant Consortium in 2013.

He notes that he and the students get to work with NASA on developing innovative technologies and students are able to take part in internships and presentations.

“It is a great opportunity for them to collaborate with NASA,” he says.

DATA FOR THE FUTURE

For her collaboration with NASA and other researchers, Ruth West is harnessing big data about the planet.

West, professor and director of the xREZ Art + Science Lab in the College of Visual Arts and Design, is part of a team that is creating new approaches to help scientists identify, track and understand the evolution of multidimensional Earth science phenomena, such as wildfre smoke plumes movement throughout the atmosphere, through the GEOS Visualization And Lagrangian dynamics Immersive eXtended Reality (VALIXR) Tool for Scientifc Discovery.

Thanks to a $102,000 grant from NASA, West and other researchers are working on the project with engineers and researchers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Maryland and University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Te team will develop a scientifc exploration analysis and mixed reality tool with integrated Lagrangian dynamics for the Goddard Earth Observing System numerical weather prediction model. Scientists will be able to see inside of the numerical models underlying the creation of simulations and Digital Twins — a term used to indicate the simulation of something in the real world but in virtual reality so that data updates the simulation continuously — to create new insights through the use of immersive technology.

West says the project will beneft NASA by creating the ability to track and understand the evolution of earth science and phenomena on very large scales.

“We live in an era when big data, machine learning and multidimensional simulation ofer exciting opportunities to gain new insight into ourselves and our world,” West says. “Te data and models are immense and getting larger by the day. New tools and approaches to allow us to gain insight from this data at increasingly larger resolutions in space and time are urgently needed.”

All of these projects require years of research about complicated challenges.

But the researchers also bring great passion to their work. Ohad Shemmer, associate professor of physics, was fascinated with the stars in the sky as a

“We live in an era when big data, machine learning and multidimensional simulation offer exciting opportunities to gain new insight into ourselves and our world.

West, professor and director of xREZ Art + Science Lab in the College of Visual Arts and Design

high school student in the late 1980s in his native Israel. Every night, he would keep track of how they varied in brightness over time and mail the information to the American Association of Variable Star Observers, which collected the data. He knew he was able to fill in gaps for a particular night or target, usually a star or sometimes an active galaxy, for a professional astronomer who missed that opportunity.

Now, he studies and measures the mass of black holes — and he’s made signifcant discoveries. In 2019, he was part of a team that found the most remote “cloaked” black hole, thanks to the help of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

“This really is my dream job,” he says. “It’s not only the observation at different wavelengths and frequencies or the study of physics that brings me joy it’s the excitement of never-ending discoveries.”

WORKING FOR NASA

Alumni and students are using their UNT education to make their mark in their respective fields at NASA.

As a young boy growing up in Nigeria, John Femi-Oyetoro (above) (’17 M.S., ’21 Ph.D.) always needed to know things. He was known to tear radios apart to see what was inside them.

“I was curious and I asked questions. ‘Why does this work?’ ‘Why do we look to the sky?’”

Now as a postdoctoral fellow for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, he conducts research and develops infrared detectors for space applications in ground or space telescopes.

He’s not the only UNT community member whose path has led them to the nation’s premier space agency. Members of the Mean Green Family are contributing their research expertise in everything from history to learning technologies.

Janetta Robins Boone, a doctoral student in learning technologies, is an instructional technologist who develops computer and video training modules for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Boone uses her coding and graphic design skills to help develop videos, often shot in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility that is the same scale as the ISS.

“I love contributing any way I can to the mission of NASA and space flight in general,” she says.

Jennifer Ross-Nazzal (’21 M.S.) works as a historian at the Johnson Space Center — even publishing the book Making Space for Women: Stories from Trailblazing Women of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

She relishes talking to people who make NASA work. For an oral history project, she interviewed more than 300 people about their roles at NASA.

“I wonder what more I could learn about women at NASA,” she says. “You can work at NASA even if you’re a non-technical person. Librarians, attorneys and many more are part of that mission to make it successful.”

Femi-Oyetoro says researchers could spend their whole career on a project. But he is hooked, knowing that he’s making a difference for humankind through his work.

“I’m passionate about this research, which helps form the foundation of technologies crucial for enabling science observations giving us a better understanding of Earth-like planets, ocean worlds and science measurements that point to potential hubs of life. Space is vast,” he says, “and there is so much to explore.”

ALUMNI INNOVATORS @ WORK

CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH, TRAILBLAZING CAREERS

INNOVATION HAS BEEN PART OF UNT’S CULTURE SINCE 1890, AND GRADUATES HAVE CARRIED THAT SPIRIT THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AS RESEARCHERS, INNOVATORS AND LEADERS.

PROTECTING CROPS FROM PATHOGENS

John Ryals (’77) is co-founder of AgBiome, which fnds bacteria in the soil so it can protect crops against insects and pathogens. A board member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University and Duke University, he boasts 30 years of experience in plant genetics and bioengineering. He served as head of research for CIBA-Geigy Agricultural Biotechnology, which created the frst genetically engineered corn seed product, Maximizer Seeds. He established Paradigm Genetics and Metabolon, one of the world’s leaders in metabolomics, and other companies that focus on plant genetics and commercialization. He completed his postdoctoral training and taught at the University of Zurich.

FINDING HUMANITY IN WORDS

Rebecca Bernard’s (’21 Ph.D.) teaching work at a men’s prison in Kentucky provided a new way of looking at incarcerated people – and inspiration for her writing. Bernard, an assistant professor of English at Angelo State University, worked on the stories during her frst two years of her doctoral work in creative writing and fction at UNT that became the book Our Sister Who Will Not Die. It won the 2021 Non/Fiction Collection Prize from Te Journal and was published by Mad Creek Books, an imprint of Te Ohio State University Press. Her dissertation, with the working title In the Way of Family, is now undergoing revisions with her agent.

STEM LEADER IN AVIATION INNOVATION

Johnna Sargent (’16), an engineering specialist for the mission systems group at Bell Flight, received the Modern Day Technology Leader Award from the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Conference. Te award recognizes midlevel professionals who help shape the future of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in their careers and communities. Sargent worked on the Bell Boeing CMV-22B Navy Carrier onboard delivery confguration and helped create innovative technology that reads the fuel gauge while improving the amount of fuel carried and the fight distance. Sargent previously received the Women of Color’s STEM Technology Rising Star Award.

EXPLORING PUNITIVE ATTITUDES

Kelly Pierce (’20) studies punitive attitudes in the criminal justice system. While working on her master’s degree at UNT, she started research on public attitudes toward harsh punishment for crimes, which is now being funded by the University of Cincinnati where she is pursuing her Ph.D. She has contributed on two research publications with UNT criminal justice faculty mentors including one on anti-immigrant sentiment with Adam Trahan and another on protective efects of social bonds with Jessica Craig and Haley Zettler. Her current research focuses on human trafcking in Ohio. After fnishing her dissertation, she hopes to continue research and work for a nonproft or think tank.

ANALYZING THE CHEMISTRY OF CONFECTIONS

Xiaohu Xia (’03 Ph.D.), currently a principal scientist for Mars Wrigley Global Research and Development, leads material research to improve the performance and sustainability of confectioneries enjoyed every day by consumers around the world including Double Mint gum, M&M chocolate, Snickers bar and others. His work has led to about 20 patent applications and earned him the Wrigley Breakthrough Innovation Award. While at UNT, Xia worked on hydrogel nanoparticles for biomedical applications under the mentorship of late professor Zhibing Hu in the Department of Physics.

BEYOND THE PLATE

From biochemistry and nutrition to history and anthropology, UNT food scholars are carving out new paths of discovery.

As an expert in plant biochemistry, UNT professor Ana Paula Alonso (top left) knows a lot about plant behavior, but she’s learned throughout her career to expect the unexpected.

“Plants don’t stop to amaze me,” Alonso says.“Tey are these little chemical factories that produce our food, produce our oxygen — they do so much for us that we don’t even know.”

In the UNT BioDiscovery Institute’s Environmental Science Greenhouse, Alonso’s team of researchers spend hours each week documenting a collection of novel soybeans as part of a project that could one day prove soybeans as a viable protein alternative. In UNT dining halls, chefs and administrative staf are designing menus and operations to be more environmentally sustainable and opening their spaces for research about food literacy and choice. And across academic disciplines at UNT — the only comprehensive Tier One research university serving the North Texas region research is developing food as a lens to be more inclusive in public planning and access, better understand human behavior and build deeper perspectives of culture, collective identity and history.

Te plants UNT biochemists are examining aren’t typical soybeans found in the top-producing felds of the U.S. upper Midwest or Central-South region of Brazil. From seed to maturity, they are monitoring soybean plants that have been modifed in a United Soybean Board-funded research project focused on increasing the seed’s oil content and nutritional value.

Soybeans may not be a common vegetable consumed directly on American dinner plates, but they play an important role in the

U.S. food supply as a primary component of poultry and livestock feed. And in the future, soybeans could be more regularly consumed by humans as a healthful protein alternative based on the research underway at UNT and other institutes around the country.

“Our team wants to improve the oil content without afecting the yield for farmers and protein because soybeans contain all the essential proteinogenic amino acids that are indispensable for health,” says Alonso, who is associate director of UNT’s BioDiscovery Institute.

Alonso is co-principal investigator on the project, and along with former UNT research scientist Cintia Arias (top right) and research assistant Duyen Pham (bottom right), they are part of the nationwide team of interdisciplinary researchers studying soybeans. Alonso’s lab is one of the few in the world that uses metabolic fux analysis, which is a way to quantitatively examine the processes cells undergo to sustain life, to study the biochemical composition of plants, a leading reason Arias chose to work at UNT following her doctoral studies in Argentina and Austria.

“Transgenic plants — those whose DNA have been genetically modifed — take a really long time to grow and to analyze,” Alonso says. “We want to learn from the process along the way.”

UNT biochemists are following the fow of carbon in each plant. Teir results can help inform soybean breeders on how to further tweak their plant cultivars to reach the goal of improved oil content and nutritional value. Long-term applications of their research could introduce a soybean fortifed with the same Omega-3 fatty acids found in fsh.

TEXT: HEATHER NOEL PHOTOGRAPHY: AHNA HUBNIK

Alonso’s colleagues in the BioDiscovery Institute also are making new discoveries in plant science that will lead to future breakthroughs in more sustainable crops such as wheat, corn and cofee to meet the market needs.

“Te world’s population is projected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050 and global climate change is expected to reduce agricultural productivity,”Alonso says.“Tese factors will only increase global issues related to food security, making research solutions vital for our future.”

LIVING LABORATORIES

Food is more than sustenance. UNT Dining Services, the largest self-supported food service department in North Texas, is dedicated to making food as fresh, local, delicious and healthy as possible — without compromising its environmentally sustainable practices. Tat commitment takes continuous innovation such as opening the nation’s frst all-vegan collegiate dining hall and frst collegiate dining hall in Texas to be free of the “Big 8” food allergens — as well as staying up-to-date on the latest best practices in the industry like it has done with the hydroponic garden, Mean Green Acres, that reduces the university’s carbon footprint. UNT is helping set industry standards and collect insight to inform changes as a member of the groundbreaking Menus of Change University Research Collaborative.

Launched in 2012, UNT was one of the early members of its research collaborative in 2014, which is co-led by Te Culinary Institute of America and Stanford University. Menus of Change is working to realize a longterm, practical vision integrating optimal nutrition and public health, environmental stewardship and restoration, and social

responsibility concerns within the food service industry and the culinary profession.

Tis past October, UNT hosted the annual meeting of the research collaborative, which includes a membership of 69 college and university food service and academic programs across the nation.

“We are cultivating the long-term wellbeing of people and the planet one student and one meal at a time,” says Peter Ballabuch, executive director of UNT Dining Services.

Additionally, the collaborative is studying food choice and behaviors right on campus. Priscilla Connors, registered dietitian and an associate professor in the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism, leads Menus of Change-tied campus studies.

“Menus of Change has opened up our dining halls as these living laboratories to collect data in real time,” says Connors, whose other research includes a USDAfunded study on food choice and waste in school cafeterias and upcoming studies on consumer literacy of food labels.

Past research includes how food label language impacts food choice and student understanding of unhealthy versus healthful fats in foods. An upcoming project will focus on students’ knowledge of cafeine content in commonly consumed drinks. Dining Services has hired hospitality management student Nancy Hinojosa to serve as an undergraduate research fellow helping manage future Menus of Change studies at UNT.

LESSONS OF THE PAST

Other scholars are taking lessons of the past to help inform the years to come.

“Food history is really at the core of food studies research at UNT,” says history professor Michael Wise, an environmental

“Food is a building block to all human behavior.”

Jennifer Jensen Wallach, history professor

historian of food and agriculture in modern North America with the forthcoming book Native Foods: Agriculture, Indigeneity, and Settler Colonialism in American History. “Much of the research is looking at the past as a sort of reservoir of alternative models and solutions to current problems.”

Wise and history professor Jennifer Jensen Wallach, a historian of African American food, identity construction and racemaking, are leading eforts to grow UNT’s food studies program, which ofers an interdisciplinary food studies certifcate for undergraduates as well as a $5,000 graduatelevel food history fellowship funded by Te Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts.

“Food is a building block to all human behavior,” says Wallach, who has been both author or editor for a number of books that use food to talk about broader cultural, economic, racial and social issues. She’s currently studying food and disabilities, especially for people with autism.

Te fruits of engaging a multidisciplinary focus on food research at UNT is evident in a project Wise is working on with his history colleague Sandra Mendiola García and faculty members Nathan Hutson and Laura Keyes in public administration. Tey are planning to turn underutilized green spaces on campus into micro gardens growing historically relevant food crops to the North Texas area following the ancient Mesoamerican concept called milpa.

“Using the milpa system on campus will serve as a bedrock for understanding diferent ways of seeing our landscape as well as fuel inquiry about the intersection of food, identity, community and environment,” Wise says.

FOOD SCHOLARS ON THE RISE

Buttermilk and cornbread take doctoral student Deah Berry-Mitchell back to childhood. Called Cush Cush, her grandmother (who is pictured with BerryMitchell at age 3) would mush them together and spoon feed it to BerryMitchell and her cousins as she read Bible verses on their front porch.

“You can communicate so much through food,” says Berry-Mitchell, who is exploring the foodways of enslaved African Americans in Texas as one of the newest food history graduate researchers. “On that front porch with my grandmother, I felt safe. That Cush Cush was like a hug that made me feel loved and all warmed inside.”

Through faculty mentorships, a fellowship, program certificates and a diverse food-based curriculum in anthropology, biology, geography and the environment, history, hospitality and tourism, philosophy, public administration and world languages, UNT is fostering rich food studies conversations and individual student research across disciplines.

Kelly McFarland was immersed into food studies as a bachelor’s student while serving as a research assistant for professor Lisa Henry’s study about food insecurity among college students. Now an adjunct instructor of anthropology, McFarland drew from her UNT graduate research about local farmers and farm-tofood networks in North Texas to design a course about the U.S. food system. Students in the inaugural Fall 2020 course conducted community-based research about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on food and diet.

Philosophy doctoral student Isabelle Bishop, under major professor and The Philosophy of Food Project director David Kaplan, investigates how Western political theory structures globalized industrial food systems to explore how bodies and spaces are affected and conditioned by those systems. Fellow philosophy student Sara Louise Tonge focuses on animals and food systems in political theory.

Joshua Lopez, the inaugural recipient of The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts Fellowship in Food History at UNT, is a contributor to El Paso Food Voices and is compiling oral histories from the Chicanx and queer communities. Other history graduate research examines the Texas pecan industry, the role U.S. First Ladies play in diplomacy through state dinners and how cookbooks transmit and affirm Jewishness.

“We’re really on the brink of something,” says history professor Jennifer Jensen Wallach. “It’s exciting to see the momentum building with these projects. Our students are going to publish books from their research and help advance the study of food.”

INNOVATIVE SPACES

Read more about the opening of Frisco Landing and how UNT at Frisco will impact the DFW region.

EAGLE LANDS IN FRISCO

In January, UNT opened Frisco Landing, the frst permanent building at the new UNT at Frisco branch campus.

Born from a partnership between UNT and the City of Frisco, the 135,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building was designed with a focus on student success and ofers classrooms and study spaces that promote collaboration, transparency and open communication between faculty and students.

Te building features 69 “huddle rooms” that allow for

small to medium-sized groups to collaborate and interactive classrooms that allow all students access to fully participate.

Frisco Landing will be home to many of the 27 programs ofered to more than 2,500 students enrolled in classes at UNT at Frisco.

UNT continually creates new programs designed to help students be successful with in-demand careers. Programs ofered exclusively at UNT at Frisco include Project Design and Analysis, Industrial Distribution and Applied Project Design and Analysis.

UNT at Frisco’s convenient location near some of the world’s top companies and industries allows for incredible opportunities for students. For example, UNT at Frisco already hosts classes with partners such as Baylor Scott & White, Dallas Cowboys, the PGA and Toyota.

Te UNT at Frisco branch campus master plan, which was approved in August 2019 by the UNT System Board of Regents, establishes the framework for the growth and development of the new site for decades to come, and supports UNT’s mission to prepare students to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER

Te UNT Industrial Assessment Center housed at Discovery Park will help regional manufacturers bring more efectiveness and sustainability to their operations. UNT is the frst university in the North Texas region to join the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Assessment Center program.

ART ANNEX

Te completion of the 25,242-square-foot Art Annex was celebrated with an open house this past fall. It is home to the College of Visual Arts and Design Studio Arts ceramics program as well as 40 graduate student studios, providing dedicated space to inspire creativity and exploration in their craft.

THE WILSON JONES CAREER CENTER

Te Wilson Jones Career Center will serve as the essential career readiness bridge for G. Brint Ryan College of Business students to access the world beyond UNT — connecting potential employers with UNT staf who understand their needs. Te center was made possible by a $5 million gift from alumnus Wilson Jones (’85) and his wife, Jane.

PETTINGER CENTER FOR DESIGN & INNOVATION

Te Pettinger Center for Design and Innovation at Discovery Park includes a makerspace with tools and resources for engineering students to create their North Texas Design senior projects. Te center — supported by a donation from Wes and Hedwig Pettinger (’79 M.Ed.) — will also soon be home to a unique engine collection for interactive student learning and community outreach.

PROTECTING DATA

Using innovative technology and creative thinking, UNT researchers are working to outsmart cyber criminals and help build a growing workforce of professionals.

TEXT: TRISTA MOXLEY

As cyber-attacks become more sophisticated and widespread, it’s more important than ever to be aware of how much technology has integrated into our daily lives — from our mobile devices and cars to city, government and health care records.

“Cybersecurity is critical to our technological infrastructure, and without it, we risk having our sensitive data — personal information, protected health records, intellectual property, data and government and industry information — compromised,” says Ram Dantu, professor of computer science and engineering and director of UNT’s Center for Information and Cyber Security (CICS), which is designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and Research by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security.

And while advancing technology has created a new landscape for criminals, it’s also setting a new criterion for victims.

“To combat these risks of threat and damage, we’re looking at the intersection of organizations, people and technology,” says James Parrish, assistant professor of information technology and decision sciences in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business.

Parrish and Dantu together with other UNT researchers — spanning disciplines in information technology and decision sciences, accounting and computer science and engineering — are not only fnding ways to stay one step ahead of the savviest cyber criminals, but taking deep dives into how to prepare the growing cybersecurity workforce to keep society safe. After all, nobody is immune. Tose behind these criminal acts seek out and prey on all demographics.

“Older people are getting duped believing that the ‘Nigerian Prince’ really wants to give them money. People in poverty see these phishing emails as their way out,” Parrish says.“Folks in their 30s and younger grew up with technology, but they are still at risk. It really boils down to personal situations and how knowledgeable users are with respect to technology and cybersecurity issues and how do we help.”

PERSONAL SECURITY

Even without the digital risks of network safety and smart contracts, phishing schemes and personal attacks put information at risk on a personal level.

“Tere are new threats on the landscape every single day. If you look at things like phishing, that is just as psychological as it is technical,” Parrish says. “We did experiments recently where we sent phishing emails to a municipal organization that employs more than 1,400 individuals. Tey used the results from that research to more efectively focus training resources were they are most needed.”

Associate Professor of information technology and decision sciences Andy Wu led the test, which examined how demographic traits of the employees correlated with their susceptibility to phishing attempts. Te team was assisted by doctoral alumnus Bart Hanus. Te results found that younger employees were less likely to fall victim to phishing than more senior employees. Tose with a lower income or who were working in more clerical, monotonous roles were also more likely to click phishing links.

“Cybersecurity is critical to our technological infrastructure, and without it, we risk having our sensitive data — personal information, protected health records, intellectual property, data and government and industry information — compromised.”

Ram Dantu, director of UNT’s Center for Information and Cyber Security

“While these results should be taken with caution because the sample we had to work with was not large enough to be broadly generalizable, it did indicate that it may be benefcial for companies to collect data on their employees and job functions to identify the ones most susceptible to phishing,” Parrish says.

Michel Fathi, assistant professor of information technology and decision sciences, is focused on cybersecurity to make the world better for some of our most vulnerable populations.

“While there is a growing recognition by agencies, organizations and governments that Operations Research (OR) and analytics tools can ofer signifcant improvements for

NEXT-GEN CYBERSECURITY PROFESSIONALS

A major link to decreasing cyber risk in the future, especially for businesses, is hiring the right people. Through a variety of projects, including work being done as part of UNT’s Center for Information and Cyber Security (CICS), and interdisciplinary group of researchers is working to ensure tomorrow’s workforce is made up of knowledgeable people to address future threats.

To help ease the cybersecurity industry’s growing demand and spark interest in the field, UNT added new cybersecurity degree programs at the bachelor’s and master’s levels in 2020 and has hosted cybersecurity summer camps for

people with special needs, including older adults, low income populations and young people, the research on social good analytics for preventing the rise of crime, disorder and authoritarian policing has been relatively slow and sporadic,” he says.

While technology has been a great accelerator in many areas, organized criminal groups have taken advantage of opening new markets, supply chains and technologies while exploiting weak regulation in fnancial markets and cyberspace.

“Te internet has enabled expanding illegal economies, helping smugglers sell guns, drugs or humans on social media and communications apps, while also providing a goldmine of data used for corruption,

middle and high school students as part of the national GenCyber Academy, supported by the National Security Agency and National Science Foundation. UNT faculty across disciplines are engaging in research aimed to strengthen and expand the cybersecurity workforce.

James Parrish, assistant professor of information technology and decision sciences, is working on creating and implementing a program to understand why underrepresented populations don’t go into cybersecurity fields and help move them toward those jobs.

“We’re facing threats from a heterogeneous group of actors and trying to prevent those threats with a very homogeneous cybersecurity workforce,” Parrish says. “We need more diversity, perspectives and backgrounds to combat the diverse group of threat actors.”

extortion and carrying out other crimes,” Fathi says.

As the size, number and complexity of networks has grown, so has the number of cybersecurity attacks on average citizens. Dantu recently received a $750,000 grant from the National Security Agency the most recent in a series of grants totaling $2.5 million in the last two years to use natural language processing and artifcial intelligence techniques to collect and compile cybersecurity-related data into a database that universities can use to fnetune their curriculum.

Tere are many practical applications for the platform. Cybersecurity experts can use it to better understand the intent behind

Additionally, computer science and engineering faculty Ram Dantu and Mark Thompson teamed up for a series of projects funded by the NSA focused on increasing the number and quality of cybersecurity professionals.

Dan J. Kim, professor of information technology and decision sciences, has been funded by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education to study ways of enhancing cybersecurity tasks, knowledge and skills for education and workforce development.

“By identifying relationships among cybersecurity job associative components, we can analyze and compare existing cybersecurity workforce frameworks and work for something better,” Kim says.

emails, social media posts and blog posts to identify any threats. In addition, the platform can be used to ensure college curriculum aligns with job postings to meet the needs of the job market.

“You see lots of news about ransomware attacks and cyber-attacks, and some of these are done by foreign agencies,” Dantu says. “We need a large workforce to combat this, and we don’t have the workforce right now.”

Natural language processing also is being used with blockchain to create smart legal contracts. Jose Lineros, clinical assistant professor of accounting, is using blockchain with smart contracts, capitalizing on the operational advantages of permissioned blockchains that utilize collaborative, private, immutable, append-only distributed ledgers to strategically optimize business results.

“Te importance of related IT governance frameworks is growing,” Lineros says. “Strategic IT governance, especially regarding permissioned blockchains, is crucial to accurate, valid and complete accounting data. Understanding the potential weaknesses of fawed capacity planning (computational and storage), cybersecurity risks, litigation

uncertainty, regulatory refutation and smart contract vulnerabilities is key.”

Dantu and a team of UNT professors, including Kritagya Upadhyay, Yanyan He, Abiola Salau and Syed Badruddoja, have worked on a project to further understand the paradigm shift from paper legal contracts to smart contracts utilizing blockchain, natural language processing, machine learning and the Internet of Tings.

“Blockchain could drastically change the audit profession,” Lineros says. “It could drastically change the legal profession. It’s going to change how business is done in the future.”

DATA SECURITY

Of course, not all cybersecurity concerns are focused on a single network or individual. Dantu recently worked with computer science and engineering associate professors Kirill Morozov and Sanjukta Bhowmick to create a framework for securely and anonymously sharing cell phone data to help identify COVID-19 super-spreader events. Trough anonymous contact networks built through cell phone data, the research helped

to locate active spreaders and communities. Balancing privacy and security of citizens’ COVID-19 data while still having the data needed for public safety was a key part of the research.

“Reliable contact networks can be built only through the participation of the population, yet privacy concerns often dissuade people from volunteering information regarding their locations, contacts, etc.,” Dantu says.“Tus, a framework for securely sharing the data is critical to build people’s confdence and thereby generate accurate contact networks.”

Of the two groups needing the data — scientists and health professionals — each only needed pieces of the information, according to Dantu. Tus, data could be encrypted to only allow certain pieces to be shared to prevent identifcation of specifc data.

His eforts focused on building the framework to make that happen, potentially helping prevent super-spreader events from kicking of new waves of COVID-19.

On a larger scale, Dantu is working on a solution for an issue that federal agencies have encountered while trying to implement an automatic cyber threat indicator. He allowed companies to submit their data to a large data pool anonymously without exposing whether or not they’ve been victims of attacks.

“Te private sector is reluctant to disclose their cyber intelligence for privacy and market competitiveness concerns as other companies and/or the government may inadvertently leak their data, and because the value on investment is unclear,” Dantu says.

He is working on the details around a concept called a data cooperative, a large number of private companies coming together to all share encrypted data that would allow the public sector to generate analytics without directly accessing the data.

“Te government is looking at the advancement of hacks and threats facing future technologies,” Dantu says. “We’re working on how to detect and mitigate these next-generation threats.We consider how we want to use the technology and research for the beneft of our communities and our citizens.”

MEET THE DEAN

JANA HAWLEY

DEAN OF UNT’S COLLEGE OF MERCHANDISING, HOSPITALITY

AND TOURISM

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MY JOB

Te College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism is a special place with world-class faculty, caring and supportive staf and students who are prepared to enter the customer-centric industries. Te Dallas-Fort Worth area ofers a rich environment of many headquarters for hospitality and retail companies ofering exciting opportunities for our students as they participate in study trips, seek internships and land fabulous careers. I love all of it!

FAVORITE QUOTE

I was named Distinguished Scholar for the International Textile and Apparel Association. In my acceptance speech, I spoke about the power of ethical courage. A quote from that speech that I like is: Ethical courage is doing what is right — for our economy, our environment and our people

TRENDS IN RESEARCH

When I published my frst textile recycling article in 1999, I had to dig deep to discover the nuances of what was mostly a “hidden” industry. Today, recycling companies are doing exciting things far beyond exporting used clothing to low-income countries. New products and practices are being developed in hopes of making the industry more sustainable. Examples include used clothing being made into housing insulation, incentives to reduce the fashion life cycle, new business models such as garment subscriptions and rental and increased efciency and quality in apparel manufacturing. Even though progress has been made, the textile

and apparel industry still remains fraught with challenges. Tankfully, many scholars are working with the industry to fnd solutions.

WHAT INSPIRES ME

I am inspired by junior faculty and students who see the need for continual improvement of sustainability as we address issues in the industry. I am particularly inspired when faculty and students work together on research initiatives. As students get more involved with research, it fortifes my outlook for our future. I hope that one day our industries reach a zero-carbon footprint.

PROUDEST MOMENT

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we launched our new Leadership Academy focusing on the three pillars of Learn, Lead and Connect. Each year, more and more students are enrolling to earn the new leadership certifcate and recruiters are taking notice on how well-prepared these students are for professional careers in retail and hospitality.

FUN FACTS

My newest research focuses on folk artisans from villages throughout the world. I have been a volunteer at the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for 12 years. As a qualitative researcher, that time has allowed me to deeply understand the pathways artisans take from villages to the global marketplace. Back on campus, I have become known as the “Scarf Lady” because I wear one of the artisans’ handcrafted scarves nearly every day. Each scarf is a treasure to me.

TEXT: HEATHER NOEL PHOTOGRAPHY: AHNA HUBNIK