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Research @ Pace
A newsletter highlighting faculty research & scholarship
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Brian R. Evans, EdD is a professor of mathematics education (NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences), chair of the New York Mathematics Department, and Associate Dean for the School of Education. He has been on the faculty at Pace University since 2007 and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in mathematics and education.
Prof. Evans has over 100 publications in mathematics education and conducts research in mathematics learning with particular emphasis on non-cognitive affective variables including self-efficacy, persistence, and mathematics anxiety. He has published on mathematics history, mathematical problem solving, culturally responsive pedagogy, and cognitive reframing theory in mathematics. Prof. Evans has served as the managing editor for a leading peer-reviewed research journal in alternative teacher certification and currently serves on the peer-reviewed research journal editorial board for the Mathematics Teaching-Research Journal (MTRJ).
Prof. Evans has recently been working with colleagues through a grant with NYSED on supporting STEM students at Pace through mentoring and professional activities. In addition, Prof. Evans has recently collaborated with colleagues to launch the Pace Academy, which is designed to support selected incoming first-year students in preparing for math, writing, and research as they transition into their first year at Pace University.
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Zafir Buraei, PhD (Associate Professor and Chair, Biology, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) is a teacher-scholar in Neurobiology. He is interested in the function, regulation, and pharmacology of proteins that directly control neurotransmitter release, and whose mutations can cause neurological and cardiovascular disorders. His most recent research uncovered a new mechanism by which a small protein called Gem dampens neurotransmitter release. Importantly, it was revealed that Gem shuts down neurotransmitter release much more severely in cells with mutations associated with epilepsy and migraine (compared to unaffected cells). The work, published in Frontiers in Physiology and funded by his $372,000 NIH grant, was conducted by undergraduate and graduate students he trained in making intricate measurements of electrical activity from single cells.
In his upcoming experiments, Professor Buraei will use expertise from previous work on the pharmacological aspects of neurotransmission to explore remedies for the dysfunction of Gem in cells harboring mutations associated with autism. Professor Buraei has published reviews in his field in some of the most highly regarded journals, such as Physiological Reviews, and was invited to give talks at the Biophysical Society Meetings, and at the Society for Neuroscience. Nevertheless, in his current roles as Chair of the NYC Biology Department, and founding Director of the Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Professor Buraei is driven most by witnessing the transformation of his students, many of whom present at National and Regional conferences, win awards for their presentations, and become successful researchers, doctors, and otherwise contributors to a better world.
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Andreea Cotoranu, PhD (Information Technology, NYC, Seidenberg School of CSIS) and Li-Chiou Chen, PhD (Information Technology, PLV, Seidenberg School of CSIS) were awarded a $133,823 grant under the DoD Cyber Scholarship Program (DoD CySP). The Program supports universities in preparing the future DoD workforce to address threats to critical information systems and networks. This grant provides cybersecurity scholarships to Pace students.
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 |  | Martha W. Driver, PhD, FSA (Distinguished Professor, English, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) has recently published “The Schoolroom in Early English Illustration,” Vernacular Books and Their Readers in the Early Age of Print (c. 1450–1600), Intersections, vol. 85, ed. Anna Dlabačová, Andrea van Leerdam, and John Thompson (Brill, 2023) ; “Women’s Learning and Lore: Magic, Recipes, and Folk Belief,” Women and Medieval Literary Culture From the Early Middle Ages to the Fifteenth Century , ed. Corinne Saunders and Diane Watt (Cambridge University Press, 2023); and "Chaucer the Mage: A Brief Exploration of Magic in The Squire’s Tale, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale, and The Franklin’s Tale” in Interpreting Middle English Literature and Manuscripts: Essays in Memory of Derek Pearsall. The Chaucer Review, 58 (2023). Professor Driver just finished organizing eight sessions to be sponsored by the Early Book Society at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo (for May 2024). These include Old Books, New Technologies; Prognostication, Palliation, and Prayer from Manuscript to Print; Old Wine, New Skins I: English Manuscripts and Texts; Old Wine, New Skins II: Editions; Women’s Books: Owners, Makers, Patrons; Interpreting Inventories I: the Idea of the Inventory; Interpreting Inventories II: Recovering Communities; Approaches to a Miscellany: NLW Brogyntyn MS ii.1.
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Mirjana Pantic, PhD (Media, Communications, and Visual Arts, PLV, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) published a book chapter titled, “Participatory Journalism: A New Approach for Increasing Public Trust and Engagement.” The chapter has been published in Issues in Contemporary American Journalism (Routledge, ed. Hans C. Schmidt), along with other essays of more than 20 journalism scholars. In this chapter, Professor Pantic explained the phenomenon of participatory journalism which is made possible by new technologies that allow two-way communication between news producers and news consumers. The chapter starts with the historical overview of citizen participation in storytelling in which she argues that participatory journalism is not a new phenomenon but rather, it represents an old journalism concept that is taking a new form in a contemporary media ecosystem. She has also discussed challenges facing participatory journalism, including fake news and dark participation on the web reflected in trolling and offensive comments. |  | |
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Katrina Kuh, JD (Haub Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, Elisabeth Haub School of Law) co-authored a chapter “Can the Constitution Save the Planet?” in Democracy in a Hotter Time: Climate Change and Democratic Transformation (Ed. David Orr; MIT Press). The chapter identifies how and why the constitutional status quo is failing to meet the climate moment. Professor Kuh co-wrote the chapter with colleague James May, JD Distinguished Professor of Law and Founder of the Global Environmental Rights Institute at Widener University Delaware Law School. Professor May holds an LLM from and has previously served as a Visiting Professor at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
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Miguel Mosteiro, PhD (Computer Science, NYC, Seidenberg School of CSIS) published a paper “Graph Ranking and the Cost of Sybil Defense,” developed in collaboration with scholars from UK, Israel, and USA. The paper has been presented at the ACM Conference on Economics and Computation , hosted recently in London. This work attracted a lot of attention because it involves a new perspective about Google's PageRank. This conference is ranked as A* , the highest rank in CORE Conference Ranking (which provides assessments of major conferences in the computing disciplines) and it is expected this paper to have strong impact.
Ranking functions such as Google’s PageRank assign numeric values (ranks) to nodes of graphs, most notably the web graph. Node rankings are an integral part of Internet search algorithms, since they can be used to order the results of queries. However, these ranking functions are famously subject to attacks by spammers, who modify the web graph in order to give their own pages more rank. The authors characterize the interplay between rankers and spammers as a game. They define the two critical features of this game, spam resistance and distortion, based on how spammers spam and how rankers protect against spam. They observe that all the ranking functions that are well-studied in the literature, including the original formulation of PageRank, have poor spam resistance, poor distortion, or both.
Finally, the author study Min-PPR, the form of PageRank used at Google itself, but which has received no (theoretical or empirical) treatment in the literature. They prove that Min-PPR has low distortion and high spam resistance. A secondary benefit is that Min-PPR comes with an explicit cost function on nodes that shows how important they are to the spammer; thus a ranker can focus their spam-detection capacity on these vulnerable nodes. Both Min-PPR and its associated cost function are straightforward to compute.
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Ana B. Amaya, PhD (Health Sciences, NYC, College of Health Professions) presented her research at a United Nations General Assembly side-event “Fast-tracking global health goals through heath policy and systems research.” She joined the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Government Ministers and World Health Organization officials to discuss the role of health policy and systems research on achieving global health goals.
That same week she also participated in three United Nations High-Level Meetings on health (Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, Universal Health Coverage and Tuberculosis) where she advocated for strengthening the production and adoption of
evidence-informed health policies to ensure global commitments for health are achieved.
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Margot Pollans, JD (Professor of Law, Faculty Director-Pace Food Law Center, Elisabeth Haub School of Law) has been appointed as James D. Hopkins Professor of Law for the 2023-2025 term at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. The title of James D. Hopkins Professor of Law is awarded to a member of the faculty for a two-year term in recognition of outstanding scholarship and teaching. The designation is considered to be among the Law School’s most significant faculty honors. The Hopkins Professor is selected by the Dean in consultation with the former holders of the Hopkins Chair. During the holder’s term, the James D. Hopkins Professor delivers a lecture that is open to the entire law school community and members of the public.
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| |  | Gina Scutelnicu-Todoran, PhD (Public Administration, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) published "The contribution of formal and informal mentorship to faculty productivity: Views of faculty in public affairs programs" in the Journal of Public Affairs Education (June 2023). This study examines how mentorship opportunities contribute to the productivity and career growth of public affairs faculty, stratified by gender and race. The study uses primary data coming from an original survey administered at two different points in time (2017 and 2021) to faculty who are part of NASPAA-member schools. Results indicate that women and faculty from racially under-represented groups are more likely to receive formal mentoring whereas men and white faculty are more likely to benefit from informal mentoring. Additionally, results show that the relationship between mentoring approaches and research effort differed by the faculty’s member gender and race with formal mentoring contributing to the research effort of men and white faculty across all academic ranks and university types, and informal mentoring contributing to the research effort of mid-career faculty of all genders and races. This study aims to inform individuals and universities about mentoring trends and contributions in higher education.
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Melvin L. Williams, PhD (Communication and Media Studies, NYC) was quoted on September 07, 2023, in an updated Newsweek article entitled, "Steve Harwell's Nazi Controversy Resurfaces After Death." The article investigates Steve Harwell's death as a case study in the politics of celebrity death and public discussions of past transgressions.
Professor Williams also had recent media quotations in USA Today and The Washington Blade. He was was quoted in a USA Today article entitled, "Sophie Turner, Joe Jonas are Having a Messy Divorce. But Not All Celebrities Are," which explores the politics and spectacle of celebrity divorces. Additionally, he offered critical commentary on "Hip-Hop's Complicated History with Queer Representation" for Washington Blade, District of Columbia's oldest LGBTQ+ publication in honor of hip-hop's 50th anniversary.
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The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is pleased to announce that Sam Kalen, JD, renowned environmental law expert, will deliver the annual Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Lecture on Environmental Law. Professor Kalen is the William T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law and Associate Dean at the University of Wyoming College of Law, as well as the founder and co-director of the School’s Center for Law and Energy Resources in the Rockies. He is currently the Visiting McKinney Family Chair in Environmental Law at IU McKinney School of Law. His lecture will take place on the Haub Law campus on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 and focus on The Supreme Court’s Approach Toward the Administrative State and Implications for Environmental Programs.
5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Lecture | Moot Courtroom
6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Reception | Tudor Room
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Pace University Panel Discussion
Socio-Political Risk Management : Assessing and Managing Global Insecurity
The Dyson College of Arts & Sciences - The Department of Criminal Justice & Security
Invites you to A Panel Discussion featuring Contributors for the new publication,
Socio-Political Risk Management : Assessing and Managing Global Insecurity
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Introduction & Moderators
Cathryn Lavery, Criminal Justice & Security, Pace University
Kurt Engemann, Iona University
Panelists
Krista N. Engemann, Accenture
Heath Grant, John Jay College/CUNY
Steven Michels, Sacred Heart University
Stephen Morreale, Worcester State University
David T. Mulcahy, Pace University
Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Iona University
Michael Sheehy, Pelham Police Department
Kimberly Spanjol, Pace University and Animals & Society Institute
Topics include Climate Change, Environmental Issues, Organizational Leadership, Social Movements, Cyber-security, Biophilia and Public Health, Law enforcement Protocol and Task Forces with violent crimes.
Wednesday, October 18th 7:00-8:30pm – Panel and Reception
Gottesman Room, Kessler Student Center, Pleasantville Campus
860 Bedford Road, Pleasantville
Please RSVP by October 11th - Cathryn Lavery, Clavery@pace.edu
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Book and Performance Completion Award
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The Pace University Office of Research is sponsoring once again the Book and Performance Completion Award.
The competition is open to all full-time faculty, across disciplines, who are clinical, tenure-track or tenured. The award is for $5,000 to help you finish a book project or put on a performance. You can use the funds for course release, summer salary, a research assistant or research supplies. Funds are placed in a scholarly research account.
The deadline for applications is Friday, November 3. All applications are peer reviewed and the winners will be announced in January 2024. See the instructions for more details and how to apply.
A list of previous winners from the competition can be found here.
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For questions, contact:
Avrom Caplan, PhD., Associate Provost for Sponsored Research at acaplan@pace.edu
Elina Bloch, PhD., Assistant Director, Sponsored Research at ebloch@pace.edu
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Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) Announcements
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For the upcoming 2023-2024 academic year, the Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences is offering the following undergraduate research opportunity:
Undergraduate Research Assistantships Program 2023-2024 Academic Year funded by Federal Work Study (FWS)
Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis until funds are depleted.
The Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences launched a pilot undergraduate research assistantship program funded by federal work-study during the 2020-2021 academic year. The goal for 2023-2024 is to continue to increase both the number of faculty research assistantship positions and the pool of students eligible for these positions.
Successful expansion requires the following two essential elements:
1) faculty proposals for assistantship positions, and
2) student awareness that federal work-study awards can be used for faculty-mentored research assistantships. Students sometimes decline FWS awards in their financial aid packages and take more loans because they do not understand how they can earn FWS dollars.
To advance this program expansion, propose a research assistantship position to support your scholarship or creative inquiry. To recruit qualified student applicants, please inform students about this research opportunity so they can better understand the value of their federal work-study funds and how those funds can be earned while serving as research assistants!
Click here to propose your undergraduate research assistantship position
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Undergraduate Research Webinar Series
Fall 2023 Student Undergraduate Research Webinar Series
Tuesday common hour – 3:25 p.m. - 4:25 p.m.
Wednesday common hour – 12:10 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.
Maria Iacullo-Bird, PhD., Assistant Provost for Research
- Getting Started in Research across Majors and Schools
Tuesday, 10/10/23 and Wednesday, 10/11/23
- Social Justice and the Responsible Conduct of Research
Tuesday, 11/14/23 and Wednesday, 11/15/23
- Applying for a Summer 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
Tuesday, 12/12/23 and Wednesday, 12/13/23
Register in advance for Tuesday’s meeting
Register in advance for Wednesday’s meeting
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
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Fall 2023 Faculty Undergraduate Research Webinar Series
Monday and Wednesday common hour – 12:10 p.m.–1:10 p.m.
Maria Iacullo-Bird, PhD., Assistant Provost for Research
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Learn about Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Opportunities and Resources - Wednesday, 09/27/23
- How to Get Started in Grant Writing and Include Undergraduate
Research - Wednesday, 10/18/23
- Applying for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program Site or Supplement -
Monday, 12/11/23
Register in advance for Monday’s meeting
Register in advance for Wednesday’s meeting
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
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Fall 2023 Undergraduate Research Virtual Presentations
The university community is invited to attend the fall series of virtual research presentations by Summer 2023 Provost’s Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research/Creative Inquiry Award Program; Summer 2023 Dyson College Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research Initiatives; and Amelia A. Gould Undergraduate Research Assistantship in the Creative Arts awardees.
Common hour – 12:10 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.
- Monday, October 2, 2023
- Monday, October 9, 2023
- Monday, October 16, 2023
- Monday, October 23, 2023
- Monday, October 30, 2023
- Monday, November 6, 2023
Register in advance for these Virtual Presentations.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
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Prestigious Awards and Fellowships | |
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The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education foundation provides generous funding for sophomores and juniors interested in research careers in the STEM fields. Established as a memorial to Senator Barry M. Goldwater, the program “seeks to identify, encourage, and financially support college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming this Nation’s next generation of research leaders in these fields.” This year, 6 awards will be given to those planning to attend M.D./Ph.D. programs, and all recipients will have access to preparation assistance for the MCAT. Please encourage students to join the Office of Prestigious Awards for an information session on Wednesday, October 27 during Common Hour. Faculty are also welcome to attend. Register for the session here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
In addition, you and your students can subscribe to our email list to receive information about external funding opportunities.
Please send an email to Pace's listserv system: listserv@list.pace.edu
Leave the subject line blank.
In the message body, type (without the quotation marks) "subscribe awardssandfellowships-l” followed by first and last name separated by spaces.
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For questions, contact:
Moira Egan, PhD., Director of Prestigious Awards and Graduate Fellowships, at megan@pace.edu.
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Share your research news here. | | | | |
