She knows from previous studies, that many people relapse after treatment.

鈥淚 have seen too many patients who struggle with addiction, and despite going to treatment and reporting that they don鈥檛 want to use alcohol or drugs anymore, they find themselves back in the same situation year after year,鈥� Meshesha says. 鈥淚 want to find ways that can help them escape this unwanted vicious cycle.鈥�

That鈥檚 why Meshesha鈥檚 research focus is on utilizing brief and easily accessible interventions to help patients achieve better outcomes through technology. Currently, her primary interest lies in developing interventions that patients can access on their digital devices, such as smartphone apps.

Her work was recognized in 2020 when the National Institutes of Health awarded her with a $1 million career grant.

Meshesha was born in Ethiopia and moved to the U.S. as a child. She has a bachelor鈥檚 degree in psychology from Williams College, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Memphis. She completed a clinical psychology residency and postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University.

She has always been interested in clinical psychology and how people cope once they receive psychological treatment. However, she did not start with an interest in addiction. It was after college, she worked on a project with hospitalized patients with opioid dependence. The experience motivated her to focus on this population and improve treatment outcomes for those who need it most.

At 麻豆原创, Meshesha also funnels her passion for into teaching while mentoring graduate students in her . She helps her students develop their line of research, work on their master鈥檚 thesis and form their dissertation.

鈥淚 absolutely love watching them develop and grow their passion for the work we do, whether it is research or clinical work with patients,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t is an incredible feeling.鈥�

Chisholm works in 麻豆原创鈥檚 School of Global Health Management and Informatics in the College of Community Innovation and Education. Her research focuses on quality of care, disparities, and the implementation and dissemination of innovations. This includes racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities that occur in long-term care settings, such as nursing homes.

The Gainesville, Florida, native says her family and colleagues who are just as passionate about making a difference in the world are a strong source of inspiration.

鈥淭here’s a reason why I’m here working on research and attempting to improve the healthcare system,鈥� Chisholm says. 鈥淲e need to ensure that all individuals receive and have access to high quality of care, and not just few.鈥�

Currently much of her work focuses on improving a person鈥檚 experience in nursing homes, especially since this is a growing industry. There is the potential to improve resident experience by adopting innovative approaches, which is one area she is studying.

Chisholm holds a doctoral degree in health services research, management and policy from the University of Florida. She also has a master鈥檚 degree of social work (clinical track social work) and a bachelor鈥檚 degree in psychology, both from the University of South Florida. It was during an internship at the Tampa U.S. Veterans Affairs Hospital while she was a graduate student completing her social work program that Chisholm became inspired to investigate fields of health services and their impact on quality of care.

Chisholm has more than 20 publications in scholarly journals and several ongoing research projects. She has presented at Moffitt Cancer Center and various national meetings as she works to make a difference.

This is why Erica Fissel鈥檚 goal is to illuminate the interpersonal victimization that occurs in cyberspace in hopes that her work will be used to help inform policy and help these victims.

Fissel, an assistant professor in the , doesn鈥檛 consider herself a particularly technology-savvy person but was fascinated with the way people behave online versus offline. From there, she began to look at what use or abuse of technology looks like in an intimate partner relationship. A member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Violence Against Women faculty cluster, she focuses on the impact it has on women.

Although she didn鈥檛 intentionally seek to make women the focus of her research, Fissel says she quickly discovered that women are the most likely to experience such forms of interpersonal victimization. She also works with the Cybercrime Support Network to help serve those affected by the growing impacts of cybercrime.

鈥淭his area is so interesting to me because it’s so underdeveloped, and there are so many ways that people can use technology to abuse their partners that I would have never thought of,鈥� she says.

Such technology can include smart-home systems like video doorbells, which can be used to track or monitor an intimate partner. Even reading a partner鈥檚 text messages without their permission can fall into the category of technology-based abuse under certain circumstances.

She adds that it鈥檚 important to realize that intimate partner cyber abuse is not illegal. There may be laws applicable to cyberstalking or cyber harassment, but intimate partner cyber abuse extends beyond those behaviors.

鈥淏ecause of that, people don’t know what they鈥檙e experiencing is abusive or problematic,鈥� Fissel says. 鈥淭hey don’t know that they should be able to get help for it. I want my work to be able to inform policies and laws. I want to help individuals experiencing these behaviors access helpful resources, realize that they’re experiencing problematic behavior and get out of those situations.鈥�

In her Women and Crime course, Fissel often finds herself teaching survivors and others who have experienced intimate partner cyber abuse. She鈥檚 even had students realize through the class that they are either currently being victimized or have been in the past.

鈥淚t’s very heavy material for students, but what I try to do is have a very open dialogue and safe space within the class where people are able to share their ideas,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e can talk about these types of behaviors and experiences because they’re important to understand.鈥�

Defining the Cyber Abuse Spectrum

Although , Fissel says she is seeing more parity between men and women engaging in cyber-based abuse.

One of the projects Fissel has been working on examines the normalization or societal acceptance of behaviors that could be considered cyber abuse. She and a team of researchers from other universities collaborated on the study, which was funded by a faculty enrichment grant from the University of Cincinnati鈥檚 Criminal Justice Research Center. They collected data from 1,500 adults currently in an intimate partner relationship and asked about their experiences with intimate partner cyber abuse, perpetration and victimization within the past six months.

鈥淲e did a pilot test, and 100% of people experienced intimate partner cyber abuse as we defined it in the past six months,鈥� Fissel says. 鈥淲e thought, 鈥楾his is a much bigger problem than we thought or we鈥檙e measuring it wrong.鈥� We talked to people about it, and some of the behaviors that we were defining as abusive aren’t abusive in all contexts.鈥�

For example, tracking a partner via GPS would be considered abusive if it was being done without consent. However, Fissel says, many participants later indicated they tracked each other鈥檚 locations for safety reasons.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the tricky things with intimate partner cyber abuse, because it’s totally relationship specific and dependent on whether the boundaries developed with your partner were agreed upon without coercion,鈥� she says.

In addition to looking at intimate partner cyber abuse on the victimization side, Fissel also is working on it from the perpetration side. That entails trying to understand why people engage in such behaviors, which is vital to being able to prevent them from happening.

Fissel also is working on another study with Jackie Woerner, an assistant professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 departments of sociology and psychology, that focuses on the perpetration side. The two surveyed 544 people and followed up with nearly 300 of them a month later to examine their intimate partner cyber abuse behaviors over time. Part of this research involved asking participants about the factors that motivate their behavior. Fissel says many cited personal insecurities such as lack of trust.

鈥淭here鈥檚 almost a range within intimate partner cyber abuse,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are things like checking someone’s text messages without their permission, which I would say is probably on the lower end of the spectrum. Then you also have people who are opening bank accounts in your name and ruining your credit, or people who are sending you threatening text messages. We鈥檙e also trying to figure out where the line that society draws is, because that’s going to help with trying to determine laws, too.鈥�

Fissel received her doctorate in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. Her primary research interests focus on various types of interpersonal victimization that take place online, including cyberstalking, intimate partner cyber abuse and cyberbullying. She joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 , part of the , in 2019.

At 麻豆原创, Melanie Coathup is working to find ways to protect our bones from all these threats. Each threat causes damage in its own unique way. It鈥檚 a complex process, which is one of the reasons Coathup is so passionate about her research work.

She has dedicated her life to figuring out how bones are impacted and developing new technologies and therapies that can protect and, when needed, repair or rebuild those bones.

鈥淚’m not sure if I’m curious or just plain nosy, but I like to understand what is happening and why,鈥� she says.聽 鈥淚 like doing puzzles and I think this is also linked in with my love of research.鈥�

The UK native is already recognized for her work in developing a novel synthetic bone substitute material called Inductigraft, which boosts bone repair and regeneration, and is mainly used in spinal fusion surgery.聽That work has been recognized internationally through her publications and several U.K., European and international prizes from her peers.

But she鈥檚 not done revolutionizing patient care yet. She is currently working on developing a nanoparticle that mimics a type of enzyme in the body. That enzyme (protein) helps protect bones. She鈥檚 partnered with 麻豆原创 Engineering Professor Sudipta Seal 鈥� a leader in nanotechnology 鈥� to create the 鈥渘anoenzyme.鈥�

When patients are exposed to radiation, bones can become聽much more fragile and easier to break, Coathup says. Radiation exposure also impairs the bone healing response, and this can lead to many complications when the body is trying to repair the fracture. In some cases, it can lead to amputation, she says.

鈥淥f course, radiotherapy is a vital component of cancer care,鈥� she says. 鈥淗owever, at the moment, there is no effective way of protecting our bones against the damage caused by the radiation.鈥�

The nanoenzyme work is promising, she says. She has found that the nanozyme is effective in protecting cells against the DNA damage caused by radiotherapy and that it also increases the levels of new bone formation despite being exposed to harmful levels of radiation.聽 The nanoenzyme also appears to protect red and white blood cells and platelets in the blood, which all suffer under radiotherapy.

Bones also react differently in space. She鈥檚 looking at how space orbit causes bone loss in astronauts and finding ways to prevent it. She is part of a research team that will be conducting a study on a space rocket later this year to better understand how fluid changes in microgravity contribute to bone degeneration.

The study will examine fluid changes in a 3D printed bone structure to see how microgravity changes the flow of fluid through this structure compared to fluid flow in normal gravity.

鈥淭he ultimate goal is to improve the future care and treatment of people, thereby positively impacting quality of life, promoting more active lifestyles and social engagement 鈥� and creating an overall healthier community,鈥� she says.

Helping people is part of Coathup鈥檚 core. Her parents, a schoolteacher and an engineer, emphasized the importance of an education to make the world a better place. Although Coathup lost her mother when she was only 15, her example is a continued source of inspiration.

鈥淪he was my whole world, and I am聽still聽heartbroken,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was devastating to watch her slowly waste away. She died 5 months before my final exams in high school. I didn’t do as well as I hoped, but I got through. She was a strong lady and incredibly creative. She could cook or bake anything and was also an incredibly talented seamstress. We used to have countless people at the house because she used to sew clothes for many people in our small village 鈥� including making many of the carnival costumes each year.聽She had so much love and support to give, and I wish I could have learned more from her, but I’m incredibly grateful for the short time that we shared.鈥�

Coathup completed her undergraduate studies in medical cell biology and a Ph.D. in orthopedic implant fixation at the University of Liverpool in the UK.

In 2017 she joined the and became the director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Biionix faculty cluster 鈥� a multidisciplinary team of researchers working to develop innovative materials, processes and interfaces for advanced medical implants, tissue regeneration, prostheses, and other future high-tech products.

“I thoroughly enjoy working in STEM and I’m so glad that I chose this as my career,鈥� she says. 鈥淎lthough few, the women working in STEM continually inspire me with their amazing work, and I’m always mindful of the powerful and enduring legacies of the courageous women who carved out the way for us. My goal now is to keep on encouraging and inspiring future generations of women, and I look forward to celebrating their successes.”

鈥淏ecause,鈥� little Inez says, 鈥渟he was hungrier than me, mom.鈥�

In the second memory, Long is looking at a bookshelf inside the same home. The shelves sag under the weight of the encyclopedias her parents have purchased for Long and her brother. It would take years for Long to fully understand the reason for all those books.

鈥淚t was not easy for us to go to a public library as it was built on the 鈥榳hite鈥� side of town, so my parents found other ways for us to expand our knowledge. That鈥檚 how they invested in us.鈥�

These two precepts 鈥� recognizing the level of hunger in people and investing in them 鈥� are cornerstones in Long鈥檚 work as president of the Black Business Investment Fund (BBIF). Long has made such a positive impact in her 32 years with BBIF that Orlando Magazine named her one of the city鈥檚 50 Most Powerful People in 2021. In April she will be inducted into the 麻豆原创 College of Business Hall of Fame.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always a blessing to not just enjoy whatever comes my way,鈥� Long says, 鈥渂ut to help others get the most out of life, too.鈥�

鈥淪ometimes, an opportunity is all that a person needs.鈥� 鈥� Inez Long 鈥�98MBA

With BBIF she paves the way for Black, minority and underserved small businesses to receive management training and financial backing. Under her leadership to date, 1,061 businesses have been approved for more than $81 million in loans, allowing them to support nearly 14,000 jobs, often after they鈥檝e run into unscalable walls at traditional lending institutions. She鈥檚 also brought in $148 million in New Market Tax Credit, which attracts private capital investments into low-income communities allocations, and has leveraged more than $350 million in economic development projects.

And that leads to perhaps the most prominent statistic of all: More than 96% of the business loans through BBIF have resulted in investment gains. Traditional bank executives can only wish for that kind of success rate.

Let鈥檚 just say those banks had their chances.

鈥淪ometimes,鈥� Long says, 鈥渁n opportunity is all that a person needs.鈥�

Growing up in Winter Garden, Florida, young Inez James would ride bicycles and play marbles, football and baseball with her big brother and boys in the neighborhood. She never thought of her mother and father as being poor. Both parents had similar backgrounds, being raised by their grandparents, uncles and aunts, after their own parents died when they were very young.

鈥淢om and dad never made excuses,鈥� Long says. 鈥淭hey were determined to work hard and create their own opportunities as a young couple.鈥�

At that time, home loans were not made available to Black people. So, each of Long鈥檚 parents worked several jobs and saved enough cash to buy land and build their own home. They stocked it with love and books, and with a love 蹿辞谤听books.

鈥淢om and dad taught us that knowledge could open a world of possibilities.鈥�

Long had thoughts about attending law school while studying at the University of South Florida, but when her father died suddenly, she knew the financial resources and support that she needed wouldn鈥檛 be available. A classmate, Fitzhugh Long, encouraged her to try a few business courses to see if anything clicked.

鈥淚 never expected that I would fall in love with accounting,鈥� she says.

She also fell in love with Fitzhugh. They married and moved around the country for a few years, as Fitzhugh landed a corporate job with Kmart Corporation. Later they landed in Orlando where Inez began a career in banking while also raising their first two children. After a while, she recognized sexism and racism pervading the business environment. Long would need a source of leverage to push through it.

鈥淭he people at 麻豆原创 encouraged me to be a mom, work and grow my skillsets. I鈥檒l always be grateful for that.鈥� 鈥� Inez Long 鈥�98MBA

鈥淢ore knowledge would be my strongest tool,鈥� she says, explaining why she enrolled in the executive MBA program at 麻豆原创 during the busiest time of her life. 鈥淭he people at 麻豆原创 encouraged me to be a mom, work and grow my skillsets. I鈥檒l always be grateful for that.鈥�

In her job underwriting loans for the big banks, Inez also noticed one obstacle after another whenever she tried to get funding approved for Black-owned businesses.

鈥淢y bosses would literally tell me to pull loan policy books off the shelves,” she says. “I knew what was going on. They were finding reasons to deny the loans necessary for these Black people to grow their businesses.鈥�

So, Long would go to the Black business owners in person, after work, and share her knowledge about developing strong financial statements. She also met the president of BBIF, who offered Inez a job. Friends said she鈥檇 be foolish to leave a great banking job for a not-for-profit organization.

鈥淚 prayed about it off and on for a year,鈥� she says, 鈥渦ntil it became clear that at BBIF I could help a lot more people. What I saw during the loan underwriting process at the banks still motivates me today to continue to work to break down long-standing barriers in the financial industry.鈥�

She鈥檚 helped owners of IT firms, restaurants, hair salons, child-care centers. They鈥檙e engineers, attorneys, contractors, manufacturers, and builders of commercial properties and affordable homes. One young graduate of 麻豆原创 started a garbage service and needed a loan so he could hire people and expand. This business is now a million-dollar business.

The entrepreneurs receive other assets from BBIF that they won鈥檛 receive directly from a traditional bank: training and counselling.

鈥淲e spend time with the owners for two reasons,鈥� Long says. 鈥淔irst, we can help them to become stronger managers. Plus, if I see a person every month, it鈥檚 very difficult for them to not pay back the loan. That鈥檚 important, too, because we have investors to repay.鈥�

Major corporations, including Starbucks and Google, have recently partnered with BBIF. They see value in an organization with a 96% success rate. They also see what Long has seen all along: an opportunity to invest in hard-working people. The partnerships reflect progress. Some of the business owners that BBIF supported 25 years ago have passed the companies to their children, creating second generation owned businesses.

鈥淢y parents had instilled in me the lesson, or obligation, of sharing. I鈥檇 like to think I鈥檝e done that, as they taught me.鈥� 鈥� Inez Long 鈥�98MBA

鈥淭hat鈥檚 extremely satisfying,鈥� Long says.

As for the children she bathed and fed while pursuing her master鈥檚 degree at 麻豆原创, all three have also graduated from 麻豆原创. 聽So has a nephew and the niece that she and Fitzhugh raised after Long鈥檚 brother passed away.

鈥淎s a child, I watched my mother give clothes to less fortunate people in our neighborhood, and my dad share the fish he鈥檇 caught,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 could have remained in banking and made a very good living, but my parents had instilled in me the lesson, or obligation, of sharing. I鈥檇 like to think I鈥檝e done that, as they taught me.鈥�

With the help of an interdisciplinary team of researchers, Thiamwong has developed a treatment regiment for aging patients, which assesses not only their physical abilities but their perceptions about falling.

It鈥檚 a holistic approach she began investigating 15 years ago as a nurse in Thailand and which she has now continued at 麻豆原创. The National Institutes of Aging awarded her a $149,000 grant in September 2020 to study this phenomena during the course of two years.

She has developed an assessment tool that uses portable sensors to monitor a patient鈥檚 physical activity. At the same time, she administers a survey to gauge the patient鈥檚 beliefs about their likelihood of falling.

Gauging a patient鈥檚 physical ability as well as mental processes gives her a better grasp on how to shape a patient鈥檚 treatment plan, which best prevents their falling. Much research conducted in this field looks primarily to physical indicators of a patient鈥檚 body, but for many patients this is not the only factor that shapes their perception on how likely they are to fall.

鈥淧atients often live in fear of falling and will withdraw from their day-to-day activities because of it,鈥� she says. 鈥淧erception and physical functionality work together with this issue.鈥�

While the physical assessment indicates the likelihood of a patient falling, it points out where the patient鈥檚 own concerns or lack thereof may not match up to their actual physical abilities.

Thiamwong hopes to serve poor elderly communities in particular through this research, as she has seen the ways in which poverty leads to lack of proper medical attention.

Understanding the aging population鈥檚 mental state is critical for good care, she says. That鈥檚 why she is so passionate about her study and to look at the the bigger picture of a patient鈥檚 wellbeing.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to just bring about new technology,鈥� says Thiamwong. 鈥淚 want to increase the respect of the knowledge and history of the elderly population and the role they can play in their health.鈥�

The inspiration for Thiamwong is her own mother, a woman who has always encouraged her to rise to the challenge. Despite lacking access to education, her mother has always pushed Thiamwong to never take no for an answer. She has taken this in stride and was the first in her family to graduate from college and move to a new country. Being a woman has presented many professional challenges.

鈥淚 had to fight for what I have,鈥� she says. 鈥淎s a woman it is possible to be a leader if you have a firm grasp on what you want to do and show others that you can do it.鈥�

Her work has been recognized both in the academic world through grants and in her ability to mentor and teach. In 2019 she received 麻豆原创鈥檚 Excellence in Research Award and the following year she received the Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award.

鈥淚 try to do the best that I can,鈥� she says. 鈥溌槎乖� has provided me with a lot of opportunities to learn but I had to choose to work hard and now I can say I have made the best of those opportunities.鈥�

Beltran is the director of space medicine and life sciences at the 麻豆原创鈥檚 .

At 麻豆原创, her projects include helping develop effective countermeasures against space radiation, finding ways to mitigate the negative effects of microgravity on the human body, and researching ways to minimize the health risk of lunar dust for upcoming missions to the moon.

Currently Beltran is working on the Radiation Effects on Volatiles and Exploration of Asteroids and Lunar Surfaces (REVEALS) program for NASA鈥檚 Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. Beltran, a deputy principal investigator is studying novel composites and how they can more effectively protect people against radiation encountered in space. The team is also looking at incorporating active real-time dosimeters detectors made of nano-particles and 2D metamaterials. The goal is to create an effective radiation polymers, as well as warning systems, which would significantly increase efficiency of risk mitigation strategies and enhance crew safety. The materials and dosimetry systems developed would be integrated into spacesuits, life support systems, and mobility units to enhance Extravehicular Activities safety.

Beltran immigrated to the U.S. from Catalonia, 聽in the early 鈥�90s after completing her physician education and training, and worked at a hospital near Philadelphia. Starting from scratch with nothing but her packed suitcase, she used her clothes to soften the floor for a bed until she could begin to furnish her apartment.

鈥淭hroughout these years I had to overcome that I was a foreigner, a woman and also considered a minority,鈥� Beltran says. 鈥淪o that was three strikes against me. And I was entering, especially back then, the male-dominated field of aerospace medicine, and a lot of the older generation had a very macho attitude.鈥�

鈥淚 got used to having a lot of quick comebacks to stand up for myself,鈥� she says.

It was then that Beltran began codifying her values that she follows today: respect for yourself, independence, perseverance鈥nd following your heart.

She recalls facing devastating medical cases, where she saw the brokenness of humanity, but also witnessing the very best in people, too, like skilled doctors bringing hope and healing.

After a couple of years in Pennsylvania, Beltran鈥檚 restless spirit began eyeing the horizon. She decided on an aerospace graduate program in North Dakota.

She went on to earn a master鈥檚 in aerospace sciences from the University of North Dakota and then a doctorate in public health, aerospace medicine, and occupational and environmental health from the University of Texas鈥� Health Science Center in Houston.

Aerospace sciences was taking Beltran鈥檚 medical skills and stretching them across a new environment where they would be applied to humans living and working in extreme environments, which included high altitudes, space and under water.

Beltran was selected to serve as one of the medical doctors at Johnson Space Center to help develop spacewalk protocols in preparation for the International Space Station.

During the summer of 1999 she took a short break from Johnson to serve as a medical officer for an archaeology trip to Turkey to excavate a submerged merchant ship dating back to 400 B.C. The expedition was filmed by National Geographic and released as part of National Geographic: Lost Ships of the Mediterranean.

When she returned home, she continued working on spacewalk protocols and completed her doctorate in aerospace medicine making her a flight surgeon.

Never one to sit still, she moved to Florida where she began teaching human factors, flight physiology and safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. She also worked with military and special forces pilots at Bristow Academy, now U.S. Aviation Training Solutions in Titusville, Florida.

After eight years of training pilots in Florida, Beltran came to 麻豆原创鈥檚 Florida Space Institute in 2011.

As a teacher and physician, Beltran learned the power of words to keep people safe and make a difference. For this reason, she wrote a book, Fly High, Reach the Sky!, to inspire others to achieve their best and avoid pitfalls such as self-doubt and deferring their dreams.

She especially hopes to inspire women, and in particular, those who may feel trapped by circumstances or intimidated of entering a male-dominated field.

Some of her advice is: It鈥檚 OK to put your needs first sometimes; don鈥檛 base your value on the approval of others; take full responsibility as the conductor of your life; don鈥檛 be intimidated by rank, position or social status; avoid toxic relationships and situations; and never give up on your dreams.

A Focused Research Approach

Although Backes鈥� work is based on a generalist approach, meaning she looks at different aspects of domestic violence 鈥� such as issues like stalking or solutions like access to resources 鈥� all of her efforts work together and center around the post-victimization path.

鈥淎fter someone gets victimized and hurt, what is that process like for them and how can our responses be improved?鈥� she says. 鈥淚 look at how they seek help, how our services are set up to respond and how we can make that process better not only for them in the short-term but also across the lifespan.鈥�

To examine this pathway, Backes looks at multidisciplinary responses, including community-based resources, family and friends, or departments within the criminal justice system. Ultimately, she examines how all of these resources and responses come together to inform someone, which she says contributes to their decision to seek help or not.

One of the many projects Backes is currently working on looks at the effectiveness of transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence and is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. A major reason why people do not or cannot leave abusive relationships stems from a lack of housing, Backes says. This project examines the different transitional housing models and services offered to domestic violence survivors and their children to see how stable and secure housing relates to economic, safety, and health outcomes.

鈥淎 big thing for me is the applied nature of my work,鈥� says Backes. 鈥淭he 鈥榮o what鈥� question is really meant to elevate a good practice and move it forward for enhanced [federal and state] policy and funding decisions.鈥�

Many people in the domestic violence field begin their journey due to personal victimization, Backes says. A career in this area is not for the faint of heart. Burnout can occur, and vicarious trauma during the research process happens. It鈥檚 moments like these that Backes turns to the kitchen and her daughters for stress-relief from the intense work she does every day.

Workforce Insight and Inspiration

Backes spent 10 years working as a social science analyst for the U.S. Department of Justice鈥檚 National Institute of Justice. As an analyst, she managed the department鈥檚 violence against women internal research, wrongful conviction research and violent victimization work. Her job was to understand what research had been conducted in these areas and what gaps existed, and then figure out a way to fill them.

One project she worked on involved domestic violence homicide prevention, which required her to look at models for identifying high-risk cases.

鈥淚t is a huge initiative, but working on these topics is difficult because people are dying in communities at the hands of their intimate partner,鈥� Backes says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e trying to figure out what [went] wrong. How can we make sure this doesn鈥檛 happen again?鈥�

After a decade with the U.S. Department of Justice, preceded by a director position for the victim services and community outreach arm of a Maryland-based nonprofit, Backes was ready for a change.

鈥淚 got to the point where I realized I wanted to be the one doing the research,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 wondered if my work could be more impactful by doing the research, going into academia, working with students, and really teaching and broadening minds around these topics.鈥�

Making Her Mark in Academia

Although the decision seemed easy enough, the transition was Backes鈥� biggest professional challenge. Despite her belief that her experience would make her more qualified, she was surprised to encounter people who thought former federal government employees couldn鈥檛 successfully make the switch into the world of academia.

鈥淚t was hard to figure out my home and who I could trust,鈥� she says.

But Backes, who earned her doctorate while working full-time and starting a family, has never been one to shy away from a challenge and remained persistent until she found the right fit. When she landed at 麻豆原创, she didn鈥檛 have to narrow her research focus or change her values to be accepted as a faculty member.

鈥淎s a cluster faculty member, I鈥檓 with a connected group of researchers who understand studying and teaching tough, sensitive topics,鈥� Backes says.

As a product of research-focused universities, including the University of Michigan and University of Maryland, Baltimore, Backes feels right at home (although she admits she鈥檚 still a die-hard Michigan fan).

鈥淥ne of the things that really appeals to me about 麻豆原创 is being in an environment where there鈥檚 a mixture of traditional and nontraditional students,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 appreciate the different perspectives and cultures here that add so much context to the classroom and to the campus.鈥�

With the freedom of continuing her generalist approach in her work, Backes says she also feels at home in the classroom. One of the reasons she has an appointment in the criminal justice department is so she can work with doctoral students.

鈥淚 view my classrooms as a place of learning and application 鈥� not just for the students, but for me as well,鈥� Backes says. 鈥淚t is amazing to be a part of the student journey. I strive to be like many of my women mentors who have had an incredible impact on my personal and professional path. I want to give back to students what I received. When they return asking for guidance on careers or graduate school or needing a safe space to talk, I am here for them.鈥�

Assistant Professor of Physics Kerri Donaldson Hanna is working with University of Colorado Boulder Professor Paul Hayne on NASA鈥檚 Lunar Compact InfraRed Imaging System (L-CIRiS). 聽Hayne is the principal investigator on the project in partnership with Ball Aerospace.

The L-CIRiS instrument will scan the landing site and collect thermal images of the lunar surface. These images will be used to create maps of the moon giving scientists a better understanding of the composition and physical properties of the regolith and rocks directly at the landing site, Donaldson Hanna says. This particular instrument is expected to be sent to the south pole of the moon.

鈥淭he south pole is tantalizing to us, because observations from multiple spacecraft have suggested the south pole could hold water ice and other materials seen as the building blocks of life,鈥� Donaldson Hanna says. 鈥淭he camera is set up to search for areas cold enough to retain water and volatiles like carbon dioxide, methane, and sulfur-bearing species.

She emphasizes the importance of this work for the future of long-term space exploration or habitation.

“If we ever want to send humans for a longer term to the moon and Mars we need to know what resources are available on the moon and elsewhere,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hat we learn will not only help us understand the moon, but it will give us insight into potential resources on asteroids and other planetary bodies.鈥�

Donaldson Hanna鈥檚 experience on other lunar missions including the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment on board NASA鈥檚 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter made her one of the best-qualified people to tackle the compositional analysis on this mission. 聽Donaldson Hanna鈥檚 contributions on Diviner helped produce the first compositional maps of the moon鈥檚 crust based on its thermally emitted radiation.

Donaldson Hanna and undergraduate student Adam Bedel have been working to select filters for the thermal camera so it can collect the best high-resolution images for mapping the composition of the surface around the landing site. Finding the right set of filters is no easy task. In total there will be four filters on the thermal camera and Donaldson Hanna and Bedel are selecting three of them for the compositional data set.聽 The team has been numerically modeling the best combination of filters using code previously developed for Diviner and spectral measurements of lunar soil samples from the Apollo missions in Donaldson Hanna鈥檚 lab at 麻豆原创.

鈥淚 repurposed code from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer to optimize infrared filters for maximum signal-to-noise ratio, which will be used to help diagnose the mineralogy of lunar soil,鈥� Bedel says. 鈥淭he work done by the L-CIRiS team is crucial to our understanding of the formation of the moon and our solar system. By learning how the moon formed, we will be able to create new models for planet formation and better predict the presence of Earth-like exoplanets around distant stars.鈥�

Donaldson Hanna鈥檚 is now working on three moon-based mission. She continues to work on the Diviner mission, which is ongoing and she is also part of NASA鈥檚 Lunar Trailblazer mission to map the water cycle on the moon, which is scheduled to launch in 2025.

L-CIRiS will head to the south pole of the moon on board Masten鈥檚 XL-1 lunar lander as part of NASA鈥檚聽(CLPS) program, which is part of the Artemis program. Instruments from other research institutions will join L-CIRiS on the XL-1 lander and are expected to launch to the moon in 2022 as a non-crewed demonstration mission ahead of sending astronauts there by 2024.

For Bedel, who is majoring in computational physics and minoring in , computer science, and astronomy, is working on the project is helping him achieve one of his childhood dreams.

鈥淚’ve always wanted to work on NASA projects; since I was a boy in grade school, I would always tell my teachers how someday I would build rockets and go to the moon,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat passion for discovery has never left me and my dream of assisting in missions to outer space is being realized.鈥�

Donaldson Hanna received her bachelor鈥檚 degree in space sciences from Florida Institute of Technology in 1999, her master鈥檚 degree in geological sciences from Brown University in 2010, and her doctorate in geological sciences from Brown University in 2013. Donaldson Hanna was a postdoctoral researcher within the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics sub-department at the University of Oxford before receiving a UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellowship to continue her research at Oxford for an additional 3.5 years. While at Oxford, she held a Junior Research Fellowship at Christ Church College and was awarded the early career Winton Capital Geophysics Award from the Royal Astronomical Society. She joined 麻豆原创 in 2019.

generously sponsored this year’s award. Each woman received a Barnes & Noble gift card.

The 2021 honorees are listed below, and more detailed bios will be updated daily on the Provost’s website during the month of March to feature each woman and her accomplishments.

Congratulations to this year’s honorees:

Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine

Nursing Practice,聽College of Nursing

School of聽Social聽Work, College of Health Professions and Sciences

Research Associate Professor and Core Scientist
Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine

Assistant Professor
Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Program Director
Physics, College of Sciences

Anthropology, College of Sciences

Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine

School of Teacher Education, College of Community Innovation and Education

School of Performing Arts, College of Arts and Humanities

Counselor Education, College of Community Innovation and Education

Criminal Justice, College of Community Innovation and Education

Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine

School of Teacher Education, College of Community Innovation and Education

Anthropology, College of Sciences

Biology, College of Sciences

History, College of Arts and Humanities

School of Teacher Education, College of Community Innovation and Education

Educational Leadership, College of Community Innovation and Education

Psychology, College of Sciences

Nursing Systems, College of Nursing

Foodservice and Lodging Management, Rosen College of Hospitality Management

School of Teacher Education, College of Community Innovation and Education

Florida Space Institute and Arecibo Observatory, College of Sciences

Modern Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Humanities

English, College of Arts and Humanities

Learning Sciences and Educational Research, College of Community Innovation and Education

Center for Distributed Learning

School of Teacher Education, College of Community Innovation and Education

College of Medicine

Computer Science, College of Engineering and Computer Science