The Academic Minute for 2021.06.28-2021.07.02

The Academic Minute from 06.28 – 07.02

Monday, June 28th
Linda Dynan – Northern Kentucky University
Hospital Safety and Quality
Dr. Linda Dynan is a Professor of Economics at Northern Kentucky University. She earned her B.A. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and her MA, MPhil and doctorate in economics from Columbia University in the City of New York. She completed a post-doctoral Crosby Research Fellowship with the Hospital Research and Educational Trust of the American Hospital Association.  Dr. Dynan’s research interests and grant writing activity focus on health economics. She maintains an appointment as Adjunct Research Associate Professor at the Anderson Center for Health System Excellence of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Dynan’s work has been published in leading health services research and medical journals such as Health Affairs.

Tuesday, June 29th
Chris Curran – Northern Kentucky University
Watch out for the TRAP
Dr. Curran’s research is in understanding how environmental toxicants affect the brain, leading to deficits in learning and memory and altered behavior. Understanding how genetic differences (polymorphisms) affect susceptibility or resistance to environmental toxicants such as polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Wednesday, June 30th
Kristy Hopfensperger – Northern Kentucky University
One Milkweed at a Time
Kristy is an ecosystem ecologist and director of the Environmental Science Program at Northern Kentucky University. At the heart of her research projects are undergraduate students and community partners. Together, they work to create a greener, healthier, and safer environment for all.

Thursday, July 1st
Zachary Hart – Northern Kentucky University
Sensemaking by Parents of Children with Disabilities
I joined the NKU faculty in 2003.  I earned my PhD in Communication from Michigan State University.  I previously taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Concordia University-Chicago.  My research interests focus on the information seeking strategies and sensemaking process for parents of children with disabilities and the socialization of new employees.  I teach Communication Studies, Health Communication and Public Relations courses.  I previously served as department chair from 2010-11 and 2012-2018.

Friday, July 2nd
Rachael Clark – Northern Kentucky University
Hope in Poverty
Rachael Clark, Lecturer at Northern Kentucky University investigates human strengths within challenging contexts.

Dr. Clark’s research focuses on integrating multiple sources of data to understand research phenomena more deeply using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research approaches. Her current research interests include investigating how grit, meaning in life, and hope predict success and the associated measurement issues involved in evaluating complex psychological concepts.