Eight faculty members have received awards for the summer 2026 round of the UT Martin Faculty Development Grant Program, which provides funding for faculty development opportunities for regular, full-time faculty.
The program is coordinated by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and includes three rounds of funding annually. Details and application link are available through the ORSP SharePoint site.
Dr. CLINT ARY | Dr. STUART CURRIE | Dr. BRANDT GIBSON
• Dr. Clint Ary, associate professor of animal science, was awarded $1,314 in the conference participation category for his project titled “Putting Pizazz in Parasites: Creative Projects in Veterinary Parasitology Education.”
The funding will pay for his attending the 2026 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Conference held June 22-25 in Starkville, Mississippi, to present a poster developed from a learning exercise in which students in a veterinary technology parasitology course submitted creative works for extra credit.
• Dr. Stuart Currie, professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance, was awarded $1,500 in the conference participation category for his proposal titled “Using Research to Inform Technical-Centered Curriculum Design for U9-U12 Youth Soccer Players.”
The funding supported Currie’s presentation of peer-reviewed research at the 31st European College of Sport Science Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland. The project advances a research-to-practice model for youth soccer coaching and will continue through the integration of findings into physical education teaching, international sport coaching workshops and future scholarly publications.
• Dr. Brandt Gibson, lecturer in the Department of Agriculture, Geosciences, and Natural Resources, was awarded $1,500 in the conference participation category for his proposal titled “Session Chair and Technical Program Committee Leadership at the 2026 GSA Annual Geology Meeting.”
The funding will be used to support travel for the Geological Society of America annual meeting for Gibson to serve as a Joint Technical Program Committee member for the Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division and co-chair three topical sessions.
Dr. HOUMAN HANACHI | Dr. SEYEDALI SEYEDKAVOOSI
• Dr. Houman Hanachi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was awarded $1,500 in the conference participation category for his proposal titled “Dissemination and Curriculum Integration of Machine Learning-Based Prognostics and Reliability Engineering for Engineering Education.”
The funding will be used to support participation in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Prognostics and Health Management 2026 conference held June 1-3 in Toronto to present the peer-reviewed paper “Machine Learning-Based Performance Prognostics of Gas Turbines: A Review of Recent Advances.”
• Dr. Seyedali Seyedkavoosi, associate professor of engineering, was awarded $1,000 in the international travel category for his proposal titled “Presentation of a Low-Cost EMG-Controlled Tendon Driven Underactuated Prosthetic Hand.”
The funding will be used to support international travel and registration for presenting a research project at the International Conference on Aerospace, Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering in July 2026.
Dr. GENESSA SMITH | Dr. MARK STATLER | Dr. MELISSA M. WOOD
• Dr. Genessa Smith, professor of chemistry, was awarded $250 in the professional development category for her proposal titled “Enhancing ADA Title II Accessibility of Chemistry Course Materials.”
The funding will be used to attend the American Chemical Society fall 2026 meeting held Aug. 23-27 in Chicago and the Accessibility of Chemical Information symposium.
• Dr. Mark Statler, director of choral activities, was awarded $1,259 in the professional development category for his proposal titled “Attend the TN-ACDA Summer 2026 Conference.”
The funding supported Dr. Currie’s presentation of peer-reviewed research at the 31st European College of Sport Science (ECSS) Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland. The project advances a research-to-practice model for youth soccer coaching and will continue through the integration of findings into physical education teaching, international sport coaching workshops, and future scholarly publications.
• Dr. Melissa M. Wood, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, was awarded $1,445 in the conference participation category for her proposal titled “Empowering FCS Ed: Using Research to Shape Future Professional Development.”
The funding will be used for her attendance at the 2026 National Conference of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences held June 18-21 in Louisville to present an accepted peer-reviewed session and participate in a pre-conference AI workshop leading to the Principled AI Professional Microcredential.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs provides funding for internal awards designed to assist UT Martin faculty with development activities. For more information about grant funding through ORSP, visit www.utm.edu/orsp.
