Selected Projects
Below is a list of selected projects that illustrate a wide range of Clemson University collaborations already underway in the Caribbean Region.
Professor Scott Brames in the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences is working in Dominica on a spring break program for students to examine the volcanic arc and geo-thermally active areas.
Professor Cameron Bushnell in the Department of English traveled to Dominica as part of her work with race and ethnicity.
Professor Stéphanie Cretté in the Department of Academic Affairs (Warren Lasch Conservation Center, Charleston, SC) worked in Cuba exploring opportunities relevant to the Conservation Center. She also established an agreement between Colombia’s Externado University and the Conservation Center for collaboration, exchange and creation of a curriculum in archaeological maritime conservation.
Professor Stephanie Davis in the School of Nursing travels to the Dominican Republic during Spring Break to lead a group of students on a Volunteers in Medical Missions project.
Professor Saara DeWalt in the Department of Biological Sciences has a long-term research project examining forest dynamics on the island of Dominica. She is working with Skip Van Bloem in the Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science and Stefanie Whitmire in the Department of Biological Sciences to investigate the carbon footprint of recent hurricanes in tropical forests in the Caribbean She is working with the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in Puerto Rico to develop a Caribbean-wide forest monitoring network. She also works in various locations in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Dominica, Trinidad) to study a weed that is native to the Caribbean but was introduced to and has become a problem in various other tropical areas, including Hawaii.
Professor Lauren Duffy in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management is leading a delegation of Clemson faculty, staff, and extension agents for an action-oriented program to Cuba focusing on 1) the technical exchange of sustainable agriculture practices, and 2) the development of collaborations that connect aligning research interests related to sustainable agriculture, tourism, and sustainability policy.
Professor Andrea Feeser in the Department of Art worked in Haiti on the project, Training Tomorrow’s Trainers: Cultivating and Dyeing with Indigo in Jérémie and Abricots, Haiti for Cultural and Economic Empowerment.
Professors Carter Hudgins and Amalia Lafeiste in the Department of Planning, Development, and Preservation traveled to Cuba to conduct a site visit and survey.
Professors Carter Hudgins and Richard Marks in the Department of Planning, Development, and Preservation are working in the Bahamas providing technical assistance to nonprofit historic preservation groups.
Professor Patrick Jodice in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation is working at various sites in the Caribbean on the conservation and ecology of marine birds, primarily focused on tracking, foraging ecology, and reproductive ecology. Work is ongoing or recently completed in Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Statia, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Rob Krulac in Business Development at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research traveled to Cuba exploring opportunities relevant to CU-ICAR.
Janice Lanham, Senior Lecturer in School of Nursing takes a group of healthcare students to Eleuthera, Bahamas for a Spring Break Immersion Experience. Clemson students work alongside Caribbean healthcare providers in community health based clinics/sites on the island of Eleuthera. Students also examine the socio-cultural influences of a faith-based healthcare system with an emphasis on enhancing the cultural competence of the healthcare professional.
Professors Kelly Lazar and Stephen Moysey in the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences are extending student field experiences in Dominica and Curacao supported by the NSF into a study abroad course evaluating sustainability at the intersection on human and natural systems. The course integrates geoscience research (climate, natural hazards, resource management, etc.) with an understanding of how these earth processes influence the sustainability of socioeconomic development on these very different islands.
Professor Gary Machlis, University Professor of Environmental Sustainability, collaborated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science in developing educational and scientific capacity in Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
Professor Kim Manganelli in the Department of English focused on Jamaica and Saint-Domingue in a chapter in her book Transatlantic Spectacles of Race: The Tragic Mulatta as a Tragic Muse.
Professors Juan Carlos Melgar and Sruthi Narayanan, together with graduate students Ricardo St. Aime and Brian Lawrence, from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences are working in Haiti on promoting climate-resilient agricultural practices through field visits and educational workshops with a Farmers Field School approach.
Professor Lee Morrissey in the Department of English has published "Transplanting English Plantations in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko," in Global South (10.2, Fall 2016, 11-26), on the early history of British colonial plantation in Surinam.
Professors Stephen Moysey and Scott Brames in the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences are working in Dominica through an NSF supplement request building an affective pathway to the geosciences through experiential learning.
Professor Angela Naimu in the Department of English published the book Salvage Work: U.S. and Caribbean Literatures amid the Debris of Legal Personhood.
Professor Jennifer Ogle in the Department of Civil Engineering is working in Dominica, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti on an engineering study abroad program. She is also working with Cameron Bushnell in the Department of English, Mark Small in the Department of Youth, Family and Community Studies, and Pam Murray-Tuitte in the Glen Department of Civil Engineering to use disaster narratives from residents of Dominica’s post-hurricane season 2017 to inform recovery and rebuilding efforts by developing a better understanding of the interdependencies of social networks and the built environment.
Professors Dil Thavarajah in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Stephen Kresovich, Robert and Lois Coker Trustees Chair of Genetics, are leading a project to establish a partnership with the sorghum and Jatropha breeding team from the University of Quisqueya in Haiti to introduce a value-added legume and cereal cropping system approach to combat malnutrition.
Professor Weichiang Pang in the Department of Civil Engineering is working in Haiti on a Creative Inquiry (CI) project aiming to address the sub-standard and dangerous construction of buildings.
Professor Arelis Moore de Peralta in the Department of Languages and the Department of Youth, Family, and Community Studies is working in the Dominican Republic doing community development and public health incorporating student study abroad.
Professor David Vaughn in the Department of Civil Engineering are working in Haiti on a student-directed applied engineering program for a sustainable future for the village of Cange.
Professors Mark Small in the Department of Youth, Family, and Community Studies, Jennifer Ogle in the Department of Civil Engineering, and Cameron Bushnell in the Department of English are engaged in community development involving civil engineering and fisheries management in Dominica.
Robert Taylor in the Department of Campus Recreation-Student Affairs takes a group of students to Dominica during Spring Break who have worked with the Orion Academy in Roseau on projects including trail work on the Waitukubuli National Trail and service work with the local farmers Cooperative in the Cochrane Village.
Professor Brenda Vander Mey in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice is working in Dominica promoting informed environmental stewardship, formal and informal learning, youth empowerment and leadership, service-learning, and community strengthening.
