Erin Ash, Associate Professor, Department of Communication
Dr. Ash's research focuses primarily on representations of social groups in media and their effects, including media-based stereotyping, beliefs about inequality, and support for policies aimed at alleviating these issues. Her work has examined the relationship between media portrayals and these outcomes across a variety of contexts, including news, sports, video games, film/entertainment, and health.
Matthew H. E. M. Browning, Associate Professor, Director, Virtual Reality and Nature Lab, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Dr. Browning’s work is at the nexus of environmental science and public health, examining how technological nature benefits human health. My role as director of the Virtual Reality and Nature Lab ([VRN] in Sirrine 368) involves leading interventional and observational research using immersive technologies (i.e., VR, smartphone apps, holographic imagery) in the newly renovated Research Innovation Suite ([RIS] in Sirrine 374). The RIS includes four reservable rooms for CBSHS colleagues with features allowing tightly controlled experiments. The VRN specializes in spatial epidemiology and advanced exposure assessments to investigate how built, and natural environment factors influence mental health/well-being, disease, mortality, and racial violence, including fatal police shootings. Other skills and interests include artificial intelligence, climate change, health inequities, healthcare facility design, telehealth, and wearables.
Kaileigh Byrne, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Dr. Byrne's primary area of research is centered on decision-making and reward motivation. She examines how both individual difference factors and situational factors, including stress, potential for benefits and losses, and level of effort expenditure influences affect decision-making outcomes. Her lab uses a multimodal approach to examine the cognitive, physiological, and computational processes that influence our decisions and actions.
Lori Dickes, Associate Chair and Graduate Programs Director, Department of Political Science
Dr. Dickes’ research leverages specific training in economics and policy analysis to better understand rural and regional development across different geographies and in different contexts. Dr. Dickes’ research focuses on a range of specific issues, including entrepreneurship, broadband access and availability, regional economic development, maternal health and substance use disorders, and natural resource policy; all of these issues impacting the ability of communities to be economically and socially sustainable. Using transdisciplinary and participatory methods, Dr. Dickes has experience using quantitative and qualitative approaches, including cost-benefit analysis, feasibility studies, economic and policy analysis and a wide range of community and stakeholder engagement approaches.
Amira Jadoon, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
Dr. Amira Jadoon specializes in international security, counterterrorism, and political violence with a regional focus on South and Central Asia. Using mixed methods, her research explores three key themes. First, it explores the effectiveness of international security and counterterrorism policies to promote global security and constrain transnational and domestic terrorism. Second, it examines the various consequences of political violence and terrorism on state and human security. And finally, her work delves into the sociopolitical drivers of insurgencies and terrorism, as well as the behavior of specific militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Miao Li, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice
Dr. Li specializes in social determinants of health, aging and life course, family and child development, and quantitative research methods.
Caitlin Moore, Associate Director, Clinical Operations, Clemson Rural Health
Dr. Moore’s current research interests include nurse practitioner-led mobile health units, hepatitis C screening and treatment, and the use of technology platforms for remote patient monitoring.
Andrew Pyle, Associate Professor, Department of Communication
Dr. Pyle's research focuses on the intersection of crisis communication and intercultural communication. He is also interested in the ways that organizations employ social media to manage crisis communication. With fellow Center for Criminal Justice and Social Research faculty affiliates, Pyle has begun studying the intersection of effective crisis communication and novel approaches to policing and police communication.
Corrine Sackett, Associate Professor, Department of Education and Human Development
Dr. Sackett’s research agenda centers on accessing and utilizing client perspectives of the counseling process to improve client engagement and outcomes. Her research ultimately helps to improve the quality and outcome of care for mental health and addictions counseling in a variety of settings through accessing and utilizing client perspectives to inform treatment. Dr. Sackett also targets advocacy around societal issues in her research.
Iryna Sharaievska, Assistant Professor, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Dr. Sharaievska’s research focuses on technology-based leisure in contemporary families, leisure behavior among individuals and families of diverse backgrounds (non-resident parent, veteran families, low-income and rural families, family members with disabilities), and the use of new technologies in recreation management (e.g., the new media/social network sites, gaming, cell phones, navigational devices).
Thomas Sharkey, Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering
Dr. Sharkey is interested in creating engineering models that can help address social issues including sex trafficking and the opioid epidemic. He is particularly interested in ensuring that the models help address these issues in ways that bring in expertise from diverse stakeholders, including those that have lived experience. He has worked with partners across survivor advocacy organizations, public health organizations, and law enforcement. His technical expertise is in the area of network analysis.
Mark Small, Professor, Director, Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life, Department of Psychology
Dr. Small’s research focuses on community approaches to well-being, community mental health, social justice, and program evaluation.
Joseph Stewart, Jr., Posthumous Professor, Department Political Science
Dr. Stewart, Jr. has written extensively on the topic of representative bureaucracy and its impact on public policy. Some of this work has been cited in applications to law enforcement agencies. In addition, Dr. Stewart, Jr. studied various aspects of racial and ethnic politics and civil rights policy.
Jose Torres, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice
Dr. Torres’ research interests center on capturing significant contemporary shifts in policing theory, policy, and practice. Within this, he looks at the policing of public housing communities, the impact of the post-Ferguson period on law enforcement, and the policing of marijuana. Through this work, Dr. Torres addresses community policing, social control, the policing of marginalized groups, and the social-psychology of police officers.
Captain Christopher Harrington, Operations Bureau Commander, Clemson University
Captain Harrington is the Operations Bureau Commander for the Clemson University Police Department. Beginning his career with Clemson University in 2005, Harrington previously served as a Sergeant and Lieutenant in Uniform Patrol, Professional Development and Training Division Commander, and Bureau Commander for Investigations and Support Services. Captain Harrington is a state and nationally certified instructor in numerous law enforcement disciplines and served as the project administrator and principal investigator for over $1 Million in awarded state and federal grant projects. Captain Harrington has led organizational response as Incident Commander and Operations Section Chief for numerous law enforcement incidents affecting the Clemson University Community. Captain Harrington is a nationally certified instructor in the Integrating Communication, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) de-escalation program and the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) program. Since 2019, Captain Harrington has partnered with faculty researchers from the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice at Clemson University in grant-funded programs to create a response strategy to address the growing concerns surrounding mental health and co-occurring disorders, along with research on how officer experience and training impacts decision making during calls for service. Captain Harrington has a B.S. in Psychology and a Master of Public Administration, both from Clemson University, and is a graduate of the FBI-LEEDA Command and Executive Leadership Institutes and the 76th Session of the Police Executive Research Forum Senior Management Institute for Police.
Captain Cheryl Cromartie, Community Services Division, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office
A 25-year veteran of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office (GSCO), Captain Cromartie currently supervises the Community Services Division, which includes Communication (911 Dispatchers). Captain Cromartie began her law enforcement career with the Sheriff’s Office in December 1992, serving as a Uniform Patrol deputy. Throughout her career at GCSO, she spent many of her years working in the Criminal Investigation Division. In 2009, Cheryl made the rank of Sergeant, in the Uniform Patrol Division, and in 2015 made the rank of Lieutenant within the same division. In 2018, she was promoted to the rank of Captain over the Community Services Division. Recognized both professionally and in the community, Captain Cromartie has received Distinguish Service Awards and Letters of Commendations. In addition, she was honored with an Unsung Hero award from Greenville Technical College and special recognition from Springfield Baptist Church, among others. Captain Cromartie’s education and training background includes various training and certifications in areas that include but are not limited to leadership and management, supervision, crisis negotiation, interviewing and interrogating, sexual assault investigations, forensic interviewing, conflict resolution, NAMI, and specific skills instructor. In addition, her formal education includes a B.S in Criminal Justice with a Minor in Psychology from South Carolina State University, a dual M.A. in Human Resource Development and Human Resource Management from Webster University, an M.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia Southern University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Leadership Management from St. Thomas University. She has also contributed to the education of others through her service as an adjunct Criminal Justice Instructor at Tri-County Technical College for more than six years and a graduate of Leadership Greenville, Class 42.
Darja Beinenson is a second-year graduate student in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice. She graduated from the University of the South with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Minor in French and French Studies. Her research interests are the well-being and mental health of children and youth; child maltreatment and family relationships. As an undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant and became involved in the Discover Together project, a collaborative effort designed to build family resilience and create a social support network among families and the broader community. She is passionate about exploring intervention and prevention strategies for at-risk families. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in developmental psychology after gaining extensive research experience at Clemson University. She is looking forward to collaborating with faculty and other affiliates on projects that benefit the larger community.
Abby McJunkin is currently pursuing a Master’s in Social Science and is a TA in the department of sociology, anthropology, and criminal justice. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in philosophy from Clemson. Her research interests include education in prisons, recidivism, the relationship between police and the public, police hiring and screening policies, and the subculture within policing. She also volunteers as a tutor for inmates at Perry Correctional Institution in Greenville, and at The Parenting Place in Easley.
Claire Waddell is a graduate student in the MS in Social Science program and holds a BA in Sociology from Clemson University. During her time at Clemson, she has worked on projects funded by the Centers of Disease Control, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of South Carolina, the US Department of Education, and the National Institute of Justice. Waddell’s research focuses on sexual violence in sport and the gendered nature of sports media. As a recent Clemson graduate, she is passionate and excited about the advancement of social science research at her alma mater.
Olivia Murphy is a third-year undergraduate student studying psychology and criminal justice. Currently, she is employed at Leath Correctional Facility and works with inmates to facilitate a trauma-informed curriculum and extensive discharge planning. She also works with the Children's Trust of SC to connect and educate inmates through the Strengthening Families Program. Olivia is involved in campus activities, serving on the executive board of the Criminal Justice Club and BodyWell. Olivia also spends time volunteering for Pickens Advocacy Center as an on-call victim advocate. Olivia looks forward to fusing her knowledge of psychology with social research to find better methods for recidivism.
Karl Pagilagan is a 4th-year undergraduate criminal justice major with a minor in sociology and a minor in psychology. His main research interests are in criminology and understanding how and why people decide to commit crimes and also how to fix issues in criminal justice like mass incarceration. Karl wants to try and gain experience conducting research in order to put these goals into action.
Kayleigh Rhodes is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Criminal Justice. Her research interests include recidivism, community prevention programs, police training, and theories of crime. She hopes to use her qualitative research skills to engage with community members to gain a better understanding of how we can help better our community through potential program implementation.
Ally Felch is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in criminal justice and sociology. Her primary research interests include the legal framework of the criminal justice system, mass incarceration, prison rehabilitation initiatives, and wrongful convictions. She hopes to use her degrees in criminal justice and sociology to work for a nonprofit committed to prison reform in an effort to provide rehabilitative opportunities to inmates.
