Improving Lives
The faculty and students in the College of Human Environmental Sciences (CHES) conduct cutting-edge research on issues that are essential for understanding and improving the lives of individuals, families, and communities across Alabama and the globe. Research faculty in the six academic departments have expertise and interests covering a wide variety of topics. CHES researchers conduct basic, applied, interdisciplinary, and community-based research and collaborate with other researchers across campus and throughout the world. CHES research is increasingly funded by external sources and continues to grow in recognition and impact. Some of the most recently funded projects and newest publications are highlighted below. Explore the faculty research expertise and student opportunities pages to learn more about how CHES researchers are improving lives.
Recently Funded Projects
Taylor Zingg
Health ScienceFunder: Society for Public Health Education
Project Title: Promoting Equity Through a Skin Cancer Intervention

Heather Love
Human Development & Family StudiesFunder: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Project Title: The Influence of Romantic Relationship Dynamics on Suicidal Ideation: A Longitudinal, Dyadic Study

Ryan Moran
Health SciencesFunder: Lakeshore Foundation
Project Title: Using Center of Pressure Trajectory to Quantify Postural Control During Dynamic Wheeling Tasks: Exploration of a Novel Approach to Concussion Assessment in Collegiate Adapted Athletes

Lingyan Kong
Human Nutrition, Hospitality, & Sport ManagementFunder: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Title: Enhancing the Food and Nutrition Sciences Education in West Central Alabama: The Planning Phase

Amy Ellis
Human Nutrition, Hospitality, & Sport ManagementFunder: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Project: The Forklift Program for Dietetic Students: Intergenerational Service Learning with Older Adult Veterans

Libo Tan
Human Nutrition, Hospitality, & Sport ManagementFunder: Sigma Xi
Project: Maternal Supplementation of Lutein on Retinopathy of Prematurity: a Pre-Clinical Study in the Golden Mouse Model for Carotenoid Research

Newest CHES Publications
Trevor Bopp (Human Nutrition, Hospitality, & Sport Management) with a colleague from Indiana Tech published a paper in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics <https://doi.org/10.51221/sc.jiia.2024.17.1.12> focused on the experiences of Black college football coaches.
K. T. Kim (Consumer Sciences) along with a colleague from Inha University published a paper in the International Journal of Bank Marketing < https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-05-2024-0277> focused on financial well-being, anxiety, and payment delinquency.
Tasmiah Nuzhath (Health Sciences) along with colleagues from Harvard University, Texas A & M University, Baylor College of Medicine, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, the University of San Francisco, and the University of California Los Angeles published a paper in Vaccine < https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.126420> on pediatric COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant and post-partum women.
Melissa Wilmarth (Consumer Sciences) along with colleagues from Brigham Young University and the University of Minnesota published a paper in Family Relations <https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12989>testing whether couple finance behaviors are associated with marital outcomes and whether shared relational power mediates the associations.
Robert Laird (Human Development and Family Studies) and a colleague from the Chinese University of Hong Kong published a paper in the Journal of Research on Adolescence <https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.13000> exploring adolescents’ perceptions of privacy violations by parents, siblings, and friends.
Tiffany Marcantonio, Gracie Avery, & Anna Thrash (Health Science) and a colleague from Georgia State University had a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Sex Research <https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2024.2396457> that examines the influence of large language models as a tool for sexual health education for adolescents and young adults. The overall conclusion is that MyAI (which is housed within Snapchat) can be used as a tool for sexual health education, with some limitations/parameters added.
Michael Stellefson and Olivia Campbell (Health Science) along with a colleague from the University of Maryland published a paper in Chronic Respiratory Disease <https://doi.org/10.1177/14799731241268338>documenting significant disparities in the likelihood of individuals with COPD discussing cognitive symptoms in healthcare settings based on demographics and health risk behaviors.
Lori Turner, Michael Stellefson, Beth Chaney (Health Sciences), Heather Love (HDFS) and colleagues from CCHS and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor published a paper in the Journal of American College Health <https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2024.2362329> which identified factors associated with formal and informal mental health help-seeking intentions among college students reporting suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Heather Love (Human Development and Family Studies) along with colleagues from Oklahoma State University and the University of South Alabama published an article in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior <https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.13125> finding that suicide ideation declined over a ten-day daily diary period. This finding is important because it addresses the ethics of research on suicide ideation.
Janie DiNatale, Amy Ellis, Joy Douglas, & Kristi Crowe-White (Human Nutrition, Hospitality, & Sport Management) with colleagues from Binghamton University and the University of California San Francisco published a paper in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38567391/>documenting that older adults with higher intake of medications performed more poorly on assessments of global cognition and processing speed, underscoring the need to weigh risks and benefits when prescribing medications for older adults.
Haemi Kim and Yeon Ho Shin (Human Nutrition, Hospitality, & Sport Management) with a colleague from Oklahoma State University published a paper in the International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration <https://doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2024.2377150> investigating restaurants’ commitment to employees’ mental health. Employees perceiving a safer psychosocial climate at work reported more thriving via greater vitality and learning.