About The RISE Center
In January 2017, Coastal Carolina University, in partnership with the North Inlet - Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) and Georgetown County, founded RISE - a United Nations Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) on Education for Sustainable Development. RISE (Resilience, Innovation, and Sustainability through Education) assists Georgetown County and other local governments, community organizations, and businesses to use and measure sustainable development goals. Faculty, NERR staff, and community members work in collaboration to enhance knowledge, research, and experiential learning on sustainable development in S.C.
The United Nations Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) were created in 2003 in response to the Decade for Sustainable Development to further generate, accelerate and mainstream global objectives into the context of the local communities in which they operate. There are 200 UN RCEs around the globe. UN RCE Georgetown, locally known as RISE, is the only one in the coastal Southeastern U.S. RISE promotes science-based research and decision-making by unifying community members, educators, businesses, elected officials, and youth within the county to initiate a sustainable and resilient future for Georgetown County.
INFORMATION
- Contact
Pamela Martin, Ph.D., Executive Director
843-349-2966
plmartin@coastal.edu
Our Mission
To localize and adapt the UN Sustainable Development Goals for communities, businesses, and organizations in S.C.
The Network
The RCE network brings together multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary members who might not usually work together. As such, RCEs are uniquely placed to help create solutions to sustainability challenges through dialogue, education and learning. They are highly influential policy advocates, able to test policies individually and work collectively to bring policy to scale and to provide advice on future actions.
Through these efforts, RCEs help prepare local leaders of tomorrow with the tools and information they need to make smart and sustainable choices for the future. RCE efforts encourage innovation and new approaches to sustainable development. They translate existing knowledge into concrete actions and empower individuals to make sustainable choices for themselves and their communities.
The success each RCE achieves on the local level is brought to scale through the global RCE Network worldwide. Local knowledge, expertise, and best practices are shared globally through the network and can be adapted and applied successfully in other regions. RCEs also play a central role in the transfer of global technologies, knowledge, and experiences at the local level through their programs and activities.
Where are the RCEs?
Our Members
Pamela Martin. Ph.D.
Executive Director
843-349-2966
plmartin@coastal.edu
Michelle Dzurenda, Ph.D.
Programs Coordinator
843-349-2774
madzuren@coastal.edu
Anthony P. Setari, Ph.D.
Data Coordinator
843-349-2112
asetari@coastal.edu
Maeve Snyder
Coastal Community Training Program Coordinator for the North Inlet Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
843-904-9034
msnyder@baruch.sc.edu
Tanja Warren
Operations Manager
843-349-6592
twarren1@coastal.edu
Our Partners
Our Affiliated Faculty
Name: Pamela L. Martin (Pam)
Affiliation: Professor of Political Science and Sustainability and Coastal Resilience, Coastal Carolina University
Degree: Ph.D. Political Science from University of Maryland, College Park
Contact information: plmartin@coastal.edu; 843-349-2966
Expertise/Research Areas: Energy policy, environmental policy, environmental law, global environmental politics and policy, sustainable development analysis and reporting, resilience analysis and reporting
Special Skills: Strategic Planning for sustainable and resilient organization development; policy analysis
Links to publications/data that are relevant: Rights of Nature: Strategies for Building a More Sustainable Future: https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5158/The-Politics-of-Rights-of-NatureStrategies-for; Public Dashboard for Georgetown County, SC on Sustainable Development with Derrick Storzieri and Anthony Setari: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/georgetown.rise/viz/UNSDGDashboard2020PRIME/HomeBoard
RISE/UN RCE website at CCU: www.coastal.edu/RISE
Name: Victoria DePalma
Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Honors and Sustainability and Coastal Resilience, HTC Honors College, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
Degrees: PhD in Environmental Science from University of Idaho, Moscow, ID
- S. in Biochemistry from Whitworth University, Spokane, WA
Contact Information: vdepalma@coastal.edu; 843-349-2774
Expertise/Research Areas: Environmental Perceptions, Climate Change Communication, Environmental Psychology, Environmental Philosophy, Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
Special Skills: Survey Design and Analysis, Interviews, TDI workshops https://tdi.msu.edu/
Links to publications/data that is relevant: https://www.coastal.edu/academics/facultyprofiles/honorscollege/victoriadepalma/
Name: Alli Crandell
Affiliation: Director of The Athenaeum Press, Interim Director of the Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies
Degree: MS Science and Technology Studies, Virginia Tech
Contact information: acrandell@coastal.edu
Expertise/Research Areas: Experiential learning, experimental publishing, digital humanities
Special Skills: cultural interpretation consulting, grant writing, print and web production
Links to publications/data that are relevant: https://coastal.edu/joynerinstitute ; https://ccu.press
https://www.coastal.edu/academics/facultyprofiles/humanities/officeofthedean/allicrandell/
Name: Sara Rich
Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Honors, HTC Honors College; Chair of CCU’s Bicycle Advisory Council; Chair of Indigenize SC Education Task Force
Degree: Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium
Contact information: srich2@coastal.edu
Expertise/Research Areas: archaeology, art history, blue humanities, post-colonialism
Name: Anthony P. Setari
Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Educational Research Methods, Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences
Degree: Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Education Sciences – Education Policy, Measurement, & Evaluation, University of Kentucky
Contact information: asetari@coastal.edu
Expertise/Research Areas: Education Policy, Program Evaluation, Quantitative Research, Poverty and Inequality
Special Skills: Data Dashboards, Survey/Scale/Test Development, Psychometric Validation
Links to publications/data that are relevant: Public Dashboard for Georgetown County, SC on Sustainable Development with Pam Martin and Derrick Storzieri https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/georgetown.rise/viz/UNSDGDashboard2020PRIME/HomeBoard
Name: Min Ye
Affiliation: Professor of Political Science, Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences
Degree: Ph.D., Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Contact information: mye@coastal.edu
Expertise/Research Areas: Foreign policy analysis, international relations, research method, Asian politics
Special Skills: Data analysis
Links to publications/data that are relevant: http://ww2.coastal.edu/mye/index.html
Name: Jaime McCauley
Affiliation: Associate Professor of Sociology, Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences
Degree: Ph.D. Sociology and Social Justice, University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada)
Expertise/Research Areas: Social movements and social change, social inequality, environmental sociology
Special Skills: Program Director for Social Justice Research Initiative
Links to publications/data that are relevant:
- "Light Environmentalists and Quiet Activism: Identity Alignment Among Participants in Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Programs"
- “’We can help the people who can make a difference’: Motivations, Goals, and Outcomes in Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring.”
- “Using Institutional Ethnography to Examine the Social Organization of Absence.”
Name: Regina E. Ciphrah, Ph.D.
Degree(s): Ph.D. Integrative Biology from University of South Carolina
Expertise/Research Areas: STEM education research and evaluation; Culturally Sustaining STEM curriculum development, curriculum implementation, and professional development; competency-based learning; accreditation (SACSCOC, CAEP/SPA)
Special Skills: youth engagement; fostering traditional face-to-face and online learning communities, maximizing continuous improvement assessment strategies, facilitating professional learning & coaching, and enhancing STEM education capacity
Links to publications/data that are relevant: https://www.verbalizingvisions.com/projects | https://www.drginabelle.com/about-drginabelle
Name: Melissa Clark
Affiliation: Professor of Marketing, Wall College of Business, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
Degrees: Ph.D. in Marketing, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
Contact Information: mclark2@coastal.edu; 843-349-2662
Expertise/Research Areas: Business Sustainability; Sustainable Hospitality/Eco-Tourism; Relationship Marketing; Social Media Marketing
Special Skills: Survey Design; Data Analysis including SEM
Links to publications/data that is relevant: https://www.coastal.edu/academics/facultyprofiles/business/marketingandhospitalityresortandtourismmanagement/melissaclark/
Name: Jacqueline Kurlowski
Affiliation: Director, Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, Instructor, Department of Politics, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC
Degrees: M.P.A, Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri
Contact Information: jamkurlow@coastal.edu; 843-349-6952
Expertise/Research Areas: Social Policy, Grant Writing, Food Insecurity
Special Skills: Quasi-experimental design methods, Survey Design, Community-impact models
Links to publications/data that is relevant: https://www.coastal.edu/academics/facultyprofiles/humanities/politics/jacquelinekurlowski/facultyprofile.php
Name: Richard Aidoo
Affiliation: Professor of Political Science, Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences
Degree: Ph.D., Political Science, Miami University, Ohio
Contact information: raidoo@coastal.edu
Expertise/Research Areas: International Relations, Development and Human Security, China-Africa Relations, African Politics
Special Skills: Qualitative Research
Links to publications/data that are relevant: https://www.coastal.edu/academics/facultyprofiles/humanities/politics/richardaidoo/facultyprofile.php
Name: Skip J. Van Bloem
Affiliation: Professor of Forest Ecology; Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, Clemson University, Georgetown, SC
Degree: Ph.D. Botany and Ecology; Michigan State University
Contact information: skipvb@clemson.edu 843.235.2668
Expertise/Research Areas: Forest Ecology, Disturbance Ecology particularly from hurricanes and high winds, tree physiology, tropical forestry
Special Skills: Program development, ecosystem ecology
Links to publications/data that are relevant: https://works.bepress.com/skip-vanbloem/3/
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.3373
https://www.clemson.edu/cafls/faculty_staff/profiles/SKIPVB
Name: Michelle Dzurenda
Affiliation: Instructor for the College of Education and Social Sciences
Degree: Ph.D in Education Sciences
Contact information: madzuren@coastal.edu
Expertise/Research Areas: Education in Sustainable Development; Food Insecurity; Educational Leadership- preparing pre-service teachers as leaders; Student engagement and retention in first year higher education; Physical Education and health education
Special Skills: Data design
Links to publications/data that are relevant: Data Dashboard and Food Insecurity in Georgetown County (to be completed fall 2021)
Name: Russell Fielding
Affiliation: Assistant Professor, HTC Honors College
Degree: PhD, Geography, Louisiana State University, 2010; MA, Geography, University of Montana, 2005; BS, Computer Science, University of Florida, 2000.
Contact information: rfielding@coastal.edu
Expertise/Research Areas: Human-environment interactions, environmental policy, environmental health, small island developing states (SIDS), island studies, fisheries and whaling, tropical agriculture
Special Skills: fieldwork, GIS, field-based teaching
Links to publications/data that are relevant: https://www.russellfielding.com/cv-and-publications
Name: Daniel C. Abel
Affiliation: Professor, Dept, of Marine Science
Degree: Ph.D., Marine Biology, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, 1986; M.Sc., Marine Biology, College of Charleston, 1981; B.Sc., Marine Biology, College of Charleston, 1978
Contact information: dabel@coastal.edu
Expertise/Research Areas: Biology and conservation of sharks, environmental science, sustainability across the curriculum
Special Skills: Implementing sustainability across the curriculum; field-oriented education, environmental education
Links to publications/data that are relevant: https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/shark-biology-and-conservation and https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ADaniel+C.+Abel&s=relevancerank&text=Daniel+C.+Abel&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
Name: Janae Davis
Affiliation: Associate Director of Conservation, American Rivers
Degree: Ph.D. Geography, Clark University, Worcester, MA
Contact information: jdavis@americanrivers.org, 843.999.0182
Expertise/Research Areas: Political ecology, equitable conservation practices, race and the environment, environmental history, black ecologies, water resources, environmental justice
Special Skills: theory to practice, community engagement, qualitative data collection and analysis
Links to publications/data that are relevant:Anthropocene, Capitalocene, ... Plantationocene?: A Manifesto for Ecological Justice in an Age of Global Crises; Race, land and freedom; Black faces, black spaces: Rethinking African American underrepresentation in wildland spaces and outdoor recreation
Name: Ina C. Seethaler
Affiliation: Associate Professor and Director of Women’s and Gender Studies
Degree: Ph.D. in English with a graduate minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, Saint Louis University
Contact Info: iseethale@coastal.edu; 843-349-6919
Expertise/Research Areas: story telling/life writing for social change; community activism; Gender Studies; intersectionality
Special Skills: multilingual; qualitative research methods; feminist theory/pedagogy
Links to publications/data that are relevant:
http://www.sunypress.edu/p-7215-lives-beyond-borders.aspx
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/730156
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1086482218824383
Name: James Ndone
Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Media, and Culture
Degree: Ph.D. in Journalism (specialty: crisis communication), University of Missouri, Columbia
Contact Info: jndone@coastal.edu; 309-530-3287
Expertise/Research Area: Crisis communication (the role of emotions in crisis), public relations, and health communication message designs
Special Skills: Multilingual, quantitative research methods, experimental designs, data analysis
Links to publications/data that are relevant:
Why RISE?
RESILIENCE
...to protect our infrastructure from natural disasters with solutions and resources.
INNOVATION
...to be dynamic in addressing the challenges specific to the county.
SUSTAINABILITY
...to protect and preserve the natural environment, heritage, and pristine resources of Georgetown County.
EDUCATION
...to guide our community in science-based research and decision-making.