Ivis Garcia | Research Excellence | Best Researcher Award

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Dr. Ivis Garcia | Research Excellence | Best Researcher Award

Dr. Ivis Garcia | Texas A&M University | United States

Dr. Ivis García, Ph.D., AICP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University, with a distinguished record of scholarship, teaching, and community engagement in housing, urban policy, and social equity. Her research is grounded in the principles of community development, participatory planning, and social justice, with a particular emphasis on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within urban systems. Dr. García’s work focuses on asset-based community development (ABCD) approaches that empower marginalized populations to build capacity and resilience through locally driven solutions. She explores the intersections of housing policy, disaster recovery, gentrification, and displacement, particularly within Latino and Puerto Rican communities in the United States and the Caribbean. Her doctoral dissertation, “The Puerto Rican Identity: Reconstructing Ownership in the Face of Change,” set the foundation for a research agenda that bridges cultural identity with community-based planning and equitable housing strategies. Through her collaborations with organizations such as the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Texas Appleseed, and Foundation for Puerto Rico, Dr. García integrates academic research with real-world impact, informing equitable policy design and participatory decision-making. She has been a Ford Foundation Fellow, Emerging Poverty Scholar, and recipient of numerous professional awards, including theTexas APA Student Project Award and the  Curriculum Innovation Award from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Her research has contributed to national dialogues on resilient housing, participatory governance, and social vulnerability in urban environments, often linking theory to applied planning practice. By engaging communities directly in the research process, Dr. García exemplifies the model of a scholar-activist—translating knowledge into meaningful action that promotes inclusive, just, and sustainable urban futures. Her work continues to inspire transformative practices in housing equity and community resilience across diverse urban landscapes.

Profiles: Orcid

Featured Publications 

García, I. (2025). Earthship architecture as a pathway to post-hurricane resilience and energy independence: A case study analysis in Puerto Rico. Urban Science, 9(11), 446. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci9110446

Kim, M., García, I., Goetz, E., Hanlon, B., Monkkonen, P., Pendall, R., Pfeiffer, D., Reece, J., & Whittemore, A. (2025). Bring zoning back into the planning curricula. Journal of the American Planning Association. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2025.2455162

García, I. (2025). Residential green infrastructure: Unpacking motivations and obstacles to single-family-home tree planting in diverse, low-income urban neighborhoods. Sustainability, 17(16), 7412. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17167412

García, I. (2025). When the map does not tell the whole story: Integrating community voices into GIS gentrification analysis. Land, 14(8), 1510. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14081510

García, I., Jackson, A., Lee, C. A., Chrisinger, B., & Greenlee, A. J. (2025). On the outside looking in: Latina/o/x and African American student perspectives on community-engaged courses. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X251339979

García, I. (2025). The poorer the neighborhood, the harder it is to reach the park: A GIS equity analysis from Salt Lake City. Sustainability, 17(9), 3774. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17093774

Walter Schumm | Research Excellence | Best Researcher Award

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Prof. Dr. Walter Schumm | Research Excellence | Best Researcher Award

Prof. Dr. Walter Schumm | Kansas State University | United States

Dr. Walter R. Schumm, Emeritus Professor of Applied Family Science at Kansas State University, is a distinguished scholar whose academic and professional journey spans over four decades of teaching, research, and service. With a Ph.D. in Family Studies from Purdue University and a strong foundation in research methods and statistics, Dr. Schumm has made significant contributions to the fields of family science, human sexuality, social research integrity, and military leadership studies. Throughout his tenure at Kansas State University, he taught a wide range of courses in family theory, research methodology, and marriage education, while mentoring numerous master’s and doctoral students. Beyond academia, Dr. Schumm’s career reflects a remarkable blend of scholarship and service, having held multiple leadership positions in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, where he earned commendations for excellence in logistics, mobilization planning, and unit command. His research portfolio includes influential works on same-sex parenting, research ethics, and statistical integrity in social science, with publications in journals such as Accountability in Research, The Linacre Quarterly, and The Journal of Human Sexuality. A Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations and recipient of multiple awards—including the President’s Award from the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity—Dr. Schumm continues to be recognized for his analytical rigor, ethical insight, and contributions to both social science and public service.

Profile: Google Scholar

Featured Publications

Schumm, W. R., Bloomstrom, G., Theodore, V. P., & Roy, R. N. (2025). Reliability and validation of US Army-oriented brief work-to-family and family-to-work conflict scales: An email sample of 262 Army career officers. Social Sciences.

Schumm, W. R., Brady, A. C., Solis, D., Cerny, J., Mann, M., & Francis, M., et al. (2023). Daily response of vital signs to COVID-19 infection: A case study of an unvaccinated 70-year-old male with type II diabetes treated with monoclonal antibodies and selected supplements. American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research, 19(4), 428.

Schumm, W. R. (2023). A further examination of excesses or deficits of terminal zeroes in scientific research: Using binomial testing to assess probabilities for different anomaly classifications as evidence of data fabrication or falsification. Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, 52(4), 43992–43995.

Schumm, W. R. (2022). A re-analysis of data from Sullins, Rosik, and Santero (2021): Are sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) helpful for those who don’t change? F1000Research, 11, [version 1; peer review: awaiting publication].

Schumm, W. R., & Rosik, C. H. (2022). A critical review of the 2021 APA [American Psychological Association] resolution on sexual orientation change efforts. Noble International Journal of Social Sciences Research, 7(2), 40–51.

Evangelos Kourdis | Research Excellence | Best Researcher Award

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Prof. Dr. Evangelos Kourdis | Research Excellence | Best Researcher Award

Prof. Dr. Evangelos Kourdis | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | Greece

Professor Evangelos Kourdis has established a distinguished academic presence in the interdisciplinary fields of translation semiotics, sociolinguistics, and cultural communication. He has authored 23 research documents, each contributing to the advancement of semiotic and translation theory. His works have been cited by 70 international publications, underscoring their scholarly reach and recognition. According to Scopus, his current h-index is 4, reflecting consistent and high-quality research output. His studies integrate semiotic methodologies with translation theory, bridging conceptual gaps between linguistic and cultural analysis. These contributions have positioned him as a key figure in modern semiotic scholarship. His publications in reputed journals such as Semiotica, Social Semiotics, and Signs and Society highlight his academic excellence. By fostering collaboration among European semiotic schools, he enriches global dialogue in meaning-making and communication. His research output reflects both depth in theoretical innovation and breadth in application. The increasing citations across major indexing platforms indicate international trust in his frameworks. Professor Kourdis’s scholarship demonstrates an enduring commitment to advancing semiotic research in translation and intercultural studies. These metrics collectively affirm his role as a globally recognized and influential scholar in his field.

Profile: Scopus | Orcid | Google Scholar

Featured Publications

Kourdis, E. (2025). Multimodal, polysemiotic, multisemiotic: A necessary demarcation for semiotics and translation studies. Social Semiotics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2025.2562390

Kourdis, E. (2024). Les orientations disciplinaires de la sémiotique: L’état de la question. Degres, 53(197–198), c1–c21.

Kourdis, E. (2024, December 30). Kristeva’s impact on translation and the interplay of intertextuality, transposition and intersemiosis. Acta Nova Humanistica: A Journal of Humanities Published by New Bulgarian University, 24(1), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.33919/anhnbu.24.1.9

Kourdis, E. (2024, December 2). Intersemiotic translations of Greek popular films in the film industry and media. Signs and Media, 2590(0323), Article 12340032. https://doi.org/10.1163/25900323-12340032

Yoka, L., & Kourdis, E. (2023). Introduction: Signs of Europe: Discourses, mythologies, politics of representation. In L. Yoka & E. Kourdis (Eds.), Signs of Europe: Discourses, mythologies, politics of representation (pp. 9–19). Thessaloniki: Hellenic Semiotic Society. https://doi.org/10.26262/FTMV-XR69