TAMIU Research Highlights: Faculty Scholarship Featured in Second Quarterly Showcase

Faculty at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) continue to advance knowledge across a broad range of disciplines through innovative research and scholarship that addresses regional, national and global challenges. Continuing its commitment to highlighting this work, TAMIU’s quarterly digital project showcases recently published scholarly contributions from University faculty.

Now in its second iteration, TAMIU Research Highlights continues to showcase University faculty research areas and scholarly publications, said Associate Vice President for Research & Sponsored Projects Dr. Ruby Ynalvez.

“TAMIU faculty are generating impactful scholarship that advances knowledge, informs practice, and addresses complex challenges facing communities, organizations, and institutions. These research highlights showcase the breadth of faculty expertise and the University's commitment to producing meaningful discoveries with local, national, and global relevance,” said Dr. Ruby Ynalvez. 

TAMIU Research Highlights focuses on a wide array of disciplines, illustrating the breadth of faculty expertise and the far-reaching impact of their scholarship. Projects include climate impacts on Laredo’s water quality and public health; search-and-rescue disaster groups and volunteer mental health; targeted anticancer therapies; safety and reliability of autonomous aerial applications; transformative justice, and more.

Late spring and summer 2026 faculty-authored publications are as follows:

College of Arts and Sciences

Gerardo Flores, associate professor of Systems Engineering, published “Robust Adaptive Control for Fully Actuated Hexa-Rotors Without Precise Knowledge of Rotor Poses.”

This research develops a robust adaptive controller that enables fully actuated drones to maintain accurate flight despite uncertain rotor configurations and external disturbances, thereby improving reliability under real-world operating conditions.

Deepak Ganta, associate professor of Systems Engineering, and Marcus Ynalvez, professor of Sociology, published “Effectiveness of Creative Video-Based Psychosocial Intervention on the Retention of Hispanic Engineering Students.” 

Collaborative research showed that creative video-based psychosocial interventions improved Hispanic engineering students’ academic and engineering self-efficacy while reducing intentions to leave the field, demonstrating a scalable strategy for STEM retention.

Brittany Hood, assistant professor of criminal justice, published “Specialty Courts, Special for Whom? Examining Racial Inequities in Participation.”

Using seven years of Indiana court data, the study found Black individuals were underrepresented in drug courts and overrepresented in re-entry courts, highlighting structural barriers in referrals, program capacity, and administrative practices that influence access.

Narim Lee, assistant professor of Criminal Justice, published “Understanding Bystander Responses to Virtual Sexual Assault: Predictors of Intervention and Self-Protection in Virtual Environments.”

The study examined factors influencing bystander reactions to virtual sexual assault, finding that incident location and digital guardianship capabilities play key roles in encouraging intervention and self-protective behaviors in immersive virtual environments.

Mehnaaz Momen, professor of Social Sciences, published “Heterotopia on the Border: Context, Text, and Subtext.”

This paper analyzes the popular perception of Laredo through country songs and TV serials are as a layered process—the erasure of history and community, the projection of chaos, and the balancing of paradoxes in the imagined no man’s land.

College of Education

Cynthia Gallardo, assistant professor of Educational Administration, published "Location Matters: Instructional Setting, Student Success, and Educational Leadership in Urban College Algebra Dual Enrollment."

Examines how instructional setting influences student success in dual enrollment College Algebra courses and highlights implications for educational leadership, program design, and improving student outcomes in urban school districts.

A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business

Li-Zheng Brooks, associate professor of Accounting, published “Industry Specialist Auditors and CSR Activities.”

The study found that firms with stronger corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement paid lower audit fees when audited by industry specialists, suggesting such auditors view CSR activities as signals of lower audit and litigation risk when assessing engagement costs.

Haibo Wang, professor of Management Information Systems, published “Valuation and Spillover Effects of Large Bank Mergers: Evidence from Japan.” The study analyzed two major Japanese bank mergers and found they generated significant shareholder value while creating short-lived information spillovers among rival banks. Advanced statistical methods provided stronger causal evidence by correcting for selection bias in the analysis.

The publications listed above reflect submissions provided by academic departments as of the stated request deadline. TAMIU Office of Research and Sponsored Projects has compiled this information as received and has not independently verified completeness; additional publications may exist but were not reported in time for inclusion.

For more information on TAMIU Research Highlights, contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects at grants@tamiu.edu, call 956.326.3026, or visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, rooms 426 and 429.