Our Evaluation Team
Evaluation is one of five roles LiveWell Greenville fulfills. Our Evaluation Team is a collaborative, multi-university evaluation team that engages researchers from multiple Social and Behavioral Health discipline. The Evaluators place an emphasis on evaluating all community-based projects with the goal of developing and implementing best practices in each of our community settings.
To date, the Evaluation Team has published 15 peer review manuscripts, and presented in 13 State or Regional Conferences and 16 National conferences.
Melissa Fair, PhD – Principal Investigator
Melissa Fair, PhD joined LiveWell Greenville in 2013 as the At Play Workgroup Specialist and later transitioned into the role of Evaluation Coordinator. Melissa serves as LiveWell Greenville’s Principal Investigator overseeing the strategic direction of our evaluation activities and the coordination of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Furman, Clemson and USC. She is also Director of Community Action at the Institute for the Advancement of Community Health at Furman University.
She guides the LiveWell Greenville evaluation team, who provide assessments of the coalition’s impact on creating healthier environments. Melissa received her BS from Furman University and her MPH and PhD from the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health.
Evaluators
Dr. Shaniece Criss, MPA, MPH, Sc.D.
Dr. Shaniece Criss, MPA, MPH, Sc.D. is an Assistant Professor of Health Science at Furman University and a community-engaged qualitative researcher addressing health equity and health communication and is the Communication Evaluator for LiveWell Greenville and she is currently serving as an Evaluator for Build Trust, Build Health. Dr. Criss is also a fellow of Riley Institute’s Diversity Leaders Initiative, Shi Center for Sustainability, Shucker Leadership Institute, Collaborative for Community-Engaged Learning, as well as, a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach. Dr. Criss is an elected official on Travelers Rest City Council and serves on the board of directors for Prisma Health, Public Education Partners, Dining for Women, and SC YMCA Youth in Government & Teen Achievers. She has served on the Greenville County Human Relations Commission and Travelers Rest Municipal Election Commission. In 2019, she was named a “ChangeMaker” by the Multiplying Good and a Greenville County Schools Hall of Fame Inductee.
Kara Davis, Ph.D.
Kara Davis, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Community Health at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Kara received her bachelor’s degree from Northwest Missouri State University, master’s degree from Clemson University, and doctoral degree in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior from the USC Arnold School of Public Health. Her research focuses on how the obesogenic environment impacts obesity in rural communities, focusing on the impacts of systems and policy. Kara has worked with LiveWell Greenville since 2021 and serves as an evaluator for LiveWell programs focused on nutrition and the community power-building initiatives.
Dr. Morgan Hughey, MPH, Ph.D.
Dr. Morgan Hughey, MPH, Ph.D.,is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at the College of Charleston. She received both of her graduate degrees from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health and her Bachelor’s Degree from Furman University. Dr. Hughey studies how the community built environment influences physical activity, healthy eating, and obesity. She previously evaluated the annual Park Hop initiative and the Parks Quality study. Morgan works to create a safer, more active, and more equitable places to walk and bike. She enjoys spending time outdoors.
Dr. Lori Dickes, MS, MAAE, PhD
Dr. Lori Dickes, MS, MAAE, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Graduate Programs Director for the Policy Studies PhD program and the Master in Public Administration program in the Department of Political Science at Clemson University. She is also the Director of Clemson Office of Faculty ADVANCEment. Lori received her two bachelor’s degrees and two master’s degrees from the University of Central Florida and her PhD from Clemson University.
Lori has worked at Clemson since 2005 and has published numerous research and journal articles in the areas of regional and rural development and entrepreneurship, public health and economics, and natural resources and water policy. She currently is serving as an evaluator for the Equity in Public Health Initiative.