Trustees Of The Smith College

SMITH COLLEGE - INSTITUTIONAL AID UNDER CARES ACT

SMITH COLLEGE - EMERGENCY FINANCIAL AID GRANTS UNDER CARES ACT

FULL SCALE DEVELOPMENT: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH--USING NARRATIVE IN A DIGITAL LEARNING EVIRONMENT TO ENGAGE CHILDREN AND TEENS IN ENGINEERING

MCTP: THE CENTER FOR WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS AT SMITH COLLEGE

RIGIDITY AND FLEXIBILITY OF LARGE BIO-MOLECULAR ASSEMBLIES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSMEDIA NARRATIVE-BASED CURRICULA TO ENGAGE CHILDREN IN SCIENTIFIC THINKING AND ENGINEERING DESIGN

IN VIVO TRACKING OF BIOLUMINESCENT MARKERS OF CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS IN BEHAVING ANIMALS

DEVELOPMENT OF A NORMATIVE DATABASE FOR WIDE-BAND ACOUSTIC IMMITTANCE MEASURES

23 MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGES PROGRAM

AF:MEDIUM:COLLABORATIVE:RUI:STRUCTURE IN MOTION:ALGORITHMS FOR KINEMATIC DESIGN

EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF FITNESS ON HOT FLASHES AND SUBCLINICAL CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK IN PERI-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN

EFFECT OF THE SPIROIMINODIHYDANTOIN LESION ON DNA HELIX STABILITY AND NUCLEOSOME

CAREER: THE ROLE OF AXON-GLIAL CELL INTERACTIONS DURING COMMISSURE FORMATION IN THE ZEBRAFISH FOREBRAIN.

A CENTER FOR WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS AT SMITH COLLEGE

THE NEURODEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS LINKING ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERIENCE AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION - PROJECT SUMMARY SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (SES) IS ASSOCIATED WITH EXECUTIVE FUNCTION (EF) AND PREFRONTAL CORTEX (PFC) DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER, UNDERSTANDING OF THE SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF SES THAT INFLUENCE DEVELOPMENT OF EF AND THE PFC REMAINS LIMITED. EF IN EARLY CHILDHOOD IS ASSOCIATED WITH INITIAL SCHOOL READINESS, ACADEMIC SUCCESS, AND A WIDE RANGE OF OUTCOMES IN ADULTHOOD. DETERMINING HOW EARLY ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERIENCES SHAPE EF DEVELOPMENT IS CRITICAL TO IDENTIFY STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE SKILLS TO PROMOTE HEALTHY OUTCOMES ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN. ACCELERATED PROGRESS IN THIS EFFORT CAN BE MADE ONLY WHEN INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT IS INFORMED BY A PRINCIPLED AND BIOLOGICALLY PLAUSIBLE UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS BY WHICH ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERIENCE SHAPES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PFC AND ASSOCIATED EF. THIS PROPOSAL ARGUES THAT COGNITIVE STIMULATION THAT OCCURS IN THE CONTEXT OF CAREGIVER INTERACTIONS SUPPORTS DEVELOPMENT OF CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE VENTRAL VISUAL STREAM (VVS) AND THE PFC, WHICH LAYS THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE COMPLEX COMPUTATIONS NECESSARY FOR EF. THE PROPOSAL WILL TEST BOTH ENVIRONMENTAL (COGNITIVE STIMULATION) AND NEURODEVELOPMENTAL (VVS-PFC CONNECTIVITY) MECHANISMS EXPLAINING SES-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN EF AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. STUDY 1 (K99 PHASE) USES INNOVATIVE OBSERVATIONAL METHODS TO ASSESS THE HOME ENVIRONMENT OF SCHOOL-ATTENDING CHILDREN AGED 6-7 YEARS, COGNITIVE AND ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS, AND FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL MRI TO EXAMINE WHETHER COGNITIVE STIMULATION IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL MECHANISM EXPLAINING SES-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN EF (AIM 1). STUDY 1 WILL ALSO EVALUATE WHETHER EARLY COGNITIVE STIMULATION MEDIATES SES-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE VVS AND PFC (AIM 2). STUDY 2 (R00 PHASE) IS A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF CHILDREN 4-5 YEARS (TIME 1) FOLLOWED AS THEY MAKE THE IMPORTANT TRANSITION TO SCHOOL (TIME 2). THIS STUDY WILL EVALUATE WHETHER STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE VVS EARLY IN DEVELOPMENT PRECEDES AND PREDICTS STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE PFC (AIM 3) USING MULTIMODAL NEUROIMAGING TECHNIQUES (FUNCTIONAL NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY, FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL MRI). FINALLY, STUDY 2 WILL TEST WHETHER COGNITIVE STIMULATION EXPLAINS SES-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN VVS AND PFC STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN EF, AND EVALUATE WHETHER THESE PATHWAYS ULTIMATELY EXPLAIN DISPARITIES IN ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT (AIM 4). THE RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES WILL PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND NEURAL MECHANISMS EXPLAINING SES-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN EF AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. THESE STUDIES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO INFORM INTERVENTIONS TO HELP CLOSE THE INCOME-ACHIEVEMENT GAP. THIS AWARD WILL PROVIDE THE CANDIDATE, WHO HAS A STRONG BACKGROUND IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE IN ADULTS, WITH TRAINING IN DEVELOPMENTAL METHODS AND DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE TO FACILITATE HER TRANSITION TO AN INDEPENDENT RESEARCH CAREER.

CAREER: DNA-CATALYST CONJUGATES FOR SITE-SELECTIVE TRANSFORMATIONS IN BIOLOGICAL CONTEXTS

BUILDING A RESEARCH SUPPORT HUB AT THE MACLEISH FIELD STATION -THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RESEARCH SUPPORT HUB (RSH) AT THE MACLEISH FIELD STATION TO ENHANCE THE RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY AND PEDAGOGICAL REACH. THE RSH WILL MODERNIZE STATION INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT NOVEL BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND EXPAND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES. THE PROJECT WILL TRANSFORM AN EXISTING CONCRETE BLOCK STRUCTURE INTO A CLIMATE-CONTROLLED WORKSHOP AND FABRICATION SPACE AND BUILD A NON-HEATED FACILITY FOR WEATHER-PROTECTED PROJECT STAGING AND THE STORAGE OF BULKY FIELD EQUIPMENT. THE RENOVATED SPACE PROVIDES A DEDICATED ENVIRONMENT FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF RESEARCH MATERIALS, PROCESSING OF ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES, AND THE MAINTENANCE OF SENSITIVE INSTRUMENTATION, INCLUDING WEATHER SENSORS AND DRONES. TO SUPPORT LARGE-SCALE LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT, THE NEW CONSTRUCTION WILL HOUSE HEAVY EQUIPMENT TO ENHANCE FIELD ACCESS AND RESEARCHER SAFETY. THIS PROJECT UPGRADES THE STATION?S CAPACITY TO A NATIONAL STANDARD, THEREBY ADVANCING NATIONAL GOALS FOR SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION. THIS PROJECT ALIGNS WITH THE NSF?S BIOTECHNOLOGY PRIORITY AREA. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THE AWARD APPROVES FUNDING FOR THE FY2022 NATIONAL SERVICE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIBED IN THE APPROVED PROGRAM NARRATIVE AND BUDGET.THE 2022 REQUIRED MATCH IS 0%. THIS AWARD ALSO FORWARD FUNDS $105,818 FOR THE 2023-24 PROGRAM YEAR.

MRI: NEW INSTRUMENTATION FOR HIGH RESOLUTION 4D IMAGING

CAREER: CHARACTERIZATION AND EVOLUTION OF N-HYDROXYLASE BIOCATALYSTS: SOLUTIONS TO CATALYSIS AND REMEDIATING METAL POLLUTION -MOST BACTERIA CREATE SMALL MOLECULES THAT BIND TO IRON ATOMS. THESE MOLECULES ARE CALLED SIDEROPHORES. MANY SIDEROPHORES CAN ALSO BIND TOXIC HEAVY METALS. THIS PROJECT WILL SEARCH FOR SIDEROPHORES WITH NOVEL HEAVY METAL BINDING ACTIVITIES IN A POLLUTED COPPER MINE SITE IN VERMONT. ONCE FOUND, THE ENZYMES RESPONSIBLE FOR PRODUCING THESE METAL-BINDING MOLECULES WILL BE IDENTIFIED AND ENGINEERED FOR ENHANCED CAPABILITIES. THE PROJECT WILL ENGAGE UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN, INCLUDING WOMEN OF COLOR, IN RESEARCH. THERE WILL ALSO BE COMMUNITY OUTREACH IN THE FORM OF ANNUAL WORKSHOPS ON CLIMATE JUSTICE INVOLVING THE URBAN LEAGUE OF SPRINGFIELD?S YOUTH STEM ENRICHMENT PROGRAM IN SPRINGFIELD, MA. CONSERVED SEQUENCE MOTIFS IDENTIFIED IN GENES FOR NOVEL SIDEROPHORES ISOLATED FROM A METAL-POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT WILL BE IDENTIFIED AND CHARACTERIZED. SINCE ALKYL DIAMINE N-HYDROXYLASE MONOOXYGENASES (NMOS) ARE INVOLVED IN SIDEROPHORE BIOSYNTHESIS, THE NOVEL SIDEROPHORES WILL LIKELY BE THE PRODUCT OF UNIQUE NMOS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT NMOS INVOLVED IN NOVEL SIDEROPHORE BIOSYNTHESIS HAVE BROADER SUBSTRATE SPECIFICITY, MAKING THEM A TARGET FOR IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING NEW INDUSTRIAL BIOCATALYSTS. FOR EXAMPLE, HYDROXYLAMINES, VALUABLE BUILDING BLOCKS IN THE CHEMICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES, ARE ENZYMATICALLY MADE IN A SINGLE STEP FROM PRIMARY AMINES IN THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF HYDROXAMATE SIDEROPHORES. THIS PROJECT WILL CHARACTERIZE THE SELECTIVITY OF NEWLY-IDENTIFIED NMOS AND EVOLVE THESE ENZYMES, INCREASING THEIR YIELD AND PRODUCT DIVERSITY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

AF:MEDIUM:RUI:ALGORITHMIC PROBLEMS IN KINEMATIC DISTANCE GEOMETRY -THE PROBLEMS ADDRESSED BY THIS PROJECT ARE MOTIVATED BY CONCRETE COMPUTATIONAL QUESTIONS ARISING, AMONG OTHERS, IN CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND MATERIALS SCIENCE. THE OBJECTS OF STUDY ARE DYNAMIC POINT SETS WHOSE MOTION IS SUBJECT TO DISTANCE CONSTRAINTS. THEY ARISE IN MULTIPLE AREAS OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, INCLUDING COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAD), ROBOTICS, SENSOR NETWORKS, STRUCTURAL MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND MATERIALS SCIENCE. THE PROBLEMS IN THIS PROJECT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO HELP ELUCIDATE FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES OF MATTER, SUCH AS PHASE TRANSITIONS IN CRYSTALS, AND COULD LEAD TO THE DISCOVERY OR TO THE DESIGN OF NEW AUXETIC METAMATERIALS (WHICH ARE MATERIALS WITH UNUSUAL DEFORMATION PROPERTIES, RARELY FOUND IN NATURE). A FIRST DIRECTION IS ON PROBLEMS ARISING IN CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, INCLUDING COMPARISON OF RIGID OR FLEXIBLE CRYSTALS, ULTRA-RIGIDITY OF PERIODIC FRAMEWORKS, AUXETIC-MATERIAL DESIGNS PRODUCED BY FINITE-TO-PERIODIC METHODS, EMBEDDINGS OF MINIMAL RIGID GRAPHS AND MORE EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS FOR COMPUTING RIGIDITY AND FLEXIBILITY PARAMETERS OF PERIODIC FRAMEWORKS. A SECOND DIRECTION IS TO DEVELOP EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS FOR KINEMATIC DESIGN, WHERE THE MOTION OF A GEOMETRIC OBJECT SUBJECT TO DISTANCE CONSTRAINTS (FRAMEWORK) IS DECOMPOSED INTO A FINITE COLLECTION OF TRAJECTORIES ARISING FROM RELATED ONE-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM FRAMEWORKS, EACH DEPLOYED FOR A SPECIFIC, FINITE INTERVAL OF TIME. THE MOTION IS GUIDED BY NOVEL COMBINATORICS UNDERLYING THE ALGEBRAIC CONSTRAINTS AND LEADS TO EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS FOR DESIGNING BOTH THE GEOMETRIC STRUCTURE AND ITS KINEMATIC BEHAVIOR (MOTIONS). THE ALGORITHMS DEVELOPED HERE ARE AMENABLE TO BE TURNED INTO SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR THESE NEEDS. THE PROJECT BUILDS UPON MATHEMATICAL RESULTS, ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARE OBTAINED OR DEVELOPED BY THE INVESTIGATOR, STUDENTS AND COLLABORATORS. IT RELIES ON AND COMBINES IDEAS FROM SEVERAL AREAS: COMBINATORIAL RIGIDITY, DISTANCE GEOMETRY AND COMPUTATIONAL ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY. ALGORITHMICALLY, THE INVESTIGATOR HAS RECENTLY SUCCEEDED IN OVERCOMING ENORMOUS CHALLENGES POSED BY GROEBNER-BASIS METHODS AND CARRIED OUT PREVIOUSLY UNATTAINABLE CALCULATIONS IN THE 2D CAYLEY-MENGER IDEAL. THESE VERY RECENT RESULTS OPEN THE POSSIBILITY FOR NOVEL COMPUTER EXPERIMENTS, ANTICIPATED TO LEAD TO PREVIOUSLY UNOBSERVED MATHEMATICAL PROPERTIES THAT WILL BE PUT TO USE IN ADDRESSING THE SELECTED OPEN QUESTIONS IN DISTANCE GEOMETRY AND KINEMATICS. A DIVERSE POPULATION OF STUDENTS HAVE BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE ENGAGED IN THIS RESEARCH, CONDUCTED IN PART AT AN ALL-WOMEN COLLEGE WITH A SUSTAINED REPUTATION IN STEM EDUCATION. THE INVESTIGATOR WILL ALSO CONTINUE ENGAGING HER STUDENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS THAT WILL MAKE THE RESULTS ACCESSIBLE TO NON-SPECIALISTS, AND WILL ACTIVELY DISSEMINATE THEM VIA PUBLICATIONS, TUTORIALS AND TALKS IN SEVERAL SCIENTIFIC FIELDS AND TO DIVERSE AUDIENCES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

IOS- ABR: RUI: INVESTIGATING ASTROGLIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ZEBRAFISH FOREBRAIN.

HDR DSC: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE DATA SCIENCE WAV: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING WITH LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

GOLIFE: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: BRINGING THE DIVERSE MICROBIAL CLADE STRAMENOPILA + ALVEOLATA + RHIZARIA (SAR) INTO A MODERN GENOMIC CONTEXT

MRI: ACQUISITION OF TIRF MICROSCOPE

THE ROLE OF EG5 IN RADIAL GLIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ZEBRAFISH SPINAL CORD

RUI: HEDGEHOG DEPENDENT CRANIAL NEURAL CREST CELLS PATTERN THE ZEBRAFISH FOREBRAIN. -THE MOST FRONTAL PORTION OF THE VERTEBRATE BRAIN KNOWN AS THE FOREBRAIN CONTROLS MANY ESSENTIAL BODILY FUNCTIONS, INCLUDING OUR EXECUTIVE ABILITIES. DECIPHERING THE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FOREBRAIN IS CENTRAL TO OUR UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS) AND HOW THE VERTEBRATE BRAIN HAS EVOLVED. ZEBRAFISH REPRESENT A TRACTABLE ANIMAL TO STUDY BRAIN DEVELOPMENT. HUNDREDS OF EXTERNALLY DEVELOPING ZEBRAFISH EMBRYOS ARE EASILY OBTAINED, THE ESSENTIAL STAGES OF EMBRYONIC BRAIN DEVELOPMENT ARE COMPLETED OVER 1-2 DAYS, AND MANY GENETIC TECHNIQUES ARE AVAILABLE THAT ENABLE HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED MICROSCOPY TO MONITOR LIVE ZEBRAFISH BRAINS DEVELOPING OVER TIME. THIS PROPOSAL USES THE ZEBRAFISH TO DETERMINE WHETHER A TRANSIENT POPULATION OF MIGRATING STEM CELLS, KNOWN AS ?NEURAL CREST CELLS,? DIRECTLY INFLUENCES THE BIRTH OF NEURONS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF NEURAL CONNECTIONS IN THE EARLY EMBRYONIC FOREBRAIN. NEURAL CREST CELLS ARE WELL-KNOWN TO MIGRATE AWAY FROM THE EARLY FORMING CNS AND CONTRIBUTE TO A DIVERSITY OF TISSUES, BUT THEY ARE NOT KNOWN TO CONTRIBUTE DIRECTLY TO THE CNS. THIS PROPOSAL CHALLENGES THIS NOTATION AND PLANS TO INNOVATIVELY EMPLOY LIGHT-SHEET MICROSCOPY TO RECORD THE MIGRATORY BEHAVIORS OF NEURAL CREST CELLS TO AND WITHIN THE ZEBRAFISH FOREBRAIN DURING COMMISSURE FORMATION. SUCH FINDINGS WOULD BE PARADIGM SHIFTING AND HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON OUR UNDERSTANDING OF BRAIN DEVELOPMENT. THE BROADER IMPACTS ACTIVITIES INCLUDE FOSTERING COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES (DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY), NEW COURSE DEVELOPMENT, AND ENGAGING THE PUBLIC IN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION THROUGH A NEW TRAVELING ART SHOW. THE IMPORTANCE OF NEURAL CREST CELLS TO BUILDING THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, SUPPORTING GLANDULAR AND PIGMENT DEVELOPMENT, AND SCULPTING THE CRANIOFACIAL SKELETON AMONG OTHER ROLES CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED. DESPITE THIS LONG HISTORY OF STUDYING THE ROLE OF NEURAL CREST IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TISSUES OUTSIDE THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS), THEIR FUNCTION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRAIN ITSELF HAS BEEN LARGELY OVERLOOKED. THIS PROPOSAL HYPOTHESIZES THAT CRANIAL NEURAL CREST CELLS (CNCCS) NAVIGATE TO AND PATTERN COMMISSURE FORMATION AND NEUROGENESIS IN THE ZEBRAFISH FOREBRAIN. THE PROPOSAL TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE ZEBRAFISH MODEL SYSTEM TO TRACK CNCC MIGRATION TO THE FOREBRAIN AND TEST THEIR REQUIREMENT FOR FOREBRAIN PATTERNING AND COMMISSURE FORMATION. IT WILL USE COMPLEMENTARY FATE MAPPING APPROACHES TO DETERMINE IF CNCCS DO IN FACT MIGRATE WITH PATHFINDING COMMISSURAL AXONS AND ENTER THE TELENCEPHALON WHERE THEY DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO NEUROGENESIS. SUCH FINDINGS WOULD BE BOTH SIGNIFICANT AND NOVEL AS THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION THAT CNCCS DIRECTLY INFLUENCE AXON PATHFINDING IN THE CNS, AND THAT THEY MAY MIGRATE BACK INTO THE BRAIN TO DIRECTLY SUPPORT CNS NEUROGENESIS. THE PROPOSAL WILL ALSO INTERROGATE THE ROLE RADIAL GLIA PLAY IN RESTRICTING MOST CNCCS FROM ENTERING THE BRAIN. A MECHANISM OF MIGRATING CNCCS TRANSIENTLY INFLUENCING THE BRAIN IN DIVERSE WAYS WOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANT BROADER IMPACTS ON OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CNS DEVELOPMENT. ADDITIONAL BROADER IMPACT ACTIVITIES INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEURODEVELOPMENT COURSE-BASED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (CURE) COURSE, FOSTERING COLLABORATIONS WITH COMPUTATIONAL AND DATA SCIENTISTS, AND A TRAVELING ART SHOW TO ENGAGE THE PUBLIC. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: INTERCELLULAR COUPLING OF CIRCADIAN CLOCK CELLS IN THE LIVER

EFFECTS OF CHILDREN'S EARLY EXPERIENCE WITH VARYING PARENTAL STYLES ON THE NEURODEVELOPMENTAL CORRELATES OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION - PROJECT SUMMARY CAREGIVER-CHILD INTERACTIONS SHAPE CHILDREN’S COGNITIVE OUTCOMES SUCH THAT CAREGIVERS CAN GUIDE ATTENTION AND FACILITATE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES. THESE INTERACTIONS PROVIDE CHILDREN WITH RICH, NATURALISTIC EXPERIENCES THAT ENGAGE COMPLEX COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS AND LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATURE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS (EF). ALTHOUGH MOST CAREGIVERS SEEK TO ENGAGE CHILDREN OPTIMALLY, THEY CAN IMPEDE THIS DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS BY BEING UNDER-ENGAGED OR INTRUSIVE. WHEN CAREGIVERS ARE UNDER-ENGAGED, CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE THE PROPER SUPPORT TO KNOW WHAT TO ATTEND TO IN A COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT. WHEN PARENTS ARE INTRUSIVE, THEY INADVERTENTLY DISRUPT THE CHILD’S ATTENTION AND DIRECT LEARNING TO INFORMATION THAT THE PARENT DEEMS IMPORTANT, BUT THE CHILD MAY FIND UNINTERESTING OR IRRELEVANT. THIS DISRUPTION CAN IMPEDE THE LEARNING PROCESS UNFOLDING BASED ON THE CHILD’S INTRINSIC ATTENTION. UNDERSTANDING THE MOMENT-TO-MOMENT NEURAL BASIS OF THESE PROCESSES IS CRITICAL TO UNCOVER THE ROLE THAT CAREGIVERS PLAY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF EF. SIMULTANEOUS BRAIN RECORDING, CALLED HYPERSCANNING, IS A BURGEONING METHOD THAT MEASURES BRAIN SYNCHRONY ACROSS CAREGIVER-CHILD DYADS WHEN ENGAGED IN A SHARED TASK. THE PRESENT STUDY LEVERAGES CUTTING EDGE HYPERSCANNING TECHNIQUES, COUPLED WITH RATINGS OF IN-THE-MOMENT PARENTING BEHAVIOR TO UNCOVER HOW PARENTS BEST ENGAGE CHILDREN DURING A NOVEL SHARED PROBLEM-SOLVING TASK. WE WILL USE FUNCTIONAL NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (FNIRS) A NON-INVASIVE NEUROIMAGING TECHNIQUE THAT IS MOBILE, LESS SUSCEPTIBLE TO MOTION ARTIFACTS, HAS GOOD SPATIAL RESOLUTION, AND WORKS WELL FOR CAPTURING NEURAL SYNCHRONY IN THE LATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX (LPFC), A CRITICAL BRAIN REGION FOR PROBLEM-SOLVING AND TEMPOROPARIETAL JUNCTION (TPJ) A KEY REGION FOR SOCIAL PROCESSING. FNIRS WILL BE CONDUCTED DURING NATURALISTIC PARENT-CHILD INTERACTIONS IN A SAMPLE OF CHILDREN IN THE SUMMER BEFORE THEY MAKE THE IMPORTANT TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN (57-72 MONTHS), WHICH ALSO CAPTURES A PERIOD OF RAPID EF DEVELOPMENT. WE WILL MEASURE EF AT T1 AND ADDITIONALLY INCLUDE A T2 FOLLOW UP ~6 MONTHS INTO THE SCHOOL YEAR TO MEASURE EF AND ACADEMIC OUTCOMES OVER TIME. WE WILL ALSO MEASURE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM RESPONSE (USING THE INTERBEAT INTERVAL) IN PARENT AND CHILD, TO DISENTANGLE BRAIN SYNCHRONY FROM OTHER SOURCES OF PHYSIOLOGICAL SYNCHRONY. AIM 1 SEEKS TO INVESTIGATE HOW NATURAL VARIATION IN PARENTAL SCAFFOLDING AND INTRUSIVENESS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LPFC AND TPJ NEURAL SYNCHRONY DURING A NOVEL PROBLEM-SOLVING TASK WITH VARYING LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY IN PRESCHOOLERS INTERACTING WITH THEIR PRIMARY CAREGIVER. AIM 2 WILL INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF PARENTING BEHAVIOR IN DEVELOPMENT OF EF AS CHILDREN MAKE THE TRANSITION TO SCHOOL. AIM 3 WILL EXPLORE WHETHER LPFC AND TPJ NEURAL SYNCHRONY DURING PROBLEM-SOLVING IS A MECHANISM LINKING PARENTING BEHAVIOR WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF EF. THIS RESEARCH IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING HOW PARENT-CHILD INTERACTIONS INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF EF IN YOUNG CHILDREN. THIS WORK HAS THE POTENTIAL TO INFORM INTERVENTIONS TO HELP CHILDREN REACH THEIR FULL COGNITIVE POTENTIAL.

CAREER: DEVELOPMENT OF IRON-CATALYZED REACTIONS OF CARBONYL ELECTROPHILES -WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR ALEXANDRA STROM OF SMITH COLLEGE WILL STUDY REACTIONS CATALYZED BY EARTH-ABUNDANT IRON. THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO DEVELOP NEW REACTIONS OF COMMON CHEMICAL BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF MOLECULAR ARCHITECTURES THAT ARE ESSENTIAL FOR MANY PHARMACEUTICALS, AGROCHEMICALS, AND OTHER SYNTHETIC MATERIALS. THE NEW METHODS WILL PROVIDE ACCESS TO CHALLENGING SUBSTITUTION PATTERNS AND INTRODUCE IMPORTANT FUNCTIONALITIES, LEADING TO GREATER SYNTHETIC EFFICIENCY. UNDERPINNING THESE EFFORTS WILL BE DETAILED STUDIES OF THE REACTION MECHANISMS LEADING TO NEW FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE CATALYSTS. THE STROM LAB?S RESEARCH IS DRIVEN BY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS AT SMITH COLLEGE, THE LARGEST WOMEN?S COLLEGE IN THE UNITED STATES. ALONG WITH THESE RESEARCH GOALS, PROFESSOR STROM WILL DEVELOP ADVANCED UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL COURSEWORK TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR SCIENTIFIC CAREERS, INCLUDING A PROPOSAL WRITING PROJECT, AND HOST AN ANNUAL RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES WORKSHOP TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND CONNECT THEM WITH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RESOURCES TO INFORM THEIR CAREERS IN SCIENCE. THESE EDUCATIONAL GOALS ARE DESIGNED TO DIMINISH EXISTING BARRIERS TO STEM CAREERS AND ENABLE STUDENTS TO ENGAGE IN HIGH IMPACT PRACTICES AT THE UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL. IRON CATALYSIS PROVIDES VERSATILE AND SELECTIVE REACTIVITY AS WELL AS OFFERING A SUSTAINABLE PLATFORM FOR REAGENT AND CATALYST DEVELOPMENT. THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO DEVELOP NEW CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF CARBONYL ELECTROPHILES ? BOTH AT THE CARBONYL CARBON AND VIA UMPOLUNG FUNCTIONALIZATION AT THE ALPHA POSITION. CARBONYL FUNCTIONALIZATIONS ARE STUDIED FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS IN THE SYNTHESIS OF VALUABLE MOLECULAR ARCHITECTURES SUCH AS SUBSTITUTED NAPHTHALENES AND FUSED (HETERO)AROMATICS. DETAILED MECHANISTIC INVESTIGATIONS WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF UMPOLUNG OXIDATIVE FUNCTIONALIZATION REACTIONS AT THE CARBONYL ALPHA-CARBON AND PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO NOVEL REACTION PARADIGMS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT. THESE STUDIES ARE PERFORMED BY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS, PROVIDING VITAL TRAINING AS THEY PREPARE FOR CAREERS IN THE SCIENCES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A 500 MHZ NMR SPECTROMETER

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COMBINING SINGLE-CELL AND COMMUNITY 'OMICS' TO TEST HYPOTHESES ABOUT DIVERSITY AND FUNCTION OF PLANKTONIC CILIATES

RUI: COMBINATORIAL SYNTHESIS OF PROTEIN-POLYMER CONJUGATES BY POST-POLYMERIZATION MODIFICATION OF SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLYMERS -NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION LIFE AS WE KNOW IT WOULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT PROTEINS. PROTEINS PERFORM FUNCTIONS AS WIDE-RANGING AS TRANSPORTING OXYGEN THROUGH THE BODY TO RECOGNIZING AND NEUTRALIZING INVADING MICROORGANISMS. SCIENTISTS HAVE SOUGHT TO HARNESS THE PRECISE AND EXQUISITE FUNCTIONS OF PROTEINS TO SOLVE A VARIETY OF CHALLENGES IN HUMAN HEALTH, SUCH AS BY DESIGNING PROTEIN DRUGS THAT CAN DIAGNOSE AND TREAT DISEASE OR BY DESIGNING NEW PROTEIN SCAFFOLDS AS PART OF ENGINEERED TISSUES. RECENTLY, RESEARCHERS HAVE RECOGNIZED THE POWER OF USING CHEMISTRY TO AUGMENT OR TAILOR THE FUNCTIONS OF PROTEINS BY MODIFYING PROTEINS WITH SYNTHESIZED MOLECULES. FOR EXAMPLE, LARGE MOLECULES KNOWN AS POLYMERS CAN BE LINKED BY CHEMICAL BONDS TO PROTEINS IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE STABILITY OF THE PROTEIN OR TO TETHER DRUG MOLECULES TO THE PROTEIN TO CREATE BETTER THERAPEUTICS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A FUNDAMENTALLY NEW APPROACH FOR LINKING PROTEINS TO POLYMERS. THIS APPROACH WILL IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF PREPARING PROTEIN-POLYMER CONJUGATES (PROTEINS LINKED TO POLYMERS THROUGH CHEMICAL BONDS) FOR A WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING DRUG DELIVERY. THE WORK WILL ALLOW THE STRUCTURES OF THE PROTEIN-POLYMER CONJUGATES TO BE EASILY TAILORED TO THE NEEDS OF SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS WITHOUT HAVING TO START FROM SCRATCH. FINALLY, POLYMER STRUCTURES THAT ARE DEGRADABLE IN THE HUMAN BODY CAN BE COUPLED TO PROTEINS USING THIS METHOD, WHICH IS CRITICAL FOR TRANSLATION TO THE CLINIC. TO DEMONSTRATE THE UTILITY OF THIS METHOD, PROTEINS THAT TARGET CANCER CELLS WILL BE COUPLED TO POLYMERS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THERAPEUTIC STRUCTURES. THE PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR WILL CONDUCT THIS WORK IN COLLABORATION WITH A DIVERSE GROUP OF UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN TO INSPIRE FUTURE GENERATIONS OF WOMEN RESEARCHERS. FURTHER, THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL BE CONDUCTED IN AN UNDERGRADUATE ORGANIC CHEMISTRY LABORATORY TO OFFER CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES TO A LARGER POPULATION OF WOMEN. THE PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR WILL ALSO INVITE GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS FROM NEARBY RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES TO WORK TOGETHER TO TEACH UNDERGRADUATE CHEMISTRY COURSES AS A MEANS TO TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF COLLEGE FACULTY IN BEST PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES IN HIGHER EDUCATION. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION PROTEIN-POLYMER CONJUGATES COUPLE THE EXQUISITE AND PRECISE FUNCTIONS OF PROTEINS WITH THE WIDE-RANGING FUNCTIONALITY OF SYNTHETIC POLYMERS. THESE BIOCONJUGATES CAN BE USED TO ADDRESS IMPORTANT CHALLENGES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE SUCH AS THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF DISEASE OR ENGINEERING NEW TISSUES. PROTEIN-POLYMER CONJUGATES ARE GENERALLY SYNTHESIZED BY POLYMERIZING MONOMERS FROM PROTEIN INITIATORS, TERMED GRAFTING-FROM, OR BY COUPLING POLYMERS CONTAINING A SINGLE REACTIVE SITE AT THE CHAIN END TO SPECIFIC AMINO ACIDS ON PROTEINS, TERMED GRAFTING-TO. GRAFTING-FROM REQUIRES THAT THE MONOMER BE WATER SOLUBLE AND COMPATIBLE WITH THE PROTEIN STRUCTURE; THESE REQUIREMENTS LIMIT THE RANGE OF CHEMICAL FUNCTIONALITY THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO THE STRUCTURE. GRAFTING-TO SUFFERS FROM LOW COUPLING EFFICIENCIES DUE TO THE NEED FOR TWO LARGE MOLECULES TO REACT AT A SINGLE SITE. IN BOTH APPROACHES, NEW POLYMER STRUCTURES MUST BE SYNTHESIZED EACH TIME NEW BIOCONJUGATE STRUCTURES ARE DESIRED. THIS NSF PROJECT SEEKS TO DIRECTLY ADDRESS THESE LIMITATIONS BY INVESTIGATING SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLYMERS FOR THE MODULAR AND COMBINATORIAL SYNTHESIS OF PROTEIN-POLYMER CONJUGATES. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL USE A POST-POLYMERIZATION MODIFICATION STRATEGY TO SYNTHESIZE HYDROPHILIC, SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLYMERS THAT CAN BE EFFICIENTLY CONJUGATED TO PROTEINS THROUGH EITHER AMINE-ACTIVATED ESTER OR THIOL-MALEIMIDE REACTIONS. SIDE-CHAIN AND CHAIN-END REACTIVE POLYMERS WILL BE DIRECTLY COMPARED TO ESTABLISH SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLYMERS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO TERMINALLY REACTIVE POLYMERS. SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLYCARBONATES WILL ALSO BE EXPLORED FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF DEGRADABLE PROTEIN-POLYMER CONJUGATES. THE WORK PROPOSED HERE WILL DEMONSTRATE EFFICIENT, COMBINATORIAL ROUTES FOR PROTEIN-POLYMER-DRUG CONJUGATE SYNTHESIS AS WELL AS CONTRIBUTE TO THE COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURE INFLUENCES THE FUNCTION OF PROTEIN-POLYMER CONJUGATES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

BRC-BIO: UNDERSTANDING TREE PHLOEM FUNCTIONING DURING DROUGHT -IN THIS TIME OF RELATIVELY EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW PLANTS INTERACT WITH THE CLIMATE, TO ACCURATELY PREDICT FUTURE CLIMATE CONDITIONS AND TO INFORM CO2 MITIGATION EFFORTS. CURRENTLY, FORESTS SEQUESTER UPWARDS OF 25% OF ANTHROPOGENIC CO2 EMISSIONS, ANNUALLY. HOWEVER, IT IS UNCLEAR HOW THEIR ABILITY TO SEQUESTER CO2 WILL CHANGE IN THE FUTURE, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS THAT ARE PREDICTED TO HAVE INCREASED DROUGHTS. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE A KEY UNKNOWN UNDERLYING OUR UNCERTAINTY AROUND HOW TREES RESPOND TO DROUGHT: THE PHLOEM. THE PHLOEM IS THE ?SUGAR HIGHWAY? OF THE PLANT. IT IS THE PIPE THAT TRANSPORTS SUGARS THAT ARE PHOTOSYNTHESIZED IN LEAVES TO AREAS THAT NEED SUGAR TO GROW. IF THE PHLOEM LOSES FUNCTIONING DURING DROUGHT, THE RESULTANT LACK OF AN ABILITY TO TRANSPORT SUGARS TO AREAS IN NEED COULD REDUCE PHOTOSYNTHESIS OR EVEN CAUSE PLANT MORTALITY. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE HOW PHLOEM FUNCTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF DROUGHT FOR FOREST TREES. WE WILL USE NOVEL RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY METHODS THAT ALLOW US TO VISUALIZE SUGAR THROUGHOUT THE PLANT AND QUANTIFY PHLOEM FUNCTIONING, AMONG OTHER METHODS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON INCREASING THE AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OF RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS FROM UNDER-REPRESENTED COMMUNITIES THROUGH COLLABORATING WITH STUDENTS AND FACULTY FROM THE NEIGHBORING HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, INTEGRATING ART INTO THE RESEARCH PROCESS, AND PROVIDING RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMITH COLLEGE STUDENTS. DROUGHTS ARE PREDICTED TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY AND FREQUENCY AROUND THE WORLD. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TREES RESPOND TO DROUGHT BY INVESTIGATING PHLOEM FUNCTION IN WHOLE-PLANT PHYSIOLOGY UNDER DROUGHT. THE PHLOEM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRANSPORTING SUGAR FROM SITES OF PRODUCTION TO SITES OF NEED AND IS DRIVEN BY POSITIVE PRESSURE GENERATED BY WATER. DUE TO ITS INTEGRAL ROLE IN WHOLE PLANT FUNCTION AND ITS DEPENDENCE ON WATER, THE PHLOEM IS HYPOTHESIZED TO BE A KEY REGULATOR OF DROUGHT RESPONSES E.G., PHOTOSYNTHETIC DOWN-REGULATION AND MORTALITY. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROPOSAL ARE THREE-FOLD: TO QUANTIFY DIFFERENCES IN PHLOEM FUNCTION DURING CONTROL AND DROUGHT CONDITIONS FOR MATURE, FOREST TREES, TO UNDERSTAND WHEN THE PHLOEM LOSES FUNCTION IN RELATIONSHIP TO PHOTOSYNTHESIS, AND TO INVESTIGATE HOW PHLOEM FUNCTIONING RELATES TO PLANT MORTALITY. WE WILL APPROACH THESE OBJECTIVES THROUGH THE USE OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY AND MEASURING THE RATE AT WHICH CARBON MOVES IN THE PHLOEM, ALONGSIDE OTHER PHYSIOLOGICAL METHODS. A FOREST RAIN-FALL MANIPULATION EXPERIMENT WILL BE ESTABLISHED AND USED IN CONTROLLED MORTALITY EXPERIMENTS ON SAPLINGS OF NORTHEASTERN US TREE SPECIES IN CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS. THIS PROJECT SHOULD IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PHLOEM FUNCTION, AND SUBSEQUENTLY WHOLE-TREE FUNCTION, IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

CAREER: REQUIREMENTS AT DEVELOPMENT TIME -WHEN CREATING OR MAINTAINING SOFTWARE SYSTEMS, DEVELOPERS MUST ENSURE THAT THE WORKING SYSTEM ALIGNS WITH THE NEEDS OF USERS. THESE NEEDS ARE DOCUMENTED AS THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SYSTEM. THUS, REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING (RE) IS THE TERM USED TO DESCRIBE THE TECHNIQUES AND METHODS DEPLOYED TO CAPTURE AND CONCRETELY DEFINE USERS' NEEDS. SOFTWARE INDUSTRY EXPERTS AND ACADEMICS AGREE THAT ACCURATE AND WELL-DEFINED REQUIREMENTS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY SOFTWARE; HOWEVER, THE RATE OF ADOPTION OF RE TECHNIQUES IS STILL LOW AMONG PRACTITIONERS AND RE IS STILL CONSIDERED SEPARATELY FROM SOFTWARE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT. ONE OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CREATE A FRAMEWORK THAT INTEGRATES RE TECHNIQUES WITH DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES (E.G., CODING, TESTING). BY LINKING REQUIREMENTS WITH THE DOCUMENTATION OF DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES, RESEARCHERS MAKE IT EASIER FOR DEVELOPERS TO ENGAGE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THEIR PROJECT, TO ENSURE THAT SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THE ORIGINAL GOALS AND NEEDS OF THEIR USER BASE. WHILE THIS FRAMEWORK WILL APPLY TO ALL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE LOW-COMPUTATION NEEDS OF SMALL AND INDEPENDENT SOFTWARE COMPANIES. FURTHER, THE PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPROVE BOTH THE TEACHING AND PRACTICE OF RE, AS THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH INDIVIDUALS TRAINED IN RE, EVEN WITH THE EXPANSION OF THE SOFTWARE WORKFORCE. A SECOND OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CREATE EDUCATIONAL METHODS THAT EMBED REQUIREMENTS WITHIN DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE CLASSROOM. BY EMPOWERING FUTURE SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS WITH BETTER ACCESS TO THE REQUIREMENTS THEY IMPLEMENT, THIS AWARD AIMS TO INCREASE THE ADOPTION OF RE BY PRACTITIONERS AND STUDENTS. THROUGH THIS PROJECT, THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN COMPUTER SCIENCE WILL BE INCREASED BY SUPPORTING AND MENTORING 20-30 FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES. THE SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THIS AWARD IS TO EXPLORE TO WHAT EXTENT STREAMLINING REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT INTO EXISTING DEVELOPMENT WORKFLOWS WILL IMPROVE STUDENTS' ENGAGEMENT WITH REQUIREMENTS IN THE CLASSROOM AND ACHIEVE GREATER ADOPTION OF RE APPROACHES AMONG THE SOFTWARE WORKFORCE. RESEARCHERS WILL CREATE A FRAMEWORK THAT INTEGRATES SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS INTO NORMAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES. THIS FRAMEWORK WILL BE REALIZED THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPEN-SOURCE GIT-BASED SOLUTION CONSISTING OF THREE FUNCTIONS: IMPORTING AND PARSING NATURAL LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS, CREATING TRACEABILITY LINKS BETWEEN REQUIREMENTS AND GIT ISSUES AND PULL REQUESTS, AND ENGAGING DEVELOPERS IN A FEEDBACK LOOP TO EVALUATE THE REQUIREMENT TRACES. THE THE RESULTING TOOL WILL CREATE APPROPRIATE NUDGES FOR JUST-IN-TIME CHECKING OF SPECIFICATION DOCUMENTS AND VALIDATION OF SOFTWARE CHANGES. THIS PROJECT PROMISES TO IMPROVE PRACTICES IN THE FIELD OF REQUIREMENTS TRACEABILITY AND PARSING BY SEEKING A COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT APPROACH FOR INCREMENTALLY CREATING TRACEABILITY LINKS BETWEEN REQUIREMENTS AND GIT DEVELOPMENT ARTIFACTS. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE THE FIELD OF REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING EDUCATION BY EMBEDDING REQUIREMENTS WITHIN DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE CLASSROOM. RESEARCHERS WILL MEASURE THE IMPACT OF REQUIREMENTS CONSIDERATIONS IN THE STUDENTS' DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND THE RATE OF STUDENTS? VOLUNTARY USE OF REQUIREMENTS TO ESTABLISH THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RE ACTIVITIES AND THEIR IMPACTS ON SOFTWARE QUALITY. BY ITERATIVELY STUDYING COURSE PROJECTS, RESEARCHERS WILL FINE TUNE THE GIT-BASED FRAMEWORK AND MITIGATE ANY WEAKNESSES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

BRC-BIO: PLANT-HERBIVORE INTERACTIONS IN NOVEL COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENTS -THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO EXPLORE HOW INSECTS THAT EAT PLANTS RESPOND WHEN THE CLIMATE GETS HOTTER AND DRIER, AND WHEN THEIR USUAL FOOD PLANTS BECOME SCARCE. EARTH IS GOING THROUGH A RAPID TRANSFORMATION, CAUSING PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO MOVE TO DIFFERENT PLACES DUE TO CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY. SOMETIMES, THESE ORGANISMS ARE ALSO UNINTENTIONALLY MOVED AROUND BY HUMANS. AN IMPORTANT RESULT OF THESE CHANGES IS THAT INSECTS ENCOUNTER NEW PLANT SPECIES THEY ARE NOT USED TO EATING, AND THESE PLANTS ALSO FACE NEW INSECT SPECIES THAT CAN HARM THEM. INSECTS ARE A VARIED GROUP OF ANIMALS, INCLUDING CROP PESTS, POLLINATORS, AND SPECIES THAT BECOME MEALS FOR BIRDS AND MAMMALS. SO, UNDERSTANDING HOW INSECTS RESPOND TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IS CRUCIAL FOR CREATING EFFECTIVE PLANS TO CONTROL PESTS AND CONSERVE WILDLIFE AND BENEFICIAL SPECIES OF INSECTS. THIS PROJECT WILL STUDY THE BALTIMORE CHECKERSPOT BUTTERFLY, A SPECIES THAT HAS RECENTLY STARTED TO FEED ON A COMMON NON-NATIVE PLANT. THE PROJECT WILL DETERMINE HOW THESE INSECTS INCLUDE NEW PLANTS IN THEIR DIET AND IF FEEDING ON NEW PLANTS AFFECTS THEIR ABILITY TO DEAL WITH DRYER AND HOTTER CONDITIONS. ADDITIONALLY, THE PROJECT WILL EDUCATE COLLEGE STUDENTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC THROUGH OUTDOOR DISPLAYS OF LIVING BUTTERFLIES TO PROMOTE INSECT CONSERVATION. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL FOCUS ON A BUTTERFLY OF CONSERVATION CONCERN, THE BALTIMORE CHECKERSPOT (EUPHYDRYAS PHAETON, DRURY, NYMPHALIDAE), TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER HOST SHIFTS 1) AFFECT HERBIVORE EXPOSURE TO THERMAL STRESS AND DROUGHT, 2) ARE DRIVEN BY PHENOLOGICAL SYNCHRONY BETWEEN HERBIVORES AND HOST PLANTS, AND 3) INFLUENCE HERBIVORE THERMAL SENSITIVITY AND THEIR ABILITY TO RESPOND TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS. THIS PROJECT WILL INTEGRATE INFORMATION FROM FIELD SURVEYS, LABORATORY, AND FIELD EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE WHETHER E. PHAETON POPULATIONS INHABITING AREAS DOMINATED BY THE NATIVE VS. THE NOVEL HOST DIFFER IN BOTH THEIR EXPOSURE AND TOLERANCE TO THERMAL STRESS AND DROUGHT. UNDERSTANDING THE ECOLOGICAL TRADE-OFFS INVOLVED IN HERBIVORE HOST RANGE EXPANSION, AND MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE EXTENT TO WHICH THERMAL ENVIRONMENT RESTRICTS HOST USE IS CRITICAL AS WE SEEK TO UNDERSTAND ORGANISMAL RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE DYNAMICS OF NOVEL COMMUNITIES. THIS RESEARCH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS RESTRICTING HERBIVORE HOST SHIFTS AND THE ROLE OF HOST SHIFTS IN THE ABILITY OF SPECIES TO RESPOND TO CLIMATE CHANGE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PURSUIT: THE DIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION OF EXTREMOPHILIC MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES -MICROORGANISMS LIVE IN SOME OF THE HARSHEST ENVIRONMENTS ON EARTH, FROM GLACIERS TO ARID DESERTS TO THE GEOTHERMAL SPRINGS THAT ARE THE FOCUS OF THIS WORK. PREVIOUS WORK IN GEOTHERMAL ENVIRONMENTS HAS LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF MAJOR GROUPS OF BACTERIA AND ARCHAEA THAT HAVE UNIQUE ADAPTATIONS TO COPE WITH HARSH ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. SINGLE-CELLED MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES (E.G. PROTISTS) REMAIN UNDEREXPLORED IN GEOTHERMAL SPRINGS DESPITE EVIDENCE THAT THEY CAN BE DIVERSE AND ABUNDANT IN THESE EXTREME HABITATS. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL DOCUMENT THE BIODIVERSITY OF MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES ACROSS GEOGRAPHICALLY AND GEOCHEMICALLY DIVERSE SPRING SYSTEMS AND DESCRIBE NEW SPECIES OF MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES. FINDINGS FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL ENABLE MORE ACCURATE ESTIMATES OF SPECIES DIVERSITY AND EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIVERSITY OF EUKARYOTES. BROAD INTEREST IN GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS WILL ALSO BE LEVERAGED TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION BY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS, TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF PROTISTOLOGISTS, AND BROADEN PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES. THE BIODIVERSITY OF MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES IN GEOTHERMAL SPRINGS REMAINS POORLY UNDERSTOOD AS MOST LINEAGES ARE ONLY KNOWN FROM ENVIRONMENTAL SEQUENCING. SINGLE-CELL TECHNOLOGIES AND NEW CULTURING APPROACHES COUPLED WITH BIOINFORMATICS PIPELINES ENABLES DESCRIPTION OF THE DIVERSITY OF PROTISTS IN THESE EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS. THIS RESEARCH FOCUSES ON TWO MAJOR CLADES OF EUKARYOTES ?AMOEBOZOA AND HETEROLOBOSEA ? THAT COLLECTIVELY REPRESENT A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF AMOEBA DIVERSITY AND CAN BE ABUNDANT IN HIGH TEMPERATURE AND LOW PH ENVIRONMENTS. COMBINING SINGLE-CELL PROFILING, CULTURING, AND MICROSCOPY-BASED ANALYSES, THIS PROJECT WILL INFER SPECIES BOUNDARIES, DESCRIBE NEW SPECIES, AND IMPROVE RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE TREE OF LIFE. GENE FAMILIES WILL BE ANALYZED TO SHED LIGHT ON PUTATIVE ADAPTATIONS THAT ALLOW SURVIVAL IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS. INTEGRATION OF PROJECT DATA WILL BE COORDINATED WITH PUBLIC BIODIVERSITY DATABASES AND STRAIN COLLECTIONS TO ENHANCE ACCESS TO MICROBIAL RESOURCES. A SUMMER TRAINING WORKSHOP WILL AID IN TRAINING EARLY CAREER PROTISTOLOGISTS IN THE CHARACTERIZATION OF UNKNOWN PROTIST LINEAGES, WITH MODULES FOCUSED ON BIODIVERSITY, SPECIES DISCOVERY, AND SYSTEMATICS. A MICROBIAL DIVERSITY WORKSHOP FOR HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS WILL PROVIDE A FOUNDATION ON THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE PHYLOGENETIC DIVERSITY OF EUKARYOTES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

PM: RUI: HIGH PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY FOR TESTS OF QED

RUI: PURSUIT: BIODIVERSITY DISCOVERY OF SHELL-BUILDING AMOEBAE (ARCELLINIDA: AMOEBOZOA) IN LOW PH BOGS AND FENS -TESTATE AMOEBAE IN THE ORDER ARCELLINIDA (AMOEBOZOA) ARE AN ANCIENT LINEAGE OF MICROBES WHOSE TESTS (I.E. SHELLS) HAVE BEEN PRESERVED IN THE FOSSIL RECORD DATING BACK TO 800 MILLION YEARS AGO. ARCELLINIDA TESTS WERE FIRST OBSERVED BY LIGHT MICROSCOPY IN THE 1880?S AND OVER 1,000 SPECIES WERE CLASSIFIED BY DESCRIPTORS INCLUDING THE SIZE, SHAPE, AND COMPOSITION OF THE TESTS. BECAUSE OF THEIR PRESERVABILITY, ARCELLINIDA SPECIES HAVE BEEN USED AS BIOINDICATORS FOR CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING RESPONSES TO WARMING TEMPERATURES AND THE PRESENCE OF POLLUTANTS. HOWEVER, GENOMIC VARIATION WITHIN THESE MORPHOSPECIES SUGGESTS THAT CRYPTIC DIVERSITY EXISTS. BECAUSE INFORMATION ON SPECIES IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING SMALL-SCALE DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS AND DETECTING CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCES, UNRAVELING SPECIES BOUNDARIES IN THIS GROUP IS ESSENTIAL. PRELIMINARY WORK, INCLUDING BROAD COMMUNITY SAMPLING AND METABARCODE ANALYSES OF AMOEBAE IN LOW-PH BOGS AND FENS ACROSS NEW ENGLAND, HAS UNCOVERED NOVEL CLADES FOR WHICH THERE ARE NO REFERENCES IN PUBLIC DATABASES. MOREOVER, PATTERNS OF VARIATION IN ARCELLINIDA GENOMES SUGGEST GENE FLOW BETWEEN GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTANT POPULATIONS; HOWEVER, THE MECHANISMS OF GENETIC EXCHANGE BETWEEN CELLS ARE UNKNOWN. THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO DEVELOP A TOOLKIT FOR DIVERSITY DISCOVERY THAT LINKS CELL MORPHOLOGY TO GENOMIC DATA, AND THEN DEPLOY THIS TOOLKIT ACROSS SITES IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. BY ESTABLISHING A BASELINE FOR ARCELLINIDA DIVERSITY ACROSS THE NORTHEAST, THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE A FOUNDATION FOR MONITORING KEY TAXA IN HABITATS THAT ARE PREDICTED TO CHANGE WITH FLUCTUATING CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN STATE-OF-THE-ART METHODS FOR UNDERGRADUATES AND A POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR. THE DEFINITION OF ?SPECIES? BASED ON THE ABILITY OF POPULATIONS TO EXCHANGE GENES THROUGH REPRODUCTION EMERGED FROM STUDIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS. MICROBIOLOGISTS, HOWEVER, ARE RE-EXAMINING THIS APPROACH TO SPECIES DELINEATION GIVEN THAT: 1) MANY MICROBIAL LINEAGES ARE UNCULTIVABLE; 2) CRYPTIC SPECIES ARE FREQUENTLY ENCOUNTERED; AND 3) THE PRESENCE OF A MICROBIOME WITHIN EACH INDIVIDUAL PREVENTS DEPLOYMENT OF CONVENTIONAL GENOMIC TOOLS (E.G. RADSEQ). HENCE, A MULTIFACETED APPROACH THAT INTEGRATES TRADITIONAL MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND TARGETED MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES (I.E. ARCELLINIDA-SPECIFIC METABARCODING AND SINGLE-CELL TRANSCRIPTOMICS COMBINED WITH A TAXON-RICH PHYLOGENOMIC PIPELINE) WILL BE USED TO UNCOVER CRYPTIC LINEAGES WITHIN THE ARCELLINIDA AND DEFINE NEW SPECIES ACROSS GEOGRAPHICALLY AND ECOLOGICALLY DISTINCT BOGS AND FENS IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. PRELIMINARY ANALYSES REVEAL THE PRESENCE OF NUMEROUS CRYPTIC SPECIES UNDERLYING MORPHOTYPES IN NEW ENGLAND, INDICATING THAT MANY ADDITIONAL SPECIES ARE YET TO BE DISCOVERED AT THESE AND OTHER LOCATIONS. APPROACHES DEVELOPED HERE WILL NOT ONLY UNCOVER SIGNIFICANT BIODIVERSITY WITHIN THE ARCELLINIDA BUT WILL ALSO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE STUDIES OF UNCULTIVABLE MICROEUKARYOTIC DIVERSITY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PATTERNS OF DIVERSITY IN PLANKTONIC CILIATES ? SPATIO-TEMPORAL SCALES AND COMMUNITY ASSEMBLY IN THE COASTAL OCEAN

ATOL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RECONSTRUCTING EUKARYOTIC PHYLOGENY THROUGH MULTIGENE ANALYSES OF MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES

RUI: NEUROBIOLOGY OF SEASONAL SOCIALITY IN VOLES

CAREER: HIGH PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY OF THE BERYLLIUM ISOTOPE CHAIN

DEVELOPING A PATHWAY TO MARS (MATH RESILIENT STUDENTS) IN STEM: A CASCADING MENTORSHIP MODEL

RUI: BIODIVERSITY OF TESTATE (SHELLED) AMOEBAE IN NEW ENGLAND BOGS AND FENS

UBM-INSTITUTIONAL-COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FOUR COLLEGE BIOMATH CONSORTIUM

CAREER: BRANCHED COVERS IN DIMENSIONS THREE AND FOUR

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DIVERSITY AND DYNAMICS OF PLANKTONIC CILIATES - WHAT CAN NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING TECHNOLOGIES TELL US?

OFFICE OF RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT - SMITH COLLEGE

THE BIOELECTRICS OF AXIS DETERMINATION DURING ZEBRAFISH EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT

EXPANDING THE DESIGN SPACE OF PROTEIN-SMALL MOLECULE CONJUGATES - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT TARGETED THERAPY AND TARGETED DRUG DELIVERY HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED CLINICAL CARE OF COMPLEX DISEASE WHENEVER THESE OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE – AND, YET, ONLY A MINORITY OF PATIENTS HAVE ACCESS TO THESE PRECISION MEDICINE APPROACHES WHERE THEIR CARE IS BASED ON THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF THEIR DISEASE. SUCH MOLECULAR TARGETING LEADS TO BETTER PATIENT OUTCOMES AND FEWER TOXIC SIDE EFFECTS COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL TREATMENT APPROACHES, FOR A RANGE OF DISEASES. AS PART OF EXPANDING PRECISION MEDICINE TO ALL PATIENTS WITH COMPLEX DISEASES, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED TO MEET THE MOLECULAR TARGETING GAPS IN CLINICAL CARE WHERE SUCH OPTIONS CURRENTLY DO NOT EXIST. PROTEIN- DRUG CONJUGATES HAVE IMMENSE PROMISE IN TARGETED THERAPY AND DRUG DELIVERY APPLICATIONS, WITH A NUMBER OF RECENT SUCCESSES IN THE FORM OF ANTIBODY-DRUG CONJUGATES (ADCS) FOR CANCER THERAPY. HOWEVER, NUMEROUS DESIGN CHALLENGES FOR PROTEIN-DRUG CONJUGATES REMAIN, INCLUDING NARROW THERAPEUTIC WINDOWS AND DIFFICULTY IN TRANSLATING SUCCESS IN ONCOLOGY TO OTHER CLINICAL INDICATIONS. EVEN WITHIN ONCOLOGY, SOLID TUMORS REMAIN SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DIFFICULT TO TREAT THAN HEMATOLOGICAL CANCERS. OUR HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE CURRENT SET OF MODULAR COMPONENTS IN THE DESIGN SPACE IS LIMITING AND LEADS TO MANY OF THE CURRENT CHALLENGES. THEREFORE, THERE IS AN UNMET NEED TO CREATE AND VALIDATE PROTEIN-DRUG CONJUGATE COMPONENTS AND COMBINATIONS BEYOND THOSE CURRENTLY BEING USED. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO EXPAND THE DESIGN SPACE FOR PROTEIN-DRUG CONJUGATES, ENABLING THIS CLASS OF MOLECULES TO HAVE FURTHER SUCCESS IN A WIDER RANGE OF APPLICATIONS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE. WE PROPOSE TO VALIDATE SCAFFOLD PROTEINS AND SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLYMERS AS MODULAR COMPONENTS FOR NOVEL PROTEIN-DRUG CONJUGATE STRUCTURES. AS A MODEL PROTEIN SCAFFOLD FOR THIS WORK, WE WILL USE THE FN3 POLYPEPTIDE FOLD, WHICH HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO BE EXTREMELY VERSATILE FOR ENGINEERING MOLECULAR RECOGNITION USING RATIONAL AND DIRECTED EVOLUTION APPROACHES. WE PROPOSE TO MODIFY MODEL FN3 PROTEINS WITH CANONICAL AND NON-CANONICAL AMINO ACIDS TO ENABLE SITE-SPECIFIC BIOCONJUGATION REACTIONS (AIM 1). AS A NOVEL LINKER SYSTEM FOR PROTEIN-DRUG CONJUGATES, WE PROPOSE TO USE SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLY(PFPA), AS A MODEL POLYMER FOR SYNTHESIZING PROTEIN- POLYMER-DRUG CONJUGATES. SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLYMERS ARE MORE CHEMICALLY VERSATILE THAN CURRENT LINKERS IN USE FOR ADCS, AND CAN SERVE MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS TO OVERCOME CURRENT ADC LIMITATIONS. WE WILL FUNCTIONALIZE POLYMER POLY(PFPA) TO ENABLE CONJUGATION TO SPECIFIC PROTEIN SITES, AND LOAD RELEASABLE SMALL MOLECULES ONTO THE POLYMER, USING A RANGE OF DRUG LOADING RATIOS, WITH COMBINATIONS OF SMALL MOLECULES TO ENABLE COMBINATION THERAPY (AIM 2). WE WILL MEASURE AND MODEL CELLULAR AND TISSUE TRAFFICKING OF THE CONJUGATES (AIM 3), A KEY CONSIDERATION FOR THERAPEUTIC SUCCESS. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS APPLICATION IS TO EXTEND THE CAPACITY OF SCAFFOLD PROTEINS AND SIDE-CHAIN REACTIVE POLYMERS TO FILL THE GAP IN MOLECULAR TARGETING CHALLENGES. OUR WORK WILL HAVE A BROADER POSITIVE IMPACT BY ESTABLISHING METHODS FOR SYNTHESIZING BIOCONJUGATES USING A MYRIAD OF POLYPEPTIDE FOLDS AND POLYMER LINKERS, TOWARDS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF CREATING TARGETED TREATMENTS FOR EVERY PATIENT WHO NEEDS THEM.

ENGINEERING THERAPEUTIC AND DIAGNOSTIC PROTEINS FOR TUMOR BIOMARKER MESOTHELIN

FY2015 PROFESSIONAL FELLOWS PROGRAM FOR TOLERANCE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN UGANDA AND RWANDA

SHORT-TERM RESPONSES TO TEMPERATURE CHANGES IN ESCHERICHIA COLI

ASSESSING EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS IN UNCULTIVABLE CILIATES AND THEIR MICROBIOMES BY COMBINING SINGLE-CELL TRANSCRIPTOMICS AND SINGLE-CELL GENOMICS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AUTOMATED AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN SYNTHESIS OF THE TREE OF LIFE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ORCC: INVESTIGATING DROUGHT AND COLD RESISTANCE OF NORTHEASTERN US TREES TO INFORM ECOLOGICAL MODELING AND FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES -CLIMATE TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS IN THE NORTHEASTERN U.S. INCLUDE AN INCREASE IN THE FREQUENCY OF MID-SUMMER DROUGHTS. ALTHOUGH FOREST MANAGERS INCREASINGLY PRIORITIZE CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND ASSISTED TREE MIGRATION AS MANAGEMENT GOALS, THEIR EFFORTS ARE LIMITED BY INFORMATION GAPS BECAUSE DROUGHT IMPACTS ON NORTHEASTERN TREES HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN A HIGH RESEARCH PRIORITY. FURTHER, HOW TREES ADAPT TO DROUGHT MAY AFFECT THEIR VULNERABILITY TO OTHER STRESSORS SUCH AS EXTREME COLD AND SPRING FROST DAMAGE, FACTORS THAT WILL CONTINUE TO BE PART OF NORTHEASTERN WINTERS FOR DECADES TO COME. THIS RESEARCH WILL IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW NORTHEASTERN TREE SPECIES RESPOND TO DROUGHT AND HOW DIFFERENT DROUGHT ADAPTATIONS AFFECT THEIR VULNERABILITY TO OTHER CLIMATE STRESSORS. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY CONDUCTING EXTENSIVE MEASUREMENTS OF DROUGHT-RELATED PLANT TRAITS ACROSS MANY SPECIES AND SITE CONDITIONS IN THE NORTHEASTERN U.S. AND AT A SITE IN ALABAMA THAT CONTAINS SIMILAR SPECIES AT THE SOUTHERN END OF THEIR CURRENT RANGE. DATA WILL BE COLLECTED USING A NOVEL METHOD THAT GREATLY INCREASES THE NUMBER OF TISSUE SAMPLES THAT CAN BE PROCESSED. RESULTS WILL BE USED TO IMPROVE A FOREST SIMULATION MODEL THAT CAN HELP FOREST MANAGERS EVALUATE THE OUTCOMES OF DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES. THIS WORK WILL RECEIVE GUIDANCE FROM A STAKEHOLDER ADVISORY BOARD CONSISTING OF FOREST MANAGERS, CONSERVATION GROUPS AND OTHERS INVESTED IN THE FUTURE WELL-BEING OF NORTHEASTERN FORESTS. IN THE NORTHEASTERN U.S., CLIMATE PROJECTIONS INCLUDE AN INCREASE IN THE FREQUENCY OF MID-SUMMER DROUGHTS, AND WINTERS THAT ARE WARMER OVERALL, BUT WITH PERIODIC INFUSIONS OF ARCTIC AIR THAT CAN CAUSE LATE-SPRING FREEZES AND DAMAGING COLD-STRESS. THE ABILITY TO PREDICT HOW FORESTS WILL RESPOND IS LIMITED BY KNOWLEDGE OF INTER- AND INTRA-SPECIFIC VARIATION IN PLANT TRAITS THAT REGULATE TREE RESPONSES TO CLIMATIC STRESS AND THE DEGREE TO WHICH THEY REFLECT ENVIRONMENTAL OR EVOLUTIONARY DRIVERS. THIS RESEARCH ADDRESSES THESE UNCERTAINTIES BY (1) PERFORMING AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE VARIATION AND DRIVERS OF TURGOR LOSS POINT?A KEY DETERMINANT OF TREE-LEVEL DROUGHT RESPONSE?AS WELL AS ASSOCIATED COLD AND DROUGHT RESILIENCE TRAITS AND (2) IDENTIFYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DROUGHT AND COLD RESILIENCE IN THE INDIVIDUALS STUDIED. THE WORK WILL INVOLVE EXTENSIVE FIELD MEASUREMENTS OF LEAF OSMOTIC POTENTIAL AND TURGOR LOSS POINT, ASSOCIATED PHYSIOLOGICAL PLANT TRAITS AND ROOTING DEPTH, AS WELL AS A MANIPULATIVE EXPERIMENT ON GENETICALLY IDENTICAL INDIVIDUALS. SAMPLING WILL BE CONDUCTED AT SITES ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN U.S. AND AT A SITE IN ALABAMA WITH SIMILAR SPECIES AT THE SOUTHERN END OF THEIR RANGE. THE WORK WILL BE GUIDED BY AN ADVISORY BOARD MADE OF PEOPLE INVESTED IN THE FOREST (E.G., FOREST MANAGERS, CONSERVATION GROUPS AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY MEMBERS). RESULTS WILL BE USED TO IMPROVE AN ECOSYSTEM MODEL THAT SIMULATES FOREST GROWTH UNDER A RANGE OF CLIMATE AND FOREST MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS. THIS WILL BENEFIT A RANGE OF MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES THAT PRIORITIZE CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND ASSISTED TREE MIGRATION. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

TITLE OF STUDY: TRANSFER AND TRANSITION -- THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINING IMPACT BEYOND COMMUNITY-BASED YOUTH PROGRAMS SUMMARY: WHILE SCHOOLS AND OUT-OF-SCHOOL PROGRAMS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY TO IMPROVE HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION RATES AND LIFE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, LARGE DISPARITIES PERSIST IN PATTERNS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, PARTICULARLY IN COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND COMPLETION RATES FOR STUDENTS FROM ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES. THIS PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT USES A YOUTH-ADULT PARTNERSHIP MODEL TO INVESTIGATE THE CHALLENGES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESSING THIS DROP IN EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. HOW CAN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS SUPPORT THE TRANSFER OF CAPACITIES FROM ONE CONTEXT (I.E. AN AFTER SCHOOL YOUTH PROGRAM) TO EXTERNAL CONTEXTS, ESPECIALLY HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE? HOW CAN A COMMUNITY COME TOGETHER TO SUPPORT THE LONG-TERM ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF YOUNG PEOPLE ONCE THEY ARE SEPARATED FROM THE SUPPORT PROVIDED BY THE VARIOUS PROGRAMS TO WHICH THEY ONCE BELONGED? TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, WE WILL ENGAGE YOUTH PARTICIPANTS AND YOUNG ADULT GRADUATES OF SMITH COLLEGE'S PROJECT COACH, A COLLEGE-COMMUNITY YOUTH PROGRAM WORKING PRIMARILY IN SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. RELEVANCE TO THE FIELD: EXPLORING STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORTING ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS AS THEY TRANSITION FROM SECONDARY TO HIGHER EDUCATION WILL ADVANCE CURRENT SCHOLARSHIP AND INFORM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES FOR SCHOOLS, OUT OF SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS. RESEARCH WILL BE APPLICABLE TO PROGRAMS THAT CONCENTRATE RESOURCES ON SUPPORTING STUDENTS INTENSIVELY THROUGH K-12 SCHOOLS, BUT ARE UNABLE TO DO SO ONCE PARTICIPANTS TRANSITION OUT OF THEIR PROGRAMS.

ROLE OF METALLOTHIONEINS IN ISOFLURANE-PRECONDITIONING OF NEURONS IN VITRO.

REWARD MECHANISMS SUPPORTING AFFILIATION BETWEEN PEERS

AF: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE:RUI: MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF RECONFIGURATION ALGORITHMS FOR GEOMETRICALLY CONSTRAINT STRUCTURES

FY 2014 PROFESSIONAL FELLOWS PROGRAM

BUILDING FOUNDATIONS FOR A NEUROBIOLOGY OF FATIGUE: VALIDATING AN ANIMAL MODEL

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: GEOMETRICAL SIMULATION OF BIOMOLECULAR MOBILITY

EQUIPMENT: MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF A LASER SYSTEM FOR HIGH PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY AND TRAPPING NEUTRAL HOLMIUM -THIS GRANT SUPPORTS THE ACQUISITION OF A LASER SYSTEM TO PERFORM FUNDAMENTAL ATOMIC PHYSICS RESEARCH AT SMITH COLLEGE. THE RESEARCH GROUP IS STUDYING THE COMPLEX INTERACTIONS AND INNER WORKINGS OF THE ATOM. THE BEST THEORETICAL MODEL OF ATOMIC SYSTEMS IS KNOWN AS THE STANDARD MODEL OF PARTICLE PHYSICS. IT IS A VERY SUCCESSFUL MODEL, BUT WE KNOW IT IS NOT COMPLETE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE MODEL DOES NOT INCLUDE GRAVITY OR DARK MATTER. DARK MATTER IS A SUBSTANCE WHICH ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS INDICATE MAKES UP 25% OF THE UNIVERSE, BUT WE KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT. TWO METHODS OF IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ATOMIC SYSTEMS ARE TO WORK WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE MODEL (KNOWN AS TESTING THE MODEL) OR TO WORK OUTSIDE THAT FRAMEWORK (KNOWN AS PHYSICS BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL). THIS LASER SYSTEM WILL ENABLE THIS RESEARCH GROUP TO USE BOTH METHODS IN TWO INDEPENDENT PROJECTS. THE FIRST, WHICH WORKS WITHIN THE MODEL, WILL PERFORM EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS ON THE LIGHT ATOMS BERYLLIUM, BORON, NITROGEN, AND OXYGEN. COMPARING THESE RESULTS TO ONGOING THEORETICAL WORK FROM OTHER GROUPS WILL BOTH TEST THE VALIDITY OF THESE COMPLICATED THEORETICAL METHODS AND, COMBINED WITH THE THEORETICAL RESULTS, SERVE AS A TEST OF THE MODEL. THE SECOND PROJECT, WHICH WORKS OUTSIDE THE MODEL, IS TO LOOK FOR DARK MATTER INTERACTION WITH AN ISOTOPE OF HOLMIUM KNOWN AS 166M-HOLMIUM. IT IS THEORIZED THAT DARK MATTER MIGHT CAUSE AN INTERACTION WITH THE NUCLEUS THAT, IF THAT INTERACTION OCCURS, CAN BE DETECTED. THE GOAL IS TO BUILD A SENSITIVE APPARATUS THAT WILL EITHER DETECT THIS INTERACTION OR CONCLUDE THIS IDEA IS NOT VALID. IN ADDITION TO THIS SCIENTIFIC IMPACT, THE RAVEN LAB WILL CONTINUE TO INCLUDE A LARGE NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS THROUGH TRADITIONAL LAB PROJECTS AND SENIOR THESES AS WELL AS OUR NEW COURSE-BASED RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (CURE). THE GOAL OF THE CURE IS TO 1) PROVIDE A ROBUST RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR TWELVE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS EACH YEAR AND 2) TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS TO PERFORM HIGH PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY. THE RAVEN LAB WILL USE THIS NEW LASER SYSTEM TO MEASURE THE ABSOLUTE TRANSITION FREQUENCIES AS WELL AS HYPERFINE COUPLING CONSTANTS, WHEN APPLICABLE, OF A VARIETY OF STATES IN THE LIGHT ATOMS TO PROVIDE INVALUABLE FEEDBACK TO THEORISTS WHO ARE IN THE PURSUIT OF DEVELOPING HIGH PRECISION MULTI-ELECTRON MODELS. COMBINED WITH THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS, THE RESULTS WILL SERVE TO TEST THE ACCURACY OF QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS. PLANNED SPECTROSCOPIC MEASUREMENTS WILL BE PERFORMED ON A NUMBER OF TRIPLET STATES IN NEUTRAL BERYLLIUM-9, TWO TRANSITIONS IN THE STABLE ISOTOPES OF BORON, AND A VARIETY OF STATES IN NITROGEN AND OXYGEN. IN ADDITION, THE RAVEN LAB WILL DEVELOP AN ATOM TRAP TRACE ANALYSIS (ATTA) APPARATUS FOR HOLMIUM ATOMS. 166-HO IS SHORT LIVED WHILE THE METASTABLE 166M-HO STATE IS LONG LIVED. STARTING WITH A SAMPLE OF ONLY 166M-HO ATOMS, ATTA WILL LOOK FOR INDUCED DARK MATTER DECAY OF 166M-HO TO THE NUCLEAR GROUND STATE. THIS NEW ATTA COULD ALSO ASSIST IN THE ELECTRON CAPTURE 163-HO (ECHO) EXPERIMENT, WHERE 166M-HO IS A CONTAMINANT. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NEUROENDOCRINE BASIS OF GESTURAL DISPLAY EVOLUTION

RUI:WRF: ZOOPLANKTON MEDIATED REMOVAL OF MICROBIAL POLLUTANTS IN NATURAL SYSTEMS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE

CIRCADIAN CLOCK SUPPRESSION IN CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE

COMBINATORIAL GROUP ACTIONS AND APPLICATIONS TO GEOMETRY, KNOT THEORY, AND REPRESENTATION THEORY

LYDIA CABRERA?S ?THE ABAKUA SECRET SOCIETY? AND ITS WEST AFRICAN SOURCES

RUI: THE ROLE OF SLITS AND ROBOS DURING AXON AND GLIAL CELL GUIDANCE IN THE FOREBRAIN

RUI: PDE AND GEOMETRY IN NON-SMOOTH SPACES -THIS AWARD SUPPORTS A PROJECT WHICH INVESTIGATES TOPICS IN THE THEORY OF PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS IN THE SETTING OF NON-SMOOTH SPACES. PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS PROVIDE A POWERFUL MATHEMATICAL TOOL TO GAIN INSIGHTS ABOUT EQUILIBRIUM STATES OF COMPLEX PHYSICAL SYSTEMS WHICH ARISE AS SOLUTIONS OF CERTAIN EQUATIONS. THE PROPERTIES OF THE SOLUTIONS TO THESE EQUATIONS DEPEND ON A ?BACKGROUND GEOMETRY? THAT MODELS PHYSICAL FEATURES SUCH AS THE NON-HOMOGENEITY OF MATERIALS OR THE PRESENCE OF CONSTRAINTS (SUCH AS THE CONSTRAINTS INHERENT IN THE MOTION OF A ROBOTIC ARM). IN MANY IMPORTANT PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS, ONE ENCOUNTERS NON-SMOOTH GEOMETRIES (FOR INSTANCE, FRACTALS) WHICH DIFFER FUNDAMENTALLY FROM THE FAMILIAR GEOMETRY OF EUCLIDEAN SPACE, SO THAT STANDARD NOTIONS FROM CALCULUS MUST BE REFORMULATED FROM A BROADER PERSPECTIVE. ONE OF THE MOST UBIQUITOUS INSTANCES OF SUCH ?BACKGROUND GEOMETRY? IS KNOWN AS SUB-RIEMANNIAN GEOMETRY, WHICH MODELS SPACES IN WHICH MOTION IS POSSIBLE ONLY ALONG A GIVEN SET OF DIRECTIONS. THIS NON-SMOOTH GEOMETRY IS WIDELY USEFUL IN MODELING PHYSICAL PHENOMENA, FOR EXAMPLE, IN ROBOTICS, QUANTUM MECHANICS, AND NEUROSCIENCE. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS TO WORK ON RESEARCH PROJECTS ARISING FROM THE PROPOSED WORK. THE PI WILL STUDY SUB-RIEMANNIAN ANALOGUES OF THE CURVE SHORTENING FLOW; THE REGULARITY OF SOLUTIONS OF CERTAIN DEGENERATE ELLIPTIC PARABOLIC PDE AND NON-LOCAL PDE IN THE GENERAL SETTING OF CERTAIN METRIC SPACES ENDOWED WITH A DOUBLING MEASURE. THE COMMON THREAD BETWEEN THESE INVESTIGATIONS IS THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE NON-SMOOTH STRUCTURE OF THE SPACE AND THE BEHAVIOR OF SOLUTIONS OF EQUATIONS DESCRIBING CRITICAL POINTS OF INTERESTING ENERGY FUNCTIONALS. SOME OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE A THEORETICAL BASIS FOR IMPLEMENTING NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF REAL-WORLD SYSTEMS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A FREQUENCY QUADRUPLED TITANIUM SAPPHIRE LASER

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MATH-DT CLOSING THE GENERALIZATION GAP OF DIGITAL TWINS -FROM THE WEATHER TO HUMAN HEALTH TO FIGHTER JETS, THERE ARE MANY COMPLEX SYSTEMS WHOSE OUTCOMES WE WOULD LIKE TO PREDICT AND CONTROL. TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS, SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS OFTEN BUILD DIGITAL TWINS---COMPUTER MODELS THAT EMULATE AND INTERACT WITH THE UNDERLYING PHYSICAL SYSTEMS. THE CURRENT PROJECT DESCRIBES FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH INTO THE GENERALIZATION ABILITY OF DIGITAL TWINS: TO WHAT DEGREE CAN DIGITAL TWINS PREDICT OUTCOMES UNDER CONDITIONS THEY HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY ENCOUNTERED? FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE DIGITAL TWIN FOR AN AIRPLANE HAS ONLY SEEN DATA COLLECTED UNDER NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS, CAN IT ACCURATELY PREDICT THE PLANE'S RESPONSE TO TURBULENCE? BY COMBINING MATHEMATICAL TOOLS FROM NONLINEAR DYNAMICS AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS FROM MACHINE LEARNING, THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP FUNDAMENTAL THEORIES ON GENERALIZATION AND BUILD ROBUST DIGITAL TWINS THAT CAN PERFORM WELL IN EXTREME OR UNEXPECTED CONDITIONS. WHILE THE PROPOSED FRAMEWORK APPLIES TO A BROAD CLASS OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS, IT IS FIRST BEING APPLIED TO CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, WHICH ARE THE INTERNAL TIMEKEEPING MECHANISMS OF THE HUMAN BODY. HUMAN BIOLOGICAL CLOCKS ARE INCREASINGLY SUBJECT TO DISTURBANCES INTRODUCED BY MODERN LIFESTYLES SUCH AS LONG-HAUL AIR TRAVEL AND NIGHTTIME COMPUTER USE. PREDICTIVE DIGITAL TWINS CAN GIVE PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS ON EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS, SUCH AS OPTIMAL STRATEGIES TO SPEED UP RECOVERY FROM JET LAGS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO TEACH MODERN MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS TO A DIVERSE POPULATION OF UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS. THROUGH THIS PROJECT, STUDENTS LEARN VALUABLE SKILLS IN MATHEMATICAL MODELING, DATA ANALYSIS, SCIENCE COMMUNICATION, AND GAIN FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE IN BUILDING AND MANAGING STATE-OF-THE-ART MACHINE LEARNING PIPELINES. CURRENT DOMAIN-AGNOSTIC DIGITAL TWINS BASED ON DEEP NEURAL NETWORKS ARE VERY EXPRESSIVE BUT CAN STRUGGLE WHEN GENERALIZING BEYOND THEIR TRAINING CONDITIONS. PHYSICS-BASED DIGITAL TWINS, ON THE OTHER HAND, GENERALIZE BETTER TO UNSEEN CONDITIONS THANKS TO THE STRONG INDUCTIVE BIAS BUILT INTO THE MODEL. ON THE OTHER HAND, THEY ARE OFTEN NOT SUFFICIENTLY FLEXIBLE TO FULLY CAPTURE THE RICH DYNAMICS IN DATA. THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS A NEW CLASS OF HYBRID DIGITAL TWINS WITH TUNABLE PHYSICS-BASED AND DOMAIN-AGNOSTIC COMPONENTS, ALLOWING PRACTITIONERS TO BALANCE EXPRESSIVITY VERSUS GENERALIZATION, DEPENDING ON THE AVAILABLE DATA AND THE NATURE OF THE TASK. UTILIZING CONCEPTS SUCH AS BASINS OF ATTRACTION IN MULTISTABLE DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS, A KEY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS TO QUANTIFY HOW THE GENERALIZATION ABILITY OF THE DIGITAL TWIN CHANGES AS THE WEIGHTS ASSIGNED TO THE TWO COMPONENTS ARE ADJUSTED. IN PARTICULAR, THE PROJECT EXPLORES THE POSSIBILITY THAT A PROPERLY WEIGHTED DOMAIN-AGNOSTIC COMPONENT IN THE HYBRID DIGITAL TWIN CAN SOMETIMES IMPROVE OUT-OF-DISTRIBUTION GENERALIZATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE INDUCTIVE BIAS PROVIDED BY THE PHYSICS-BASED COMPONENT IS IMPERFECT. DIGITAL TWINS THAT GENERALIZE TO UNSEEN CONDITIONS ARE CRUCIAL TO APPLICATIONS SUCH AS FINDING OPTIMAL INTERVENTIONS FOR RESTORING DISRUPTED CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS. FOR EXAMPLE, TO FIND OPTIMAL STRATEGIES TO SPEED UP RECOVERY FROM JET LAGS, A DIGITAL TWIN NEEDS TO PREDICT THE DYNAMICS OF A SEVERELY PERTURBED CIRCADIAN CLOCK BASED ON DATA GATHERED MOSTLY FROM NORMALLY OPERATING CLOCKS. THESE INVESTIGATIONS WILL GUIDE THE CREATION OF MORE ROBUST DIGITAL TWINS AND HELP INFORM CRITICAL DECISIONS UNDER NEW OR UNCERTAIN CONDITIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

DEVELOPING TRAINING MATERIALS FOR EXPERIMENTAL RIGOR IN NEUROSCIENCE - PROJECT SUMMARY IN THIS PROJECT, WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP TRAINING MODULES TO ADDRESS THREE MAIN TOPICS: 1. DESIGNING RIGOROUS EXPERIMENTS. 2. REDUCING EFFECTS OF BIAS. 3. SUPPORTING BEST PRACTICES FOR OPEN DATA AND TRANSPARENCY. OUR TEAM WILL HELP TO CREATE ENGAGING CONTENT THAT IS WELL-SUITED TO UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENT EDUCATION. WE WILL DEVELOP MODULES THAT USE NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE AS A FOCUS, OFFERING CONNECTIONS TO BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH ON HUMAN DISEASE THAT ARE RELEVANT TO STUDENTS' LIVES. OUR MODULES WILL INCORPORATE OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION. WE WILL BRING OUR EXPERTISE AS LABORATORY SCIENTISTS WHO TRAIN EARLY CAREER STUDENTS, OUR EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE AS SKILLED CLASSROOM INSTRUCTORS, AND OUR CONFIDENCE THAT PUBLIC ACTION CAN IMPROVE RIGOR AND REPRODUCIBILITY IN SCIENCE.

RI:SMALL:RUI:INTELLIGENT SOUNDSCAPE ANALYSIS AND GENERATION

EVOLUTION OF GERMLINE AND SOMATIC GENOMES IN THE CILIATE CHILODONELLA UNCINATA

UNCOVERING WOMEN'S WORK FOR EQUALITY ACROSS THE 20TH CENTURY: AN ARCHIVAL PROCESSING PROJECT OF THE SOPHIA SMITH COLLECTION

RUI: TESTING PHYLOGENETIC HYPOTHESES WITHIN TUBULINEA, A CLADE OF FREE-LIVING LOBOSE AMOEBAE

MRI COLLABORATIVE: ACQUISITION OF EXPANDED DISTRIBUTED TEMPERATURE SENSING INSTRUMENTATION TO SERVE COMMUNITY DEMAND AND STIMULATE UNDERGRADUATE DI

LEAPS-MPS: NUMBER-THEORETIC AND COMBINATORIAL PROPERTIES OF INCREASING SEQUENCES OF POSITIVE INTEGERS -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO STUDY INCREASING SEQUENCES OF POSITIVE INTEGERS, SUCH AS THE EVENS, THE ODDS, PRIME NUMBERS, AND FIBONACCI NUMBERS. WE WILL STUDY INCREASING SEQUENCES BY EXPLORING COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES, THAT IS, SEQUENCES SUCH THAT EVERY INTEGER APPEARS IN ONE OF THEM AND NO INTEGER APPEARS IN BOTH. ANY INCREASING SEQUENCE OF POSITIVE INTEGERS CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS PART OF A COMPLEMENTARY PAIR BY TAKING THE OTHER SET TO BE ALL POSITIVE INTEGERS THAT ARE NOT IN THE GIVEN INCREASING SEQUENCE. COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES ALSO MAY HAVE APPLICATIONS IN OTHER AREAS. FOR INSTANCE, THE SO-CALLED BEATTY SEQUENCES HAVE APPLICATIONS IN PURE AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS, MUSIC, BIOLOGY, COMPUTER GRAPHICS, LINEAR FILTERS, AND QUASI-CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. MATHEMATICIANS USE GREEDY ALGORITHMS, SUCH AS THE MINIMUM EXCLUDED (MEX) ALGORITHM, TO GENERATE COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES. IN PREVIOUS WORK, THE PI DISCOVERED SOME SURPRISING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE USE OF THE MEX ALGORITHM TO GENERATE BEATTY SEQUENCES AND CONTINUED FRACTIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL EXTEND THESE FINDINGS TO GENERAL COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS RESEARCH LIES IN UNCOVERING NEW PROPERTIES OF POSITIVE INTEGERS AND PROVIDING INSIGHTS INTO PROBLEMS STUDIED USING THE MEX ALGORITHM AND CONTINUED FRACTIONS. THESE DISCOVERIES COULD ALSO SHED LIGHT ON THE APPLICATIONS OF COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES. ADDITIONALLY, THE PI WILL ENGAGE IN EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES ENHANCING DIVERSITY IN MATHEMATICS, INCLUDING FORMING AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH GROUP AND MENTORING MATH-PHD-BOUND POST BACCALAUREATE STUDENTS AT SMITH COLLEGE (HOME TO THE CENTER FOR WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS), AND CONDUCTING MATH OUTREACH FOR MIDDLE/HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS. THE PI WILL ALSO CONTINUE WITH HIS WORK IN MENTORSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT WITH PEOPLE OF DOMINICAN DESCENT IN THE US. MORE PRECISELY, THIS RESEARCH PROJECT CAN BE DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: CLASSICAL RESULTS AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN NUMBER THEORY, COMBINATORICS, GRAPH THEORY, COMBINATORIAL GAME THEORY AND THEORETICAL COMPUTER SCIENCE ARE OBTAINED BY APPLYING THE MEX ALGORITHM AND GENERATING COMPLEMENTARY SETS. RECENTLY THE PI INTRODUCED A NOVEL GENERALIZATION OF THE MEX ALGORITHM WHICH REVEALS, SURPRISINGLY, THAT APPLYING THE MEX ALGORITHM TO GENERATE BEATTY COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES IS EQUIVALENT TO PREPENDING DIGITS TO THE CONTINUED FRACTIONS OF IRRATIONAL NUMBERS. THE PI HAS ALSO SHOWN THAT ITERATING THE MEX ALGORITHM GIVES RISE TO A DYNAMICAL SYSTEM WHOSE ORBITS HAVE A PARAMETRIC FAMILY OF FIXED POINTS THAT ARE QUADRATIC IRRATIONALS. THESE RESULTS LEAD NATURALLY TO THE PROPERTY THAT THE EVEN AND THE ODD POSITIVE INTEGERS ARE INVARIANT WHEN APPLYING THE MEX TO GENERATE COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO STUDY THESE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES, THE MEX ALGORITHM, CONTINUED FRACTIONS, AND DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS, EXTENDING THEM TO GENERAL COMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES, WHICH INCLUDES ALL INCREASING SEQUENCES OF POSITIVE INTEGERS. WE WILL USE COMBINATORIAL METHODS AND STANDARD TECHNIQUES FROM ANALYTIC AND ADDITIVE NUMBER THEORY, FOLLOWING STRATEGIES THAT HAVE BEEN ALREADY EMPLOYED BY THE PI. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

RUI: HIGH PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY OF LIGHT ATOMS AS TESTS OF QED AND DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR STRUCTURE THEORY -THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS, AREAS CRUCIAL FOR DECIPHERING THE UNIVERSE'S MOST BASIC PRINCIPLES. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL MAKE HIGHLY PRECISE MEASUREMENTS ON ATOMS, ADDRESSING TWO KEY AREAS. FIRST, THEY WILL INVESTIGATE THE NUCLEAR STRUCTURE OF OXYGEN ISOTOPES USING PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY. THESE MEASUREMENTS PROVIDE ESSENTIAL DATA FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW ATOMIC NUCLEI ARE BUILT AND BEHAVE. SECOND, THE TEAM WILL PERFORM SPECTROSCOPY ON LIGHT ATOMS LIKE BERYLLIUM, BORON, NITROGEN, AND OXYGEN. THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE EXPERIMENTAL DATA THAT, WHEN COMBINED WITH THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS, WILL SERVE AS STRINGENT TESTS OF THE COMMUNITY?S BEST THEORY DESCRIBING HOW LIGHT AND MATTER INTERACT. BEYOND SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY, THIS AWARD SUPPORTS THE TRAINING OF HIGHLY MOTIVATED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT SMITH COLLEGE, FOSTERING THEIR DEVELOPMENT INTO FUTURE SCIENTISTS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO EXPAND A COURSE-BASED RESEARCH INITIATIVE, MAKING EXPERIMENTAL ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS ACCESSIBLE TO A GREATER RANGE OF STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM FOCUSES ON HIGH-PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY OF NEUTRAL LIGHT ATOMS WITH FOUR, FIVE, SEVEN, AND EIGHT ELECTRONS, PURSUING TWO PRIMARY OBJECTIVES. FIRST, THE TEAM WILL INVESTIGATE THE NUCLEAR STRUCTURE OF STABLE OXYGEN ISOTOPES THROUGH PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY TO ESTABLISH CRUCIAL BASELINE MEASUREMENTS. THIS WORK WILL DIRECTLY SUPPORT UPCOMING EXPERIMENTS ON RADIOACTIVE OXYGEN ISOTOPES AT THE BECOLA FACILITY AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, PROVIDING CRITICAL DATA TO BENCHMARK MICROSCOPIC NUCLEAR THEORY, LATTICE CALCULATIONS, AND MANY-BODY METHODS, AND TO CONSTRAIN LOW-ENERGY CONSTANTS IN CHIRAL EFFECTIVE FIELD THEORY. SECOND, THE PROJECT WILL CONTINUE ESTABLISHED WORK TESTING QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS (QED) THROUGH PRECISION MEASUREMENTS OF ABSOLUTE TRANSITION FREQUENCIES AND ABSOLUTE ENERGIES IN BERYLLIUM, NITROGEN, AND OXYGEN. FOR BERYLLIUM, THE TEAM AIMS TO ACHIEVE SUB-MHZ PRECISION WITH A REDESIGNED EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE BORON. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

UNDERSTANDING DISCIPLINARY APPROACHES IN SCHOOL SETTINGS -UNDERSTANDING HOW DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS OCCURS AND ITS EFFECTS ON STUDENTS AND OTHERS IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IMPLICATE SCHOLARLY AND POLICY ARENAS. THIS PROJECT WILL EXAMINE TRADITIONAL AND EMERGING APPROACHES TO DISCIPLINE COMMONLY EMPLOYED IN SCHOOLS BY STUDYING THESE APPROACHES TOGETHER AS OPPOSED TO IN ISOLATION. IN DOING SO, THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE AN APPRECIATION OF SEVERAL DISCIPLINARY MEASURES IN SCHOOLS, HOW THEY OPERATE IN TANDEM, AND HOW STUDENTS AND OTHERS PERCEIVE THESE APPROACHES TO DISCIPLINE. EMPLOYING A MIXED METHODS APPROACH, THIS PROJECT WILL INTEGRATE SEVERAL LITERATURES ACROSS FIELDS TO PROVIDE AN UNDERSTANDING OF DISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO YOUTH IN SCHOOLS. THE PROJECT WILL RECRUIT STUDENT AND STAFF PERSPECTIVES TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERING TYPES OF DISCIPLINE AND WAYS TO RESPOND TO HARM AND VIOLATION IN SCHOOLS. THIS RESEARCH WILL EMPLOY STUDENT FOCUS GROUPS IN THE PROCESS OF SURVEY DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING SELF-REPORTING BY STUDENTS ABOUT THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES AND AN EXPERIMENT TO ASCERTAIN STUDENT RESPONSES TO VARIOUS DISCIPLINARY SCENARIOS. SCHOOL STAFF AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ALSO WILL BE INTERVIEWED, PROVIDING A COMPARISON OF PERCEPTIONS BETWEEN STUDENTS AND AUTHORITIES. WORKING UNDER THE RUBRIC OF PROCEDURAL AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE THEORIES, THIS PROJECT WILL AID IN UNDERSTANDING ISSUES OF SCHOOL SAFETY, FAIRNESS, AND JUSTICE, WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON YOUTH PERCEPTIONS OF THESE ISSUES. FINDINGS WILL BE WIDELY DISSEMINATED AND MADE AVAILABLE TO SCHOLARS, SCHOOL OFFICIALS, POLICY MAKERS, AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

EVOLUTION OF GERMLINE/SOMA DISTINCTIONS ACROSS THE EUKARYOTIC TREE OF LIFE

LEAPS-MPS: DNA KNOT SHADOWS EXPLORATIONS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE: MOTH MONITORING 2.0: DEVELOPING AN INTEGRATED MONITORING FRAMEWORK ACROSS LIFE STAGES TO UNDERSTAND INSECT DECLINES -AN AWARD IS MADE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL, THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, AND SMITH COLLEGE, TO DEVELOP A LARGE-SCALE NETWORK TO STUDY THE ABUNDANCE AND SEASONALITY OF MOTHS ACROSS EASTERN USA. THIS PROJECT WILL COMBINE COUNTS OF CATERPILLARS (JUVENILE MOTHS), GENERATED BY THE CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECT CATERPILLAR COUNT!, WITH COUNTS OF ADULT MOTHS THAT WILL BE CAPTURED BY AUTOMATED, NON-LETHAL TRAPS. MOTHS AND CATERPILLARS ARE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INSECT GROUPS BECAUSE THEY EAT PLANTS SUCH AS CROPS AND FOREST TREES AND ALSO SERVE AS FOOD FOR WILDLIFE. THIS WORK WILL GENERATE RESOURCES NECESSARY TO SHARE SEASONAL ABUNDANCE DATA WITH OTHER SCIENTISTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO AN EFFECTIVE CONTEMPORARY WORKFORCE BY INVOLVING STUDENTS AND CREATING EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO ELEVATING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY IN THE GENERAL PUBLIC BY RECRUITING CITIZEN-SCIENTISTS AND BY ORGANIZING MOTH OBSERVATION EVENTS DURING NATIONAL MOTH WEEK. MOTH MONITORING 2.0 WILL BE THE FIRST LARGE-SCALE MONITORING NETWORK DESIGNED TO INTEGRATE ABUNDANCE AND PHENOLOGY DATA ACROSS BOTH LARVAL AND ADULT LIFE STAGES. THIS NETWORK WILL GENERATE DATA THROUGH STANDARDIZED SAMPLING PROTOCOLS THAT WILL BE INSTRUMENTAL FOR UNDERSTANDING BROAD-SCALE ABUNDANCE PATTERNS OF AN ECOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT INSECT GROUP ACROSS A LARGE REGION. THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR AUTOMATED MONITORING, MACHINE-LEARNING BASED IDENTIFICATION, DATA SUBMISSION, STORAGE, AND VISUALIZATION, AND WILL CREATE A NEW REPOSITORY FOR THE SHARING OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL. THE WORK WILL EXPAND THE EXISTING NETWORK OF CATERPILLARS COUNT! MONITORING SITES, AND ADD NEW FUNCTIONALITY FOR MONITORING BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC. ALL OF THESE DATA WILL BE FREELY AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS SEEKING TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW DISTURBANCES, INCLUDING LAND USE AND OTHER GLOBAL CHANGE DRIVERS, ARE IMPACTING INSECT DECLINES AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

GDF MODULATION OF TENDON MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

CCF- ALGORITHMIC FOUNDATIONS: MOTION PLANNING FOR GEOMETRICALLY CONSTRAINED STRUCTURES

RUI: COMBINATORIAL MODELS IN REPRESENTATION THEORY, GEOMETRY, AND ANALYSIS -GRAPHS ARE ESSENTIAL TOOLS USED TO MODEL AND ANALYZE NETWORKS OF ALL KINDS: DIGITAL, ELECTRICAL, SOCIAL, EPIDEMIOLOGICAL, ETC. IN MANY APPLICATIONS, THE EDGES OF A GRAPH ARE LABELED WITH ADDITIONAL DATA THAT INDICATES THE CAPACITY OF THE EDGE. THE PI SEEKS TO OPTIMIZE SOME ASPECT OF THE GRAPH DEPENDING ON THE APPLICATION. FOR INSTANCE, IF THE EDGE LABELS OF A SUBWAY MAP INDICATE THE CAPACITY OF EACH LINE AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF DAY, ONE MIGHT WANT TO MAXIMIZE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PASSENGERS THAT CAN BE TRANSPORTED BETWEEN TWO STATIONS DURING RUSH HOUR; WHILE IF THE EDGE LABELS OF A ROAD MAP INDICATE COST TO PLOW THE ROAD, ONE MIGHT WANT TO MINIMIZE THE COST TO PLOW PATHS BETWEEN ALL ESSENTIAL SERVICES. THIS PROJECT ANALYZES TWO KINDS OF EDGE-LABELED GRAPHS: WEBS, WHICH ARISE IN KNOT THEORY AND REPRESENTATION THEORY AS WELL AS COMBINATORICS; AND ALGEBRAIC SPLINES, WHICH ARISE IN ANALYSIS AND APPLIED MATH, ESPECIALLY IN DATA COMPRESSION OR DATA INTERPOLATION. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT. PREVIOUS CONSTRUCTIONS OF WEBS RELY ON LOCAL INFORMATION ABOUT EDGE-LABELINGS AND SEEK TO IDENTIFY GLOBAL PROPERTIES (INCLUDING BASES OF THE ASSOCIATED REPRESENTATION, OR COEFFICIENTS IN A KNOT-THEORETIC STATE SUM). WITH RUSSELL, THE PI PROPOSES A NEW MODEL OF WEBS CALLED ''STRANDING'' THAT IDENTIFIES MANY OF THESE GLOBAL PROPERTIES AS PATHS THROUGH THE GRAPH. THIS UNLOCKS EXCITING AND PROMISING NEW ATTACKS ON OPEN QUESTIONS IN THE FIELD. IN SPLINES, THE PI WILL DEVELOP AND EXPAND ON RECENT PROGRESS WITH NAZIR AND SCHILLING TOWARDS THE LONGSTANDING LOWER BOUND CONJECTURE FOR THE DIMENSION OF SPLINES. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE PI CONTINUES PROJECTS TO ANALYZE A SPECIAL FAMILY OF SPLINES THAT MODEL EQUIVARIANT COHOMOLOGY, WITH APPLICATIONS TOWARDS THE STANLEY-STEMBRIDGE CONJECTURE IN ALGEBRAIC COMBINATORICS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COMBINATORIAL REPRESENTATION THEORY FROM KNOT THEORY AND ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY

RUI: HYDROPEROXIDE PHOTOCHEMISTRY UNDER SOLAR WAVELENGTHS AT DAWN AND DUSK

LYDIA CABRERA'S "THE SACRED LANGUAGE OF THE ABAKUA" AND ITS WEST AFRICAN SOURCES

CDS&E: RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DATA-DRIVEN METHODS IN CLASSICAL KNOT THEORY

TELLING OUR LEGACIES DIGITALLY: DIGITAL STORIES PROMOTING LITERACY, OUTREACH, AN

THE SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART WILL IMPROVE AND EXPAND STORAGE FOR ITS COLLECTION OF MORE THAN 28,000 WORKS OF ART. THE MUSEUM WILL APPOINT AN ASSOCIATE REGISTRAR WHO WILL ORGANIZE AND OVERSEE THE TEMPORARY RELOCATION AND PERMANENT REHOUSING OF ARTWORKS AND UPDATE FOUR EXISTING STORAGE SPACES. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL REPAIR DETERIORATED EQUIPMENT, INSTALL MORE EFFICIENT AND APPROPRIATE STORAGE UNITS, AND RECONFIGURE SPACES TO IMPROVE ACCESS AND LEARNING. THE ASSOCIATE REGISTRAR WILL HELP ENSURE THE SAFETY AND PROPER CARE OF THE COLLECTIONS WHILE THE PROJECT IS UNDERWAY, ALLOWING THE MUSEUM TO CONTINUE ITS REGULAR EXHIBITION AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES. THE PROJECT WILL RESOLVE ISSUES OF OVERCROWDING AND INAPPROPRIATE STORAGE, ENABLING THE MUSEUM TO HOUSE ITS ENTIRE COLLECTION ON-SITE. THIS WILL OPTIMIZE ACCESS, PROVIDE MORE APPROPRIATE STORAGE, AND ENSURE PROPER CARE AND PRESERVATION.

CRII: SHF: RUI: REPRESENTING AND MERGING DIVERSE GOAL MODELS IN REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING

SEP COLLABORATIVE: INTEGRATING HETEROGENEOUS ENERGY RESOURCES FOR SUSTAINABLE POWER NETWORKS - A SYSTEMS APPROACH

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

ERI: DIELECTRIC MIXING MODELS FOR COARSE AGGREGATE -THIS ENGINEERING RESEARCH INITIATION (ERI) AWARD SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL FOCUS ON IMPROVING DIELECTRIC MIXING MODELS USED TO ESTIMATE THE RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY OF COARSE AGGREGATE MIXES. DIELECTRIC MIXING MODELS RELATE THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL OR AGGREGATE (THE WATER, AIR, AND SOLID PARTICLES) TO THE BULK RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY (BULK ELECTRICAL MATERIAL PROPERTY) CAPTURED BY GROUND PENETRATING RADAR (GPR). THESE DIELECTRIC MIXING MODELS IN TURN ARE WHAT ALLOW ENGINEERS TO ESTIMATE PROPERTIES SUCH AS WATER CONTENT, SATURATION, DENSITY, OR OBJECT DEPTH FROM GPR DATA. THE RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF PARTICLE GRADATION ON RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY MEASUREMENTS BY CREATING A HIGH-QUALITY OPEN DATA SET OF RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY MEASUREMENTS ON GRADATIONS RANGING FROM SMALLER PARTICLES TO LARGER PARTICLES WHICH WILL CLOSE AN EXISTING GAP IN THE LITERATURE. FROM THESE DATA A NEW DIELECTRIC MIXING MODEL SUITABLE FOR COARSE AGGREGATE WILL BE CREATED. IN ADDITION, THE FUNDING WILL ALLOW FOR SMITH COLLEGE STUDENTS TO WORK WITH THE GIRLS INC EUREKA! PROGRAM WHICH WILL HAVE THE SYNERGISTIC BENEFIT OF PUTTING SMITH COLLEGE STUDENTS IN A MENTORING ROLE TO MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS IN ENGINEERING AND STEM. SIMULTANEOUSLY, IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE EUREKA! PROGRAM STUDENTS WILL BE INSPIRED BY THE COLLEGE-AGED WOMEN IN ENGINEERING. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF PRODUCING AN IMPROVED DIELECTRIC MIXING MODEL FOR COARSE AGGREGATES, LARGE BOX TESTS (APPROXIMATELY 1 CUBIC METER IN SCALE) WILL BE CONDUCTED TO PRODUCE A DATA SET TO DEVELOP A NEW DIELECTRIC MIXING MODEL. THESE BOX TESTS WILL CONSIDER A VARIETY OF MATERIALS WITH PARTICLE SIZES RANGING FROM SAND-SILT MIXTURES (WHICH EXISTING MODELS SHOULD MODEL WELL) UP TO COBBLE-GRAVEL MIXTURES (WHICH EXISTING MODELS ARE ANTICIPATED TO MODEL POORLY). SPECIMENS WILL BE TESTED UNDER DRY, SATURATED, AND PARTIALLY SATURATED CONDITIONS. THE WORK HAS THREE MAIN OBJECTIVES. THE FIRST OBJECTIVE IS TO ESTABLISH THE REPEATABILITY OF COMMON PRACTICES FOR SPECIMEN PREPARATION AND METHODS THAT PRODUCE THE HIGHEST QUALITY SPECIMENS. THE SECOND OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO CREATE THE DATA SET OF RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY VALUES COVERING A WIDE RANGE OF AGGREGATE GRADATIONS, DENSITY, AND WATER CONTENT. THE THIRD OBJECTIVE IS TO CREATE AND VERIFY THE DIELECTRIC MIXING MODEL SUITABLE FOR COARSE AGGREGATES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

IMPROVING TEACHING AND LEARNING IN COMPUTER SCIENCE USING STRUCTURED POST-EXAM INTERVIEWS AND REMEDIATION -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY USING A TWO-STAGE EXAM PROCESS TO IDENTIFY STUDENTS? KNOWLEDGE GAPS AND IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. EXAMS ARE DEPENDABLE AND CONVENIENT ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR EDUCATORS, HOWEVER, THEY CAN CAUSE STUDENT ANXIETY. EXAMS ARE OFTEN ONE-SHOT EVENTS RESULTING IN NO INCENTIVE FOR STUDENTS TO CORRECT ANY LEARNING DEFICIENCIES. TIMELY FEEDBACK ON STUDENT EXAM ANSWERS CAN HELP STUDENTS IDENTIFY KNOWLEDGE GAPS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND ASSESS A TWO-STAGE EXAM PROCESS FOR AN INTRODUCTORY COMPUTER PROGRAMMING COURSE. STUDENTS WILL TAKE A MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAM IN WHICH THEY WILL PROVIDE A JUSTIFICATION FOR EACH SELECTED ANSWER. FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE SIGNIFICANT KNOWLEDGE GAPS, AN INTERVIEW WILL FOLLOW, PROVIDING A SECOND OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR UNDERSTANDING. AFTER THE INTERVIEW, A PLAN OF ACTION WILL BE PROVIDED FOR EACH STUDENT TO HELP THEM ACHIEVE THE LEARNING OUTCOMES. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE PROJECT WILL HELP IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES IN A FOUNDATIONAL COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSE, WHICH WILL HELP PREPARE STUDENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN THE COMPUTING WORKFORCE. THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO: (1) IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES, (2) REDUCE TEST ANXIETY, AND (3) SUPPORT ACADEMIC INTEGRITY. THIS PROJECT BUILDS ON PREVIOUS WORK ON TWO-STAGE EXAMS IN THE PHYSICS EDUCATION COMMUNITY. IN THE FIRST STAGE, AN IMPROVED MULTIPLE-CHOICE ASSESSMENT WILL BE USED TO IDENTIFY STUDENT KNOWLEDGE GAPS. THE SECOND STAGE CONSISTS OF A ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WHICH WILL FOCUS ON QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE KNOWLEDGE GAPS IDENTIFIED IN THE FIRST STAGE. INSTRUCTORS WILL THEN DEVELOP A PLAN OF STUDY THAT WILL BE PERSONALIZED FOR EACH STUDENT. RESEARCH QUESTIONS INCLUDE: (1) WHAT ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS WILL THE IMPROVED MULTIPLE-CHOICE EXAM PROVIDE OVER A STANDARD MULTIPLE-CHOICE EXAM? 2) TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE INTERVIEW STAGE HELP TO IMPROVE STUDENTS? LEARNING OUTCOMES? TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, TEST RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED USING TRADITIONAL VERSUS THE IMPROVED MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAM. STUDENT LEARNING GAINS WILL BE ASSESSED WITH AND WITHOUT THE INTERVIEW STAGE. THE RESULTS OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL BE DISSEMINATED AT COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION CONFERENCES AND ONE COMPUTING EDUCATION COMMUNITY SITE ORGANIZED BY ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY EDUCATION BOARD. THE NSF IUSE: EHR PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. THROUGH THE ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING TRACK, THE PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE CREATION, EXPLORATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROMISING PRACTICES AND TOOLS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

E-BOOK DISSEMINATION OF CURRICULAR AND PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN THERMODYNAMICS

COMBINATORIAL METHODS IN GEOMETRIC REPRESENTATION THEORY

PROMOTING ACTIVE, INDUCTIVE, AND COMPUTATIONAL LEARNING IN MATHEMATICAL METHODS FOR PHYSICISTS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF ION MILL FOR TEM SAMPLE PREPARATION

ORIGIN OF WINDS IN PROTOSTELLAR DISK ACCRETION SYSTEM.

WIN VITRO AND IN VIVO EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION OF EUBACTERIAL RNASE PWE EXPLORE THE CATALYTIC VERSATIL

COMBINATORIAL ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY: MODERN SCHUBERT CALCULUS AND GENERALIZED SPLINES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TIME-DEPENDENT IMAGING OF EARTHQUAKE CYCLE BEHAVIOR ACROSS THE JAPAN FAULT SYSTEM -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ESTIMATE FAULT SLIP RATES ACROSS JAPAN OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS USING GEODETIC DATA AND COMPUTATIONAL MODELS. COMBINING THREE-DIMENSIONAL FAULT SYSTEM MODELS WITH STATISTICAL TRACKING TECHNIQUES, MEADE, LOVELESS, AND THEIR STUDENTS WILL ESTIMATE DAILY SLIP DISTRIBUTIONS ON MAJOR FAULT ZONES IN JAPAN. THIS COMPREHENSIVE MODEL WILL HELP TO SHOW HOW FAULT MOVEMENTS ARE INTERCONNECTED OVER TIME AND SPACE, AND HOW SLIP RATES VARY WITH TIME BETWEEN LARGE EARTHQUAKES. THIS RESEARCH IS INSPIRED BY DETAILED GEODETIC OBSERVATIONS SINCE THE 1990'S THAT REVEALED COMPLEX EARTHQUAKE PROCESSES, SUCH AS EPISODES OF FAULT SLIP THAT ARE TOO SLOW TO CAUSE GROUND SHAKING. THE RESEARCH FINDINGS WILL PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THE MOTIONS OF FAULT SYSTEMS, CONTRIBUTING TO IMPROVED EARTHQUAKE HAZARD ASSESSMENTS IN JAPAN. THE ANALYSIS AND MODELING CODES BEING DEVELOPED AS PART OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE MADE FREELY AVAILABLE TO SCIENTISTS STUDYING COMPLEX FAULT SYSTEMS ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE TRAINING IN EARTHQUAKE SCIENCE AND TECHNICAL COMPUTING FOR A GRADUATE STUDENT AND SEVERAL UNDERGRADUATES AT SMITH COLLEGE AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY. THIS STUDY AIMS TO IMAGE FAULT SLIP RATES THROUGHOUT THE JAPAN FAULT NETWORK BY COMBINING HIGH-RESOLUTION SPHERICAL THREE-DIMENSIONAL KINEMATIC BLOCK MODELS WITH STATE-SPACE ESTIMATION APPROACHES THAT LINK PAST, CURRENT, AND POTENTIAL FUTURE DISTRIBUTIONS OF FAULT SLIP WITH DATA UNCERTAINTIES. THIS APPROACH WILL YIELD ESTIMATES OF DAILY SLIP DISTRIBUTIONS ON THE JAPAN-KURIL, SAGAMI, AND NANKAI SUBDUCTION ZONES AND CRUSTAL FAULT SYSTEM WITH A UNIFIED MODEL THAT INCLUDES A CONSISTENT REPRESENTATION OF FAULT SYSTEM GEOMETRY, GPS STATION LOCATIONS, AND ESTIMATION APPROACH ACROSS THE ENTIRE OBSERVATIONAL ERA SPANNING NEARLY THREE DECADES. THE RESULT OF THIS STUDY WILL BE A MORE COMPLETE CHARACTERIZATION OF EARTHQUAKE CYCLE KINEMATICS NOT AS ISOLATED INTERSEISMIC, COSEISMIC, POSTSEISMIC, OR SLOW SLIP PROCESSES BUT AS PART OF A CONTINUOUS SPECTRUM, WHICH WILL ENABLE ASSESSMENT OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL LINKS AMONG EARTHQUAKE CYCLE BEHAVIORS. SPECIFICALLY, THE WORK WILL PROBE THE EXTENTS OF SPATIOTEMPORAL VARIATION IN 1) COUPLING PATTERNS PRIOR TO AND FOLLOWING LARGE SUBDUCTION ZONE EARTHQUAKES; 2) RATES AND DEGREES OF PARTITIONING OF DEFORMATION ACROSS THE CRUSTAL FAULT SYSTEM THROUGH TIME, DRAWING CONNECTIONS TO PALEOSEISMIC CONSTRAINTS ON QUATERNARY FAULT ACTIVITY; AND 3) THE POTENTIAL FOR ASEISMIC SLIP ON SUBDUCTION ZONES TO TRIGGER AND/OR ARISE FROM NEARBY DEVIATIONS IN FAULT ACTIVITY, INCLUDING VARIATIONS IN COUPLING AND THE OCCURRENCE OF EARTHQUAKES. THESE INVESTIGATIONS WILL FORM THE BASES FOR CHARACTERIZING THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM OF EARTHQUAKE CYCLE ACTIVITY, THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL OVERLAPS ACROSS DIFFERENT EARTHQUAKE CYCLE STAGES, AND IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTAL BEHAVIORS THAT INFORM EARTHQUAKE HAZARD ANALYSIS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RUI: CILIATE PHYLOGENY ASSESSED BY MITOCHONDRIAL MARKERS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NEW METHODS IN PHYLLOTAXIS

APPLICATIONS OF QUASICONFORMAL GEOMETRY AND PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

BUILDING ANALYTICAL COMPETENCE FOR GEOSCIENCE STUDENTS THROUGH USE OF SPECTROSCOPIC TOOLS

RUI: BOSONS IN OPTICAL LATTICES: DYNAMICS AND CRITICALITY IN INHOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

THE ORIGIN OF MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE

AN ANNOTATED TRANSLATION OF THE DIVYAVADANA PART 2 (STORIES 18-38) WITH A CRITICAL APPARATUS

EASTERN U.S. FORESTS PROVIDE AN IMPORTANT ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCE AND ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SEQUESTERING 40% OF THE REGION'S CARBON EMISSIONS. SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT (SFM) PRACTICES ARE ESSENTIAL TO OPTIMIZE THESE ROLES AND ENSURE THAT FORESTS OF THE FUTURE WILL BE RESILIENT TO PROJECTED CHANGES IN CLIMATE. TO MAXIMIZE THE SUCCESS OF SFM PRACTICES WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS WILL CHANGE AND HOW TREES AND FORESTS WILL RESPOND TO THAT CHANGE. IN THE EASTERN U.S. SPRING AND SUMMER DROUGHTS ARE PREDICTED TO BECOME MORE FREQUENT IN THE COMING DECADES. HOW EASTERN FORESTS WILL RESPOND TO DROUGHT WITH REGARDS TO CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND BIOMASS PRODUCTION IS POORLY UNDERSTOOD DUE TO CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE GAPS AND INCONSISTENT CLASSIFICATIONS OF DROUGHT TOLERANCE FOR THE DOMINANT SPECIES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH SEEKS TO ADDRESS THIS LIMITATION THROUGH A 3-FOLD APPROACH: USING A COMBINATION OF NEWLY DEVELOPED AND TRADITIONAL PHYSIOLOGICAL METHODS TO MEASURE INDIVIDUAL TREE DROUGHT SENSITIVITY ACROSS DIFFERENT SITES IN THE EASTERN US TO REVEAL THE MECHANISMS UNDERPINNING TREE-LEVEL DROUGHT RESPONSES (AIM 1) SURVEYING WATER-USE TRAITS AT 7 EDDY FLUX SITES THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED DROUGHT TO IDENTIFY THE DRIVERS OF ECOSYSTEM LEVEL DROUGHT RESPONSES (AIM 2) AND MODIFYING AN ECOSYSTEM MODEL (PNET) WITH THE INFORMATION LEARNED IN AIMS 1 AND 2 TO FORECAST CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND BIOMASS PRODUCTION UNDER VARIOUS CLIMATE AND MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS (AIM 3). THROUGH THIS WORK WE WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE PRACTICAL INFORMATION TO VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS THAT WILL INFORM SFM IN THE EASTERN U.S.

RUI: PARITY VIOLATION IN ELECTRON SCATTERING EXPERIMENTS AT JLAB AND NUCLEON STRUCTURE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: MOLECULAR SENTINELS: SECONDARY METABOLITES AS INDICATORS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN AN ANTARCTIC POLAR DESERT -ANTARCTICA HABITATS ARE UNLIKE ANY OTHERS FOUND ON THE PLANET WITH EXTREME COMBINED VARIATIONS IN COLD, SALINITY, MOISTURE CONTENT AND LIGHT AVAILABILITY. SOILS AND SEDIMENTS FROM THE ANTARCTIC MCMURDO DRY VALLEY?S REGION HARBOR UNIQUE MICROORGANISMS THAT CAN COPE WITH THE UNIQUE COMBINATION OF EXTREME CONDITIONS, BUT SPECIFICALLY HOW EXTREMOPHILE MICROBES FUNCTION OR RESPOND TO CHANGE IN THESE EXTREME HABITATS IS STILL LARGELY UNKNOWN. THIS TEAM IS UTILIZING PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED ANTARCTIC MCMURDO DRY VALLEYS (MDV) SAMPLES TO EVALUATE DIFFERENCES IN MICROBIAL EXTREMOPHILE FUNCTION IN RESPONSE TO CHANGES IN STRONG SALINITY GRADIENTS CAUSED BY WARMING TEMPERATURES. COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF GENE EXPRESSION PATTERNS AND SECONDARY METABOLITE PRODUCTION ARE BEING UNDERTAKEN IN LAB-BASED MICROCOSM STUDIES WITH VARYING SALINITIES. THIS WORK IS HELPING TO ELUCIDATE THE GENETIC UNDERPINNINGS FOR LIFE IN ANTARCTICA AND SHOW HOW ANTARCTIC BIOTA EVOLVE AND ADAPT TO A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT. SPECIFICALLY, THE WORK IS SHOWING HOW ENVIRONMENTALLY RELEVANT CHANGES IN SALINITY WILL INDUCE DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF SECONDARY METABOLITES IN ISOLATES PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED FROM THE HYPERSALINE DON JUAN POND IN THE WESTERN END OF WRIGHT VALLEY, VICTORIA LAND IN THE DRY VALLEYS REGION. TRANSCRIPTOMES OF CELL CULTURES UNDER VARYING SALINITIES ARE BEING SEQUENCED AND COMPARED TO DETERMINE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO CELLULAR METABOLISM, PARTICULARLY SECONDARY METABOLIC PATHWAYS. ADDITIONAL PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED SAMPLE TYPES (SOILS, GLACIER ICE, SEDIMENTS, AND BRINES) COLLECTED FROM A RANGE OF SALINITIES ARE BEING USED TO REFINE METHODOLOGIES FOR FUTURE FIELD WORK AND PROVIDE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS. THIS PROGRAM INCLUDES A VARIETY OF OTHER BROADER IMPACTS. THIS PROJECT IS LED BY TWO FEMALE PIS, ONE OF WHOM IS A FACULTY OF COLOR, WHICH WILL BROADEN THE PARTICIPATION OF BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS IN ANTARCTIC SCIENCE. WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE STILL UNDERREPRESENTED IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH (STEM) FIELDS, ESPECIALLY IN THE GEOSCIENCES. THE PROGRAM IS ALSO DESIGNED TO PROVIDE STRONG OPPORTUNITIES TO INTEGRATE STEM RESEARCH WITH UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY AT SMITH COLLEGE, A PREDOMINANTLY UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN?S INSTITUTION. AT LEAST ONE GRADUATE STUDENT AND 4 UNDERGRADUATES WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT, AND SOME WILL PARTICIPATE IN PRESENTING RESULTS AT INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS. THE PROGRAM IS ALSO DEVELOPING RELATED CURRICULUM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EDUCATION SPECIALISTS TO BE USED WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

JACOB JAVITS FELLOWSHIP

TO FUND A PROJECT OF THE OFFICE OF NON-DEGREE PROGRAMS AT SMITH COLLEGE TO BRING 10 FEMALE, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FROM BAGHDAD UNIVERSITY.

SGER: INTEGRATING DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES INTO ELECTRICITY MARKETS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE EVOLUTION OF WINDS IN DUST DISKS AROUND STARS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FROM SCHOOL TO WORK: UNDERSTANDING THE TRANSITION FROM EDUCATION CAPSTONE DESIGN TO INDUSTRY

TRAVEL: WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN IN MACHINE LEARNING -THIS GRANT SUPPORTS THE ANNUAL WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN IN MACHINE LEARNING (WIML). THIS ONE-DAY WORKSHOP BRINGS TOGETHER FEMALE RESEARCHERS IN INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA, POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS, AND GRADUATE STUDENTS FROM THE MACHINE LEARNING COMMUNITY TO EXCHANGE RESEARCH IDEAS AND BUILD MENTORING AND NETWORKING RELATIONSHIPS. IT WILL FOSTER COLLABORATION WITHIN THE MACHINE LEARNING COMMUNITY, FEATURING NOT ONLY CUTTING-EDGE IDEAS FROM ESTABLISHED RESEARCHERS BUT ALSO FROM STUDENTS, WHO WILL PRESENT THEIR OWN RESEARCH AND RECEIVE VALUABLE FEEDBACK FROM BOTH SENIOR RESEARCHERS AND THEIR PEERS. WE EXPECT THAT NEW CONNECTIONS AND RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS WILL BE ESTABLISHED, AND WILL HELP TO ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART OF THE FIELD. THIS WORKSHOP WILL PROVIDE A FORUM FOR FEMALE GRADUATE STUDENTS, POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS, JUNIOR AND SENIOR FACULTY, AND INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT RESEARCH SCIENTISTS TO EXCHANGE RESEARCH IDEAS AND ESTABLISH NETWORKING AND MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS. UNDERGRADUATES, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN PURSUING GRADUATE SCHOOL OR INDUSTRY POSITIONS IN MACHINE LEARNING, ARE ALSO WELCOME TO ATTEND. BRINGING TOGETHER WOMEN FROM DIFFERENT STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS GIVES ESTABLISHED RESEARCHERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACT AS MENTORS, AND ENABLES JUNIOR WOMEN TO FIND FEMALE ROLE MODELS WORKING IN THE FIELD OF MACHINE LEARNING. THE WORKSHOP WILL ALSO BENEFIT THE WIDER MACHINE LEARNING COMMUNITY: THE WIML WEBSITE INCLUDES A DIRECTORY OF OVER 400 WOMEN FOR ORGANIZATIONS LOOKING FOR FEMALE INVITED SPEAKERS. CO-LOCATING WITH A MAJOR MACHINE LEARNING CONFERENCE (A) ENHANCES THE VISIBILITY OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE BROADER COMMUNITY AND (B) FACILITATES TRAVEL FOR WIML ATTENDEES TO STAY ON FOR THE MAIN CONFERENCE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

HEALTH, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY PROGRAM AND MAJOR [SMITH COLLEGE SEEKS A HUMANITIES CONNECTION PLANNING GRANT TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HEALTH, SCIENCE, AND SOCIETY PROGRAM (HSSP) ANCHORED IN HUMANISTIC INQUIRY AND SPANNING THE COLLEGE?S THREE DIVISIONS: HUMANITIES, SOCIAL SCIENCES, AND SCIENCES. WITH NEH SUPPORT, WE WILL EXPLORE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROPOSAL FOR AN ACADEMIC MAJOR AS WELL AS CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAMMING COMPREHENDING STUDENT-FACULTY RESEARCH; ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE COHORT BUILDING AMONG PRE-HEALTH STUDENTS; LECTURES ON TIMELY ISSUES, SUCH AS HEALTH DISPARITIES AND RACE IN THE US, OR THE NEXUS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH; AND WORKSHOPS TO BRING ATTENTION TO HUMANITIES-SCIENCE CONNECTIONS ON OUR CAMPUS AND IN OUR COMMUNITY.]

CAREER: RIGIDITY TUNED ELASTOMER ORIGAMI TESSELLATIONS FOR FAST, RECONFIGURABLE, AND SOFT MECHANORECEPTORS

INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL AND RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON SCHUBERT CALCULUS

A WORKSHOP TO SHARE, EXPLORE, DEVELOP, AND EVALUATE ONLINE PETROLOGY TEACHING RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES IN VARIED AND EVOLVING GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION SETTINGS -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY BRINGING TOGETHER A GROUP OF COLLEGE FACULTY WITH A WIDE RANGE OF EXPERIENCES AND TEACHING NEEDS TO WORK TOGETHER TO EXPLORE AND DEVELOP ONLINE RESOURCES FOR USE IN THEIR COURSEWORK. BECAUSE MANY FACULTY BOTH DEVELOPED AND MADE CONSIDERABLE USE OF ONLINE RESOURCES WHEN COURSES WERE TAUGHT REMOTELY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT TIME FOR COLLEGE TEACHERS TO SHARE AND BUILD UPON THOSE EXPERIENCES TO MAKE BETTER USE OF WEB-BASED TOOLS AND DATA IN TEACHING. THROUGH PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS, THE PARTICIPANTS WILL IDENTIFY AND CREATE NEW WAYS TO USE ONLINE RESOURCES TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING IN THEIR CLASSES. IN THE GEOSCIENCES, SOME HIGHLY INTERACTIVE WEB PAGES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND COMPLEX TOPICS BY BUILDING ON THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF STUDENT-ACTIVE LEARNING. ON THOSE WEB PAGES, STUDENTS ARE GIVEN CONTROL OVER GRAPHS AND OTHER DIAGRAMS SO THAT THEY CAN CHANGE BOTH THE DATA DISPLAYED, INCLUDING UPLOADING THEIR OWN DATA, AND ALSO CHANGE FEATURES OF THE DISPLAY ITSELF. DURING THE WORKSHOP, SMALL GROUPS OF PARTICIPANTS WILL DESIGN LEARNING ACTIVITIES THAT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ONLINE INTERACTIVE WEB PAGES BASED UPON THEIR COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE AND RECENT WEB EXPERIENCES. THE RESULTING ACTIVITIES WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR USE BY ALL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS WITH ACCESS TO COMPUTERS. OUTCOMES FROM THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE SIGNIFICANT BEYOND THE GEOSCIENCES, SERVING AS EXAMPLES FOR OTHER STEM DISCIPLINES WITH DIFFICULT CONCEPTS TO TEACH. PARTICIPANTS IN THE WORKSHOP WILL BE GEOLOGISTS WHO TEACH COURSES ABOUT IGNEOUS AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS AND/OR COMBINED MINERALOGY/PETROLOGY (EARTH MATERIALS) COURSES. PHASE DIAGRAMS, MINERAL ASSEMBLAGE DIAGRAMS, TRACE ELEMENT DIAGRAMS, FRACTIONAL CRYSTALLIZATION MODELS, KINETIC MODELS, AND OTHER FUNDAMENTAL TOOLS OF PETROLOGY ARE CHALLENGING TO LEARN. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ONLINE RESOURCES FOR TEACHING PETROLOGY OFFER NEW PATHS TO ENHANCE AND PERHAPS ACCELERATE PETROLOGY LEARNING. WEB-BASED TOOLS THAT BRING THESE DIAGRAMS AND MODELS ALIVE WITH MOUSEOVER, SLIDER, AND OTHER EFFECTS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO FACILITATE STUDENT LEARNING OF THESE DIFFICULT CONCEPTS AND INVESTIGATIVE APPROACHES. A PRINCIPAL GOAL OF THE WORKSHOP IS FOR PETROLOGY TEACHERS, WORKING TOGETHER, TO IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP NEW WAYS TO USE ONLINE RESOURCES TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING. THE PRODUCTS OF THEIR WORK WILL BE SHARED ONLINE WITH OTHER TEACHERS, FOLLOWING THE GOOD EXAMPLE OF PAST PETROLOGY TEACHING WORKSHOPS DOCUMENTED ON THE SCIENCE EDUCATION RESOURCE CENTER WEBSITE. THE NSF IUSE: EHR PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

TRIPODS+X: EDU: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INVESTIGATIONS OF STUDENT DIFFICULTIES IN DATA SCIENCE INSTRUCTION

COMPETITIVE JACS GRANT

ACQUISITION OF PROTEOMICS FACILITIES

SPARSITY-BASED ESTIMATES OF SLOW SLIP DISTRIBUTION IN CASCADIA

NIST SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (SURF) PROGRAM - GAITHERSBURG

FURTHER ADVANCING THE NORTHEAST COMBINATORICS NETWORK

RAPID: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TRACKING AND EXPLAINING AMERICANS' RESPONSE TO THE EBOLA OUTBREAK

TO SUPPORT THE SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART'S EXHIBITION AND CATALOGUE "MARY BAUERMEISTER: THE NEW YORK DECADE."

TO SUPPORT THE COMMISSIONING OF A SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION PIECE BY CUBAN-BORN BOSTON-BASED ARTIST MARIA MAGDALENA CAMPOS-PONS (B. 1959) AND AN AC

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

TO SUPPORT "THE EYE IS A DOOR: LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANNE WHISTON SPIRN (B.1950)."

TO SUPPORT THE EXHIBITION "THE RIVER PEOPLES: CROSS CURRENTS OF STYLE IN THE EASTERN CONGO," WITH ACCOMPANYING CATALOGUE AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

FY 2015 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM - MATSCI/NCNR & ITL

HYDRAULIC DESIGN OF AN IMPROVED FISHWAY ENTRANCE FOR ALOSINES

FY 2013 NIST SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM -

FY 2016 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP MML/NCNR-CHEMBIO

FY 2017 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP CHEMBIO

BRC-BIO: ADULT HIPPOCAMPAL NEUROGENESIS: GPR37 MEDIATED REGULATION OF GRANULE CELL MATURATION -ADULT NEUROGENESIS, THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING NEW NEURONS IN THE ADULT BRAIN, CAN CHANGE THE FUNCTION OF ESTABLISHED NEURAL CIRCUITS AND THE BEHAVIOR OF AN ANIMAL. NEUROGENESIS OCCURS CONTINUOUSLY THROUGHOUT ADULTHOOD IN A REGION OF THE BRAIN CALLED THE HIPPOCAMPUS, A STRUCTURE IMPORTANT FOR CONSOLIDATION OF MEMORY AND FOR SPATIAL MEMORY USED IN NAVIGATION. THE INTEGRATION OF THESE NEW NEURONS INTO THE NORMAL FUNCTIONAL CIRCUITRY OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS OCCURS IN SEVERAL STAGES. ONE OF THE LATER STAGES, CALLED MATURATION, IS WHEN THE NEW CELLS ?MATURE? INTO NEURONS. TH PROCESS OF MATURATION IS REGULATED BY MOLECULES THAT INTEGRATE INFORMATION FROM MANY SOURCES THROUGH MANY MOLECULAR PATHWAYS INSIDE THE CELLS. THESE SIGNALING PATHWAYS ARE IMPORTANT FOR CONTROLLING THE INTEGRATION OF THE CELLS INTO ESTABLISHED CIRCUITS, MEMORY FORMATION, AND EMOTIONAL PROCESSING. CURRENTLY, MANY OF THE SIGNALING PATHWAYS REMAIN UNKNOWN. THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON UNDERSTANDING NOVEL SIGNALING PATHWAYS CAPABLE OF REGULATING LATE-STAGE MATURATION, WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE ABILITY OF SPECIFIC G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTORS (GPCRS), TO ENHANCE NEURONAL MATURATION, AND FACILITATE EMOTIONAL PROCESSING. UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNALS WHICH REGULATE THESE PROCESSES WILL ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO BETTER PREDICT HOW CHANGES IN THESE SIGNALS CAN AFFECT BRAIN NETWORKS AND BEHAVIOR. THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AT SMITH COLLEGE (A WOMEN?S COLLEGE), IN THE FORM OF ASSISTANTSHIPS, AND FACILITATE A COURSE-BASED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (CURE). IN ADDITION, THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR FRESHMAN AND AP BIOLOGY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM SPRINGFIELD CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL (SCHS), A HIGH SCHOOL WITH A TOTAL MINORITY ENROLLMENT OF 90%. TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THESE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES THIS PROJECT WILL PRIORITIZE DEVELOPING AN ENVIRONMENT FOUNDED ON THE POWER OF SEEING ?SELF? BY INTENTIONALLY INCREASING THE REPRESENTATION OF DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS AS LAB LEADERS. NEUROGENESIS OCCURS THROUGH A COMPLEX MULTISTEP PROCESS WHICH INVOLVES THE PROLIFERATION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND MATURATION OF NEURAL PRECURSOR CELLS INTO MATURE NEURONS. THESE STAGES ARE HIGHLY REGULATED BY ENVIRONMENTAL CUES COMPOSED OF NUMEROUS INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC SIGNALING MOLECULES. THE CANONICAL WNT/?-CATENIN SIGNALING PATHWAY IS ONE SUCH NETWORK WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN TO CONTROL BOTH EARLY AND LATE STAGES OF HIPPOCAMPAL NEUROGENESIS. ALTHOUGH NUMEROUS TARGETED SCREENS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED TO IDENTIFY CORE PATHWAY COMPONENTS OF THE WNT/?-CATENIN PATHWAY, A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE FORMATION, COMPOSITION, AND RELEVANCE OF INTERACTING PARTNERS CAPABLE OF MODULATING WNT SIGNALING IS LACKING. THE G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTOR (GPCR), GPR37, HAS RECENTLY BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A NOVEL INTERACTING PARTNER FOR THIS PATHWAY WHERE IT HAS BEEN PROPOSED TO POTENTIATE WNT SIGNALING BY FUNCTIONING AS AN ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM CHAPERONE FOR THE WNT CO-RECEPTOR, LRP6. THE FOUNDATION OF THIS PROJECT IS BUILT ON PRELIMINARY FINDINGS WHICH SUPPORT A MORE DIRECT ROLE FOR GPR37 MEDIATED POTENTIATION OF WNT SIGNALING, AND THE OBSERVATION THAT THE LOSS OF GPR37 APPEARS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF MATURE NEURONS WITHIN THE HIPPOCAMPUS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO BUILD UPON THESE FINDINGS BY TESTING THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS THAT THE GPR37/LRP6/WNT ?-CATENIN PATHWAY CONSTITUTES A NOVEL SIGNALING NETWORK WHICH POSITIVELY REGULATES GRANULE CELL MATURATION DURING LATE-STAGE NEUROGENESIS. THIS HYPOTHESIS WILL BE TESTED BY PERFORMING MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MATURE AND IMMATURE NEURONS WITHIN THE HIPPOCAMPUS OF WILD TYPE, GPR37+/-, AND GPR37-/- MICE, ANALYSIS OF NEWBORN NEURONS THROUGH RETROVIRAL TRACING, AND THE ASSESSMENT OF EMOTIONAL/AFFECTIVE BEHAVIORS IN THIS MODEL USING DEEP NEURAL NETWORKS FOR BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.