Williams College

EXPAND REMOTE LEARNING, TRAIN FACULTY AND STAFF, SUPPORT STUDENTS WITH FINANCIAL NEEDS ARISING FROM CORONAVIRUS, INCLUDING EXPENSES UNDER A STUDENT’S COA, BOOKS, TECHNOLOGY, HEALTHCARE, FOOD, HOUSING.

APPLICATION FOR CARES-HEERF FUNDING TO SUPPORT STUDENTS WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN DISRUPTED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS, MANY OF WHOM ARE FACING FINANCIAL CHALLENGES AND STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET.

DETERMINATION OF HOW OREXIGENIC AGRP NEURONS ANATOMICALLY AND FUNCTIONALLY INTERACT WITH ANOREXIGENIC PBEL CGRP NEURONS TO REGULATE FOOD INTAKE BEHAV

REU SITE: THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE SMALL REU PROGRAM

CAREER: BIDIRECTIONAL CONTROL OF SLEEP AND WAKEFULNESS BY THE HYPOTHALAMIC ARCUATE NUCLEUS

RUI: HIGH-PRECISION MEASUREMENTS AND TESTS OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS IN GROUP III AND IV ATOMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE DARKSIDE DARK-MATTER SEARCH USING LIQUID ARGON -A LARGE BODY OF ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS, INCLUDING GALACTIC ROTATION CURVES, STRONG GRAVITATIONAL LENSING, AND THE ANISOTROPY OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND, INDICATES THAT KNOWN MATTER ONLY ACCOUNTS FOR A SMALL FRACTION OF THE OBSERVED MASS-ENERGY OF THE UNIVERSE. A STRONG CANDIDATE FOR THE REMAINING MASS IS WEAKLY INTERACTING DARK MATTER PARTICLES WITH PROPERTIES DIFFERENT FROM ORDINARY MATTER. DIRECT (NON-GRAVITATIONAL) DETECTION OF DARK MATTER WOULD BE A TRANSFORMATIONAL DISCOVERY AND WOULD REPRESENT A WATERSHED MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE, OPENING THE GATES TO THE INVESTIGATION OF THE DARK UNIVERSE. THE GOAL OF THIS AWARD IS THE TESTING, ON-SITE INSTALLATION, COMMISSIONING, AND TRANSITIONING TO OPERATIONS OF DARKSIDE-20K (DS-20K), AN EXPERIMENT CAPABLE OF PUSHING THE SENSITIVITY OF DIRECT DARK MATTER SEARCHES BEYOND THAT OF ANY CURRENT OR PRESENTLY FUNDED EXPERIMENT. BROADER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL IMPACTS FROM THE PROJECT INCLUDE, AMONG OTHERS: THE PRODUCTION OF LOW-RADIOACTIVITY UNDERGROUND ARGON (UAR) FOR DS-20K AND FOR NUCLEAR TEST BAN VERIFICATION AND RADIOMETRIC DATING; THE CONTINUED STUDY OF THE UNDERGROUND GAS SOURCE DISCOVERED DURING THE UAR EXPLORATION, A SOURCE WHICH SUPPLIES 15 % OF THE CURRENT U.S. HELIUM CONSUMPTION; AND THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF 3D?, A LAR-BASED TOF-PET SYSTEM THAT CAN ENHANCE CANCER SCREENING WHILE LOWERING RADIATION DOSE. A LEADING DARK MATTER CANDIDATE IS A WEAKLY INTERACTING MASSIVE PARTICLE, OR WIMP, A THERMAL RELIC OF THE BIG BANG THAT HAS A SUB-ELECTROWEAK-SCALE SELF-ANNIHILATION CROSS SECTION AND A MASS IN THE GEV/C2 TO TEV/C2 RANGE. THE MOTION OF GALACTIC HALO WIMPS RELATIVE TO A DETECTOR ON EARTH COULD RESULT IN WIMP-NUCLEUS ELASTIC COLLISIONS DETECTABLE BY A LOW-BACKGROUND, LOW-ENERGY-THRESHOLD DETECTOR CAPABLE OF UNAMBIGUOUSLY IDENTIFYING A SMALL NUMBER OF NUCLEAR RECOILS FROM WIMP COLLISIONS OVER THE COURSE OF A VERY LARGE EXPOSURE. THANKS TO ITS EXCELLENT IONIZATION RESPONSE AND UNIQUE SCINTILLATION LIGHT EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS, LIQUID ARGON CAN PROVIDE OUTSTANDING SENSITIVITY FOR WIMP-NUCLEAR COLLISIONS AND STRONG BACKGROUND SUPPRESSION. THE U.S. NSF GROUPS INVOLVED IN THIS PROGRAM HAVE LED THE CONCEPTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE DARKSIDE-20K LIQUID ARGON DARK MATTER SEARCH. WITH SUPPORT FROM A SEPARATE MID-SCALE AWARD, THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND DELIVERY OF THE MOST CRITICAL DS-20K COMPONENTS: THE LIQUID ARGON TIME PROJECTION CHAMBER (LAR TPC) THAT SERVES AS THE HEART OF THE DS-20K DARK MATTER DETECTOR ALONG WITH ITS CRITICAL ANCILLARY COMPONENTS, INCLUDING THE HIGH-VOLTAGE DELIVERY SYSTEM, AND THE ASSOCIATED CRYOGENIC, PURIFICATION, AND CALIBRATION SYSTEMS. THE U.S. NSF GROUPS ARE ALSO LEADING THE ACTIVITIES FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF THE REQUIRED ULTRA-LOW RADIOACTIVITY ARGON, WHICH IS EXTRACTED FROM A SPECIAL UNDERGROUND SOURCE IN COLORADO, WITH SUPPORT FROM OTHER US AND INTERNATIONAL FUNDING AGENCIES (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI FISICA NUCLEARE OF ITALY, AND CANADA FOUNDATION FOR INNOVATION). THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT THE U.S. GROUPS FOR THE FINAL TESTING, ON-SITE INSTALLATION, COMMISSIONING, AND TRANSITION TO OPERATIONS OF THE DS-20K DETECTOR AND PREPARATION FOR SCIENCE ANALYSES. THE DARKSIDE-20K EXPERIMENT WILL UTILIZE A TWO-PHASE TIME PROJECTION CHAMBER WITH A 50-TONNE FILL (20-TONNE FIDUCIAL) TO EXTEND THE EXPLORATION FOR DARK MATTER, REACHING, IN A 10 YEARS RUN, A CROSS SECTION OF 4.9?10?48 CM2 FOR A 90 % C.L. EXCLUSION AND 1.6?10?47 CM2 AT A 5 ? DISCOVERY SIGNIFICANCE FOR A 1 TEV/C2 WIMP, WELL BEYOND ANY CURRENT OR PRESENTLY FUNDED EXPERIMENT. THIS WILL LEAD TO EITHER DISCOVERY, CONFIRMATION, OR EXCLUSION OF THE WIMP DARK MATTER HYPOTHESIS DOWN TO THE LEVEL WHERE COHERENT SCATTERS FROM ATMOSPHERIC NEUTRINOS BECOME AN UNAVOIDABLE BACKGROUND. DARKSIDE-20K WILL ALSO BE SENSITIVE TO A GALACTIC SUPERNOVA NEUTRINO BURST ORIGINATING ANYWHERE IN THE MILKY WAY GALAXY. 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.

CHILD LABOR

BRC-BIO: UNRAVELING BIOGEOCHEMICAL CONTROLS ON THE SOIL CARBON RESPONSE TO NITROGEN FERTILIZATION ACROSS A NORTHERN DECIDUOUS FOREST -SOILS CONTAIN THE LARGEST TERRESTRIAL CARBON POOL AND HOLD MORE CARBON THAN VEGETATION AND THE ATMOSPHERE COMBINED. AS A RESULT, IT IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESSES THAT GOVERN SOIL CARBON FORMATION TO ACCURATELY PREDICT FUTURE ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATIONS. HUMAN ACTIVITIES HAVE INCREASED THE AMOUNT OF BIOLOGICALLY-ACTIVE NITROGEN IN THE ENVIRONMENT, A NUTRIENT THAT OFTEN CONSTRAINS PLANT AND MICROBIAL ACTIVITY IN TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS, AND CAN INFLUENCE THEIR ABILITY TO STORE SOIL CARBON. THIS RESEARCH WILL LEVERAGE A FIELD EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE HOW NITROGEN ENRICHMENT INFLUENCES THE FORMATION AND STABILIZATION OF SOIL CARBON, AND HOW THOSE PROCESSES ARE INFLUENCED BY SOIL CHEMICAL PROPERTIES SUCH AS PH. THE RESEARCHERS WILL TRACK THE MOVEMENT OF DECOMPOSING PLANT MATERIAL INTO DIFFERENT SOIL CARBON FRACTIONS. THE RESULTS WILL EXPAND SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIOLOGICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE SOIL CARBON RESPONSES TO NITROGEN FERTILIZATION ACROSS DIFFERENT TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE HANDS-ON RESEARCH EXPERIENCE TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT TEAMS. THE RESEARCHERS WILL ALSO DEVELOP ELEMENTARY EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH CURRICULA RELATED TO FORESTS & GLOBAL CHANGE TO ENGAGE THE LOCAL COMMUNITY IN PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND RESULTS. THE MICROBIALLY-MEDIATED PROCESS OF PLANT LITTER DECOMPOSITION SITS AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN PLANT PRIMARY PRODUCTION AND SOIL CARBON FORMATION, AND THEREFORE FUNCTIONS AS A CRITICAL HINGE FOR SOIL CARBON CYCLING AND ACCUMULATION. NITROGEN FERTILIZATION INCREASES THE INITIAL RATE OF PLANT LITTER DECOMPOSITION WHILE REDUCING THE RATE AND EXTENT OF LONGER-TERM DECOMPOSITION, BUT THE EFFECT OF ANTHROPOGENIC NITROGEN ENRICHMENT ON SOIL CARBON POOL SIZE AND CYCLING IS HIGHLY VARIABLE, OFTEN DECOUPLED FROM PLANT PRODUCTION RESPONSES, AND CAN DIVERGE ACROSS FUNCTIONAL SOIL CARBON FRACTIONS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL LEVERAGE A FULL-FACTORIAL NITROGEN FERTILIZATION AND PLANT LITTER SUBSTRATE ADDITION EXPERIMENT REPLICATED AT TWO SITES WITH DIFFERING SOIL CHEMISTRY AND MINERAL PARENT MATERIAL AT HOPKINS MEMORIAL FOREST IN NORTHWESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. USING A 13C-LABELED LITTER TRACING APPROACH, THE RESEARCHERS WILL EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF NITROGEN AND LITTER SUBSTRATE INPUTS ON SOIL CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL STRUCTURE, AND FRACTION DISTRIBUTION. THE APPROACH WILL ENABLE THE RESEARCHERS TO TEST THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS THAT NITROGEN FERTILIZATION INCREASES MINERAL-ASSOCIATED ORGANIC CARBON IN LOW PH SOILS, WHILE NITROGEN DECREASES MINERAL-ASSOCIATED ORGANIC CARBON IN HIGHER PH SOILS IN WHICH MINERAL PROTECTION IS DOMINATED BY BASE CATION BRIDGING. IN CONTRAST, CHANGES IN SOIL PARTICULATE ORGANIC CARBON POOLS ARE LIKELY TO BE DEFINED BY THE SOIL AGGREGATION RESPONSE TO NITROGEN, MEDIATED BY CHANGES IN ROOT AND MYCORRHIZAL PRODUCTION. 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.

CAREER: INVESTIGATING FLUID SURFACE DYNAMICS IN CONSTRAINED GEOMETRIES -NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: WHEN A PIPE SPRINGS A LEAK, OR RAINDROPS LEAVE STREAKS OF DROPLETS ON A WINDSHIELD, OR CHEERIOS SPONTANEOUSLY CLUMP TOGETHER IN A BOWL OF MILK, WE SEE EVERYDAY EXAMPLES OF THE DYNAMICS OF FLUID SURFACES. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE BEHIND THESE DYNAMICS AND RELATED PHENOMENA BY DEVELOPING AN EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY PROGRAM FOR EXPLORING AND CONTROLLING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN FLUIDS AND SOLID SURFACES. USING HIGH-MAGNIFICATION MICROSCOPES, HIGH-SPEED VIDEOGRAPHY, AND DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING, THE RESEARCH TEAM CAPTURES COMPLEX INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SURFACE TENSION, VISCOSITY, AND FLOW SPEED AS PIPES LEAK, LIQUIDS BREAK UP INTO DROPLETS ON SURFACES, AND SOLID PARTICLES FORM PATTERNS AND SHATTER ON THE SURFACES OF FLUIDS. BY COUPLING THE EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS, DATA ANALYSIS, AND THEORY, THIS RESEARCH YIELDS NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS OF EVERYDAY PHENOMENA THAT HAVE POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN A RANGE OF SCIENTIFIC FIELDS AND INDUSTRIES. THIS PROJECT ALSO HAS SIGNIFICANT EDUCATIONAL IMPACT BY AFFORDING DOZENS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE DIRECTLY IN CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AT A CRITICAL STAGE IN THEIR COLLEGE CAREERS. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM INVESTIGATES HOW GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS?BOTH LOCAL AND GLOBAL?INTERACT WITH AND CHANGE THE DYNAMICS OF FLUID SURFACES AND THEIR INSTABILITIES IN TWO MAIN CONTEXTS. THE FIRST AIM SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS THAT GOVERNS FLOW TRANSITIONS IN PARTIALLY-WETTING, THIN FLUID ?LEAKS,? INCLUDING RIVULET BREAKUP AND OSCILLATION CYCLES BETWEEN FLOW START AND SPONTANEOUS ARREST. THE SECOND AIM EXPLORES CAPILLARY-DRIVEN INTERACTIONS, SPONTANEOUS PATTERN FORMATION, AND MARANGONI-DRIVEN SURFACE FRACTURE ON FLAT AND CURVED FLUID SURFACES WITH ADSORBED SPECIES FROM THE GRANULAR TO THE MACROMOLECULAR SCALE. THE RESEARCH TEAM EMPLOYS IMAGING, MICROSCOPY, AND HIGH-SPEED VIDEOGRAPHY, AND DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYSIS TO QUANTIFY AND UNDERSTAND FLUID SURFACE DYNAMICS IN CUSTOM BUILT, TABLETOP EXPERIMENTS. EACH EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM IS CHOSEN TO EXEMPLIFY KEY ASPECTS OF THE OVERARCHING RESEARCH QUESTIONS, UNIFIED BY COMMON EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES AND GOVERNING PHYSICAL PRINCIPLES. BY FOCUSING ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN FLUID SURFACE DYNAMICS AND CONSTRAINING GEOMETRIES IN CAREFULLY CHOSEN, COMPLEMENTARY SYSTEMS, THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM REVEALS NEW, FUNDAMENTAL INSIGHTS INTO THE RICH INTERPLAY BETWEEN SURFACE TENSION, CURVATURE, FLOW, JAMMING, AND FRACTURE ON FLUID SURFACES. 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: CHARACTERIZATION OF ARABIDOPSIS DEFENSE RESPONSES TO THE AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS TYPE VI SECRETION SYSTEM

CAREER: ENGINEERING PLANT ANTHRANILATE ESTER SYNTHESIS AND PERCEPTION FOR HERBIVORE DEFENSE -HALF OF ALL MODERN MEDICINES ARE DIRECTLY DERIVED FROM OR INSPIRED BY MOLECULES FOUND IN NATURE, WITH MANY OF THESE BIOACTIVE NATURAL PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY PLANTS AS DEFENSE MECHANISMS. THESE MECHANISMS CAN BE EITHER PHYSICAL IN NATURE, SUCH AS THORNS, OR CHEMICAL, SUCH AS ANTHRANILATES, WITH THE TYPE OF MECHANISM VARYING BASED ON THE PLANT. CITRUS, GRAPES, MAIZE, ALFALFA, AND STRAWBERRIES PRODUCE ANTHRANILATES, A GROUP OF UNDER-INVESTIGATED, SECONDARY METABOLITES THAT HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO DETER HERBIVORES AND DECREASE MICROBIAL INFECTIONS IN PLANTS. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW PLANTS PRODUCE, AND RECOGNIZE AND INTERACT WITH ANTHRANILATES IN PLANTS, INSECTS, AND MAMMALS. FINDINGS FROM THIS RESEARCH MAY BENEFIT SOCIETY BY ADVANCING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PLANT DEFENSE AGAINST HERBIVORES AND PATHOGENS, WHICH HAS IMPLICATIONS IN REDUCING CROP LOSSES BY PREDATION AND INFECTION, RESPECTIVELY. THIS PROJECT FURTHER SUPPORTS THE U.S. BIOECONOMY BY PROVIDING HIGH-QUALITY RESEARCH EXPERIENCES TO UNDERGRADUATES AND POST-BACCALAUREATE RESEARCHERS. THIS WORK INTEGRATES INTO AN INVESTIGATIVE UNDERGRADUATE PHARMACOLOGY LAB COURSE THAT INTRODUCES STUDENTS TO AUTHENTIC RESEARCH ON BIOACTIVE PLANT METABOLITES. THE PROJECT ALSO FOSTERS PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT THROUGH AN ANNUAL COLLABORATION WITH FIFTH-GRADE CLASSES IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS AND BENNINGTON COUNTY, VERMONT CALLED ?MAKING SENSE OF PLANT SCENTS,? WHICH IS A MULTI-WEEK, HANDS-ON FIELD EXPERIMENT ON THE BIRD-DETERRENT EFFECTS OF ANTHRANILATES. PLANT CHEMICAL DEFENSES ARE TYPICALLY SECONDARY OR SPECIALIZED METABOLITES THAT ARE SYNTHESIZED FROM PRIMARY METABOLITES, SUCH AS AMINO ACIDS. WHILE ALL PLANTS SYNTHESIZE ANTHRANILATE AS AN INTERMEDIATE IN TRYPTOPHAN BIOSYNTHESIS, SEVERAL PLANTS HAVE CO-OPTED ANTHRANILATE FOR DEFENSE METABOLISM. THE O-METHYL ESTER OF ANTHRANILATE IS AN ANTI-HERBIVORY VOLATILE RESPONSIBLE FOR GRAPE AROMA THAT IS EMITTED BY GRAPES, CITRUS, AND MAIZE. CITRUS ALSO SYNTHESIZES N-METHYL ANTHRANILATE ESTERS THAT HAVE ANALGESIC ACTIVITY IN MAMMALS. THIS PROJECT EXPLORES ANTHRANILATES ACROSS MULTIPLE LEVELS: FROM THE MOLECULAR LEVEL, TO BETWEEN PLANTS, TO PLANT-HERBIVORE INTERACTIONS. THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO IDENTIFY THE MOLECULAR DETERMINANTS OF ANTHRANILATE ESTER BIOSYNTHESIS, ENGINEER PLANT PERCEPTION OF VOLATILE ANTHRANILATES EMITTED FROM NEIGHBORING PLANTS, AND PROVIDE A SYSTEMS-LEVEL UNDERSTANDING OF THE TARGETS OF ANTHRANILATES IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS. AIM 1 CONNECTS PROTEIN STRUCTURE TO FUNCTION TO IDENTIFY THE ENZYMES RESPONSIBLE FOR SYNTHESIZING ANTHRANILATE ESTERS WITH A FOCUS ON BIOACTIVE N-METHYL ANTHRANILATES IN CITRUS. AIM 2 EXAMINES THE SUBSTRATE SPECIFICITY OF PLANT METHYLESTERASES, WHICH INFORMS OUR ABILITY TO PREDICT WHICH PLANTS CAN SENSE VOLATILE ANTHRANILATES AND MAY ENABLE VOLATILE PERCEPTION ENGINEERING. AIM 3 SHEDS LIGHT ON THE BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF ANTHRANILATES IN BOTH PLANTS AND ANIMALS USING CHEMOPROTEOMICS TO IDENTIFY THE PROTEIN TARGETS OF ANTHRANILATES. ANTHRANILATE ESTERS ARE AN UNDER-INVESTIGATED AREA OF PLANT METABOLISM THAT IS RIPE FOR MOLECULAR INVESTIGATION, AND THIS RESEARCH EXPANDS OUR FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ROLES OF ANTHRANILATES IN PLANT DEFENSE METABOLISM IN AGRICULTURALLY RELEVANT PLANTS. 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.

INVESTIGATING HOW NOVELTY ENHANCES FEAR LEARNING & MEMORY - PROJECT SUMMARY WE WILL STUDY A HIGHLY CHARACTERIZED FORMS OF LEARNING, FEAR EXTINCTION (FE), WHICH IS KNOWN TO UNDERLIE SEVERAL MALADAPTIVE PHENOTYPES IN TRAUMA- AND ANXIETY-RELATED DISORDERS. EXPOSURE THERAPY IS LARGELY BASED ON FEAR FE, DURING WHICH INDIVIDUALS ARE REPEATEDLY EXPOSED TO A FEAR-CONDITIONED STIMULUS IN THE ABSENCE OF THE AVERSIVE OUTCOME, LEADING TO A GRADUAL DECREASE IN THE FEAR RESPONSE. FE TRAINING IS BELIEVED TO CREATE A NEW MEMORY THAT INHIBITS LEARNED FEAR RESPONSES. PREVIOUS RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT THE ACTIVATION OF NEURONS ENCODING FE MEMORIES RAPIDLY WANES OVER TIME, RESULTING IN POOR FE RECALL AND THE RETURN OF FEAR. WE AND OTHERS HAVE FOUND THAT EXPOSURE TO NOVELTY ENHANCES FE LEARNING. IN THIS PROPOSAL WE SEEK: (1) TO DETERMINE THE SPECIFIC PARAMETERS UNDER WHICH NOVELTY ENHANCES FE LEARNING; (2) TO INTERROGATE THE ROLE OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS MODULATING THE FE-ENHANCING EFFECTS OF NOVELTY; AND (3) TO MAP HOW NEURAL ACTIVATION PATTERNS ARE ALTERED IN THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF NOVELTY DURING FE. FINALLY, GIVEN THE HIGH INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN THE RESPONSIVENESS TO EXPOSURE THERAPY AMONG HUMANS, WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF GENETIC BACKGROUND IN SHAPING FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE EFFICACY OF FE AND NEURAL ACTIVATION.

ROLE OF THE PARASUBTHALAMIC NUCLEUS (PSTN) IN THE CENTRAL REGULATION OF FEEDING BEHAVIOR - PROJECT SUMMARY THE MOTIVATION TO EAT DEPENDS ON THE RELATIVE BALANCE OF ACTIVITY BETWEEN OREXIGENIC (APPETITE INDUCING) AND ANOREXIGENIC (APPETITE SUPPRESSING) BRAIN SYSTEMS. AN ABNORMAL BALANCE OF ACTIVITY IN THESE SYSTEMS CAN LEAD TO SUBSTANTIAL HEALTH PROBLEMS WITH HIGH ASSOCIATED ECONOMIC COSTS. IN THE UNITED STATES, OVER HALF THE POPULATION IS CONSIDERED OVERWEIGHT, AND THE AGGREGATE ECONOMIC COST IS ESTIMATED IN EXCESS OF $60 BILLION PER YEAR. UNDERNOURISHMENT IS ALSO A SUBSTANTIAL PROBLEM: ABNORMAL APPETITE SUPPRESSION, AS CAN OCCUR DURING INFECTION, OLD AGE, AND CANCER, CAN LEAD TO SEVERELY LOW BODY WEIGHT AND MALNUTRITION. HOWEVER, DESPITE OBVIOUS IMPORTANCE, THE NEURAL BASIS OF HUNGER AND APPETITE SUPPRESSION CONTINUES TO BE POORLY UNDERSTOOD AT A NEURONAL OR CIRCUIT LEVEL, AND IS CURRENTLY AN IMPORTANT FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION. IN RECENT YEARS, THE PARASUBTHALAMIC NUCLEUS (PSTN), A RELATIVELY UNDERSTUDIED POPULATION OF NEURONS IN THE POSTEROLATERAL HYPOTHALAMUS, HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS PLAYING AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE REGULATION OF APPETITE SUPPRESSION. HOWEVER, SEVERAL IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PSTN REMAIN. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO STUDY THE AFFERENT CONNECTIVITY, ACTIVITY PATTERNS, AND NECESSITY OF INDIVIDUAL PSTN SUBPOPULATIONS IN MEDIATING APPETITE SUPPRESSION. IN SPECIFIC AIM 1, WE WILL DETERMINE THE SOURCES OF INCOMING, AFFERENT PROJECTIONS TO INDIVIDUAL PSTN SUBPOPULATIONS. IN SPECIFIC AIM 2, WE WILL STUDY WHETHER OREXIGENIC STIMULI AND ANOREXIGENIC STIMULI HAVE OPPOSING EFFECTS ON PSTN NEURONAL ACTIVITY. IN SPECIFIC AIM 3, WE WILL TEST THE NECESSITY OF INDIVIDUAL PSTN SUBPOPULATIONS FOR THE APPETITE SUPPRESSION OBSERVED FOLLOWING A LARGE MEAL AND IN RESPONSE TO APPETITE-SUPPRESSING HORMONES. WE WILL ALSO STUDY THE NECESSITY OF PSTN NEURONS THAT PROJECT TO SPECIFIC, DOWNSTREAM TARGETS IN THE BRAIN IN MEDIATING THE EFFECTS OF APPETITE-SUPPRESSING HORMONES. TAKEN TOGETHER, THE EXPERIMENTS IN THIS PROPOSAL WILL ALLOW FOR CONTINUED UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF THE PSTN IN THE CENTRAL REGULATION OF FEEDING BEHAVIOR.

THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE SMALL REU PROGRAM

MODULATION OF HOST DEFENSE RESPONSES BY AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS TYPE VI SECRETION SYSTEM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DEFORMATION-DEPENDENT ADHESION OF STRETCHED COMPLIANT NETWORKED POLYMER SYSTEMS

RUI: HIGH-PRECISION ATOMIC STRUCTURE MEASUREMENTS AND TESTS OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS IN MULTI-VALENCE ATOMS -THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM, LOCATED AT AN UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION, FEATURES HANDS-ON, TABLE-TOP EXPERIMENTS USING LASERS AND HEATED ATOMIC SAMPLES TO MEASURE WITH GREAT ACCURACY CERTAIN PROPERTIES OF COMPLEX ATOMIC SYSTEMS. THESE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS CAN THEN BE COMPARED TO STATE-OF-THE-ART MODELS WITH WHICH THEORETICAL PHYSICISTS CAN PREDICT THESE SAME PROPERTIES. WITH BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORKINGS OF THESE PARTICULAR ATOMS, IT IS POSSIBLE FOR FUTURE LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS TO USE SUCH ATOMS AS TOOLS TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS TO SOME OF THE MOST PROFOUND QUESTIONS FACING SCIENCE TODAY ? INCLUDING THE NATURE OF DARK MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE AND THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF NEW ELEMENTARY PARTICLES NOT YET DISCOVERED. IN THE PI?S LABORATORY, EXPERIMENTS PROCEED WITH THE AID OF TALENTED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS, MANY GETTING THEIR FIRST TASTE OF SCIENCE RESEARCH. STUDENTS BECOME INVOLVED IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL WORK, BUILDING AND TESTING APPARATUS, DESIGNING NEW EXPERIMENTS, AND CARRYING OUT DATA COLLECTION AND SOPHISTICATED DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES. OVER RECENT DECADES, HIGHLY PRECISE ATOMIC PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS USING LASER SPECTROSCOPY HAVE CONTRIBUTED IMPORTANT INSIGHTS INTO THE PHYSICS OF THE STANDARD MODEL OF PARTICLE PHYSICS. SUCH LOW-ENERGY PHYSICS TESTS COMPLEMENT ACCELERATOR-BASED EXPERIMENTAL WORK AS WELL AS OBSERVATIONAL ASTRONOMY SEARCHES. THE TINY SIZE OF THESE EFFECTS DEMANDS VERY HIGH PRECISION, EXTENSIVE STUDY OF POTENTIAL ERRORS, AND CAREFUL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN. THEREFORE, THE PRECISE EXPERIMENTS MUST BE PAIRED WITH EQUALLY PRECISE THEORETICAL MODELS OF THE ATOMIC WAVEFUNCTIONS, WHICH ARE REQUIRED TO DISTINGUISH THE ?ORDINARY? QUANTUM MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR FROM THE ?EXOTIC? PHYSICS PHENOMENA BEING TARGETED. IN THE PI?S RESEARCH LABORATORY, THE GROUP IS PURSUING AN ONGOING SERIES OF DIODE LASER SPECTROSCOPY MEASUREMENTS OF THE ATOMIC PROPERTIES OF GROUP III AND GROUP IV MULTI-VALENCE ATOMS (THALLIUM, INDIUM, LEAD, TIN) WHICH CAN BE COMPARED TO STATE-OF-THE-ART ATOMIC THEORY CALCULATIONS. ATOMS ARE STUDIED BOTH IN HEATED VAPOR CELLS AND IN AN ATOMIC-BEAM APPARATUS HOUSED IN A LARGE, EVACUATED CHAMBER. THESE ATOMS CONTAIN THREE OR FOUR VALENCE ELECTRONS, CHALLENGING THE APPROXIMATION TECHNIQUES REQUIRED TO ACCURATELY COMPUTE WAVEFUNCTIONS. THIS EXPERIMENT-THEORY INTERPLAY HAS RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED ACCURACY IN RECENT YEARS AND HAS IMPACTED THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE ATOMIC-PHYSICS-BASED EXPERIMENTS. WITH FUNDING FROM THE CURRENT GRANT, THE PI WILL COLLABORATE WITH A JUNIOR FACULTY COLLEAGUE TO DEMONSTRATE LASER COOLING IN LEAD ATOMS ? AN EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE THAT HAS LONG FACILITATED HIGH-PRECISION MEASUREMENTS IN MANY ATOMIC SYSTEMS, BUT WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN APPLIED TO THE LEAD ATOM. 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.

AREA: A1 - HYPOTHERMIA VS. DAILY TORPOR: AN INTEGRATIVE MOLECULAR /BIOCHEMICAL /

BEE: THE EVOLUTION OF FLUCTUATION-DEPENDENT SPECIES COEXISTENCE

CAUSES OF EXCESS EXPRESSION OF TANDEM DUPLICATE GENES

CAREER: MOBILE APPLICATION MANAGEMENT

CAREER: HYBRID ATOMICITY CHECKING

RUI: NEW MOLECULAR SYSTEMS FOR PRECISION TESTS OF T-VIOLATION USING ULTRACOLD MOLECULES -MOLECULES CONTAINING HEAVY METALS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, WITH APPLICATIONS SPANNING MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT TO FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF PHYSICS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO IDENTIFY MOLECULES THAT CAN BE USED TO STUDY ONE OF THE MOST BASIC MYSTERIES ABOUT OUR UNIVERSE: WHY IT IS COMPOSED OF MATTER, RATHER THAN ANTI-MATTER. IN PARTICULAR, THE PI AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL USE LASERS TO STUDY THE WAVELENGTHS OF LIGHT ABSORBED BY MOLECULES CONTAINING COPPER, SILVER, AND GOLD. THEY WILL THEN USE STATE-OF-THE-ART MODELS TO CONNECT THESE MEASUREMENTS TO INFORMATION ABOUT FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLE PHYSICS. THE WORK IN THIS LABORATORY INVOLVES BUILDING LASER AND OPTICAL SYSTEMS, DESIGNING ELECTRONICS, AND USING SPECIALIZED SOFTWARE TO COLLECT AND ANALYZE DATA. THIS WORK IS LOCATED AT A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION (WILLIAMS COLLEGE) WHERE STUDENTS CAN BECOME RESEARCH PARTNERS FROM VERY EARLY ON IN THEIR EDUCATION. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE EXPERIMENTAL WORK, BUILDING SKILLS FOR ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY. STUDENTS WILL COLLABORATE ON PRESENTATIONS AT CONFERENCES AND JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS. THESE STUDENTS OFTEN GO ON TO GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, ENGINEERING, OR RELATED FIELDS. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL STUDY MOLECULES THAT CAN BE PREPARED AT ULTRACOLD TEMPERATURES FOR NEXT-GENERATION PRECISION MEASUREMENTS OF FUNDAMENTAL SYMMETRY VIOLATION. OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES, PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY OF MOLECULES HAS LED TO SOME OF THE STRONGEST TESTS OF THEORIES OF PARTICLE PHYSICS BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL. DEMAND FOR MOLECULES THAT ENABLE INCREASINGLY SENSITIVE MEASUREMENTS OF FUNDAMENTAL SYMMETRY VIOLATION HAS GROWN AS THESE TESTS CONTINUE TO SEARCH FOR ?NEW? PHYSICS AT EVER-HIGHER ENERGY SCALES. THE PI AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL APPLY THE TOOLS OF OPTICAL CONTROL TO NEW MOLECULES THAT ARE POISED TO ADVANCE THESE QUESTIONS BY SEARCHING FOR SYMMETRY-VIOLATING EFFECTS LIKE THE ELECTRON?S ELECTRIC DIPOLE MOMENT AND/OR NUCLEAR SCHIFF MOMENTS. A SPECIAL FOCUS WILL BE PLACED ON MOLECULES CONTAINING COINAGE-METAL ATOMS (COPPER, SILVER, AND GOLD) BONDED TO LEAD ATOMS. THESE MOLECULES APPEAR ESPECIALLY PROMISING BECAUSE THEY APPEAR TO BE EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO THE ELECTRON EDM, CAN BE PREPARED AND DETECTED USING LASER LIGHT, AND ARE RELATIVELY INSENSITIVE TO EXTERNAL MAGNETIC FIELD FLUCTUATIONS THAT OFTEN LIMIT EXPERIMENTAL PRECISION. THE PI AND STUDENTS WILL ANALYZE THE ELECTRONIC, VIBRATIONAL, ROTATIONAL, AND HYPERFINE (NUCLEAR SPIN) STRUCTURE OF THESE MOLECULES; IDENTIFY METHODS TO FORM THE MOLECULES AT ULTRACOLD TEMPERATURES; AND DEMONSTRATE LASER-BASED CONTROL OF THE MOTION AND QUANTUM STATES OF THE MOLECULES. ALONG THE WAY, THE PI AND STUDENTS WILL SEARCH FOR OTHER METAL-CONTAINING MOLECULES THAT CAN BE CONTROLLED WITH LASER LIGHT, A LONG-STANDING GOAL FOR QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE MORE BROADLY. 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.

INVESTIGATION OF THE BIOPHYSICAL MECHANISMS AND MEMBRANE DETERMINANTS OF RESPIROVIRUS BINDING AND FUSION USING ARTIFICIAL LIPID MEMBRANES AND ISOLATED PHYSIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES AS TARGETS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT THE BROAD OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE A) TO INVESTIGATE THE BIOPHYSICAL MECHANISMS OF THE INITIAL STEPS OF RESPIROVIRUS INFECTION (BINDING TO THE HOST CELL AND SUBSEQUENT MEMBRANE FUSION), AND B) TO DEVELOP/VALIDATE BIOPHYSICAL METHODS USED TO STUDY VIRAL BINDING/FUSION MORE BROADLY. RESPIROVIRUSES ARE MEMBERS OF THE PARAMYXOVIRUS FAMILY, AND ARE A LEADING CAUSE OF RESPIRATORY INFECTION, ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN. ALTHOUGH RESPIROVIRUSES PRESENT A SIGNIFICANT HEALTH BURDEN, THERE ARE NO LICENSED RESPIROVIRUS-SPECIFIC ANTIVIRALS OR VACCINES TO DATE. DEEPER FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE RESPIROVIRUS INFECTION MECHANISMS WILL BE IMPORTANT TO DEVELOP THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES. TO STUDY RESPIROVIRUS BINDING AND FUSION, THIS PROJECT WILL USE MURINE RESPIROVIRUS (A.K.A. SENDAI VIRUS), WHICH HAS BEEN USED AS A MODEL RESPIROVIRUS FOR SOME TIME. ASIDE FROM ITS UTILITY AS A MODEL RESPIROVIRUS, SENDAI VIRUS ITSELF IS ALSO OF CONSIDERABLE INTEREST – ITS WIDE TISSUE TROPISM IN HUMAN CELLS AND LACK OF PATHOGENICITY IN HUMANS HAS MADE IT AN ATTRACTIVE CLINICAL AND LABORATORY VECTOR FOR GENE THERAPY AND VACCINE DEVELOPMENT. THEREFORE, THIS STUDY AIMS NOT ONLY TO EXPAND MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF RESPIROVIRUS BINDING AND FUSION, BUT ALSO OF THIS USEFUL LABORATORY TOOL. TO INVESTIGATE THE BIOPHYSICAL MECHANISMS OF RESPIROVIRUS BINDING AND FUSION, SINGLE VIRUS MEASUREMENTS WILL BE EMPLOYED, OBSERVING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SINGLE VIRUS PARTICLES AND HOST CELL MEMBRANE MIMICS CALLED MODEL LIPID MEMBRANES. MODEL LIPID MEMBRANES ARE LIPID BILAYERS FORMED FROM A FEW LIPID COMPONENTS, ALLOWING THE EXPERIMENTER TO INVESTIGATE KEY MOLECULAR INTERACTIONS. IN AIM 1, THIS APPROACH WILL BE UTILIZED TO INVESTIGATE THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF VIRAL BINDING TO ITS RECEPTOR IN THE HOST CELL MEMBRANE, HOW THAT BINDING THEN TRIGGERS THE VIRUS TO INITIATE MEMBRANE FUSION, AND THE ROLE THAT CHOLESTEROL PLAYS IN THESE PROCESSES. AIM 2 WILL DEVELOP AND USE ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY METHODS TO STUDY THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE MODEL MEMBRANES THEMSELVES. MODEL LIPID MEMBRANES ARE NOT ONLY USED AS HOST CELL MEMBRANE MIMICS IN THIS PROJECT, BUT ARE ALSO USED AS CELL MEMBRANE MIMICS IN MANY FIELDS, INCLUDING IN DRUG DELIVERY, DRUG FORMULATION, AND BASIC SCIENCE STUDIES. THEY CAN AFFORD THE EXPERIMENTER PRECISE CONTROL OVER THE MEMBRANE COMPOSITION, BUT IT IS RARE FOR RESEARCHERS TO EXAMINE THE COMPOSITION PRODUCED BY THEIR PREPARATION METHOD, ESPECIALLY IN SINGLE VIRUS STUDIES. THEREFORE, THIS PROJECT WILL IDENTIFY BEST PRACTICES TO MINIMIZE VARIABILITY AND PRODUCE ROBUST RESULTS BOTH IN SINGLE VIRUS STUDIES, AND IN OTHER FIELDS. FINALLY, THIS PROJECT ALSO AIMS TO DEVELOP NEW MODEL MEMBRANE PLATFORMS, USING MEMBRANES DERIVED FROM HUMAN RED BLOOD CELLS (AIM 3). THESE PLATFORMS WILL BE USED TO INVESTIGATE ADDITIONAL BIOPHYSICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF MEMBRANE ENVIRONMENT ON RESPIROVIRUS BINDING AND FUSION, AND WILL ENABLE PRECISE CONTROL AND MEASUREMENT OF SINGLE VIRUSES IN THE CONTEXT OF A NATIVE MEMBRANE ENVIRONMENT. THEY WILL ALSO BE USEFUL MORE BROADLY TO STUDY VIRAL BINDING AND FUSION FOR OTHER VIRUSES AS WELL.

RUI: MOLECULAR EVOLUTION AND REGULATION OF THE ANTHRANILATE BRANCH POINT IN PLANTS -TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AGAINST HERBIVORES, PLANTS SUCH AS GRAPE, MAIZE, CITRUS, AND STRAWBERRY EMIT A VOLATILE CALLED METHYL ANTHRANILATE, WHICH ACTS AS A NATURAL BIRD DETERRENT AND ATTRACTS PARASITIC INSECTS. WHILE AT LEAST TEN PLANT FAMILIES PRODUCE METHYL ANTHRANILATE, ALL PLANTS SYNTHESIZE THE PRECURSOR, ANTHRANILATE, AS AN INTERMEDIATE IN THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF THE AMINO ACID TRYPTOPHAN (TRP), WHICH IS ESSENTIAL FOR PLANT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW PLANTS REGULATE ANTHRANILATE METABOLISM AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN AMINO ACID SYNTHESIS AND DEFENSE METABOLISM. SINCE METHYL ANTHRANILATE IS USED COMMERCIALLY AS A GRAPE FLAVORING AGENT IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY AND AS AN ANTI-AVIAN SPRAY FOR FIELDS AND CROPS, KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM THESE EXPERIMENTS MAY HAVE IMPLICATIONS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE. IN ADDITION TO TRAINING DIVERSE UNDERGRADUATES IN PROTEIN BIOCHEMISTRY, STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY, SYSTEMS BIOLOGY, AND PLANT GENETICS AT A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION, THIS PROJECT WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP A LABORATORY KIT FOR ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN RURAL COUNTIES IN MASSACHUSETTS AND VERMONT TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANT CHEMICALS IN DEFENSE AGAINST HERBIVORES. PLANT CHEMICAL DEFENSES ARE TYPICALLY SPECIALIZED METABOLITES THAT ARE SYNTHESIZED FROM PRIMARY METABOLITES, LIKE AMINO ACIDS, OR INTERMEDIATES IN PRIMARY METABOLIC PATHWAYS. DESPITE THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE OF AMINO ACID BIOSYNTHESIS IN PLANT DEFENSE, THE EARLY STEPS OF THE TRP BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAY REMAIN TO BE BIOCHEMICALLY CHARACTERIZED OUTSIDE OF MICROORGANISMS. THE TRP PATHWAY STARTS BY FORMING ANTHRANILATE, WHICH IS THEN CONJUGATED TO A PHOSPHORIBOSYL SUGAR USING A TRANSFERASE (PAT1). SOME PLANTS SIPHON ANTHRANILATE AWAY FROM THE TRP PATHWAY BY METHYLATING IT, FORMING THE VOLATILE O-METHYL ANTHRANILATE, WHILE THE CITRUS FAMILY GENERATES N-METHYL ANTHRANILATE AS A PRECURSOR TO TOXIC ACRIDONE ALKALOIDS. THE GOALS OF THIS RESEARCH ARE TO IDENTIFY THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS GOVERNING ANTHRANILATE ALLOCATION TO TRP VERSUS METHYL ANTHRANILATE BIOSYNTHESIS AND TO TRACE THE EVOLUTION OF PATHWAY REGULATION. THIS PROJECT WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WEALTH OF AVAILABLE PLANT GENOME SEQUENCE DATA AND USE INTEGRATIVE APPROACHES TO INVESTIGATE ANTHRANILATE-USING ENZYMES. AIM 1 WILL IDENTIFY THE MOLECULAR DETERMINANTS AND EVOLUTION OF PAT1 REGULATION USING MUTAGENESIS, ACTIVITY ASSAYS, AND X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. AIM 2 WILL TRACE THE CONVERGENT EVOLUTION OF ANTHRANILATE O- AND N-METHYLTRANSFERASES USING A STRUCTURE-GUIDED PHYLOGENETIC APPROACH COUPLED WITH EX VIVO METABOLOMICS ASSAYS. AIM 3 WILL FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ANTHRANILATE MODULATION USING A SYSTEMS-LEVEL APPROACH TO INVESTIGATE PHENOTYPIC, METABOLIC, AND GENE EXPRESSION CHANGES IN PLANTA. THIS STUDY WILL SHINE NEW LIGHT ON THE REGULATORY MECHANISMS OF A FUNDAMENTAL AMINO ACID BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAY, AS WELL AS AID IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EVOLUTION OF CONVERGENT SPECIALIZED METABOLISM. 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.

IDENTIFYING FEATURES OF BETA-LACTAMASE'S ENERGY LANDSCAPE THAT CONSTRAIN ITS EVOLUTION

REU SITE: THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE SMALL REU PROGRAM

THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE SMALL REU PROGRAM

RUI: HONESTY, LEARNING BIASES, AND COMPLEXITY IN THE CULTURAL EVOLUTION OF BIRD SONGS -BIRD SONGS PROVIDE AN EXCELLENT MODEL FOR STUDYING CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SONGS OF KNOWN INDIVIDUALS IN A WILD POPULATION ARE RECORDED OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME AND CAN PROVIDE A RECORD OF GENERATIONAL CHANGES. THIS RESEARCH WILL ASK HOW NEW FORMS OF SAVANNAH SPARROW SONG ARISE, HOW SENSORY AND LEARNING PREDISPOSITIONS AFFECT CHOICES OF WHICH SONG TO COPY, AND HOW CONSTRAINTS ON A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM CAN RESULT IN FORMS OF CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. IN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, IN CONTRAST TO NATURAL SELECTION, SOCIALLY LEARNED BEHAVIORS, RATHER THAN GENES, ARE TRANSMITTED BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS. BEHAVIORS CAN BE INNOVATED TO RESPOND TO SPECIFIC SITUATIONS, WHILE CHANGES IN GENES ARISE ONLY AS RANDOM MUTATIONS. BEHAVIORS CAN BE LEARNED FROM ANYONE, WHETHER YOUNGER OR OLDER, RELATED OR UNRELATED ? IN CONTRAST TO GENES, WHICH ARE TRANSMITTED FROM PARENT TO OFFSPRING. AS A CONSEQUENCE, BEHAVIORS THAT PROVIDE ADVANTAGES TO THE LEARNERS CAN SPREAD QUICKLY, ALLOWING A POPULATION TO ADAPT MORE RAPIDLY TO A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT. HERE, AN INTEGRATED APPROACH WILL BE USED THAT DRAWS ON MATHEMATICAL MODELING AND FIELD STUDIES IN A NATURAL POPULATION TO EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY THAT FEMALE CHOICE FAVORS THE ELABORATION OF SOME COMPONENTS OF MALE SONGS. THIS RESEARCH WILL ALSO PROVIDE MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCES DIRECTED AT INCREASING ENGAGEMENT WITH AND APPRECIATION FOR THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING BIRD SONGS AND THE VALUE OF THAT RESEARCH BOTH FOR THE PUBLIC AND FOR GRADE SCHOOL AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. DRAWING ON LONG-TERM DEMOGRAPHIC AND SONG RECORDING DATA FROM TWO SAVANNAH SPARROW STUDY SITES, THIS RESEARCH WILL TRACK CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF SONGS AT THE POPULATION LEVEL. KEY OUTCOMES WILL BE: 1) UNDERSTANDING THE TRADEOFFS BETWEEN THE EFFICACY OF A SONG IN ATTRACTING MATES AND A GIVEN SINGER?S ABILITY TO PERFORM IT CONSISTENTLY; 2) THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SIGNAL HONESTY WHEN INNOVATIONS MAKE SONGS EASIER TO PERFORM WHILE STILL MAINTAINING ATTRACTIVENESS; AND 3) HOW THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN LIMITS ON VOCAL PERFORMANCE AND SELECTION FOR INCREASINGLY COMPLEX SONGS MIGHT GIVE RISE TO CYCLES BETWEEN BEHAVIORAL COMPLEXITY AND SIMPLICITY. AN INTEGRATED APPROACH THAT DRAWS ON MATHEMATICAL MODELING AND FIELD STUDIES IN A NATURAL POPULATION WILL BE USED TO EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY THAT FEMALE CHOICE FAVORS THE ELABORATION OF SOME COMPONENTS OF MALE SONGS. SUCH ELABORATION MIGHT BE LIMITED BY THE PERFORMER?S VOCAL VIRTUOSITY, AND SOME MALES MAY LEARN TO SUBVERT THE HONESTY OF THE SYSTEM BY LEARNING NOVEL SONG FEATURES THAT ARE EASIER TO PERFORM. MODELING THESE PROCESSES MAY PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO THE PROCESSES THAT DRIVE CYCLIC CHANGES BETWEEN SIMPLICITY AND COMPLEXITY IN BEHAVIOR. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE FACTORS THAT DRIVE THE CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF NEW FORMS OF SOCIALLY LEARNED BEHAVIOR CAN INFORM PROCESSES OF SPECIATION WHERE VOCAL SIGNALS PLAY A ROLE AND CAN ALSO PROVIDE INSIGHTS THAT MAY HELP CONSERVE SPECIES WHOSE ENVIRONMENTS ARE CHANGING RAPIDLY. 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: HIGH-PRECISION ATOMIC STRUCTURE MEASUREMENTS AND TESTS OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS IN GROUP IIIA ATOMS

RUI: BOULDER BEACHES?THE UNDERSTUDIED ARCHIVE ON HIGH-ENERGY COASTS

RELATIONSHIP OF ANTIBIOTIC PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN STREPTOMYCES COELICOLOR

RUI: IDENTIFICATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND ENGINEERING OF PLASMID-ENCODED MODULATORS OF NATURAL PLASMID TRANSFORMATION IN VIBRIO NATRIEGENS -MANY BACTERIA ARE ABLE TO TAKE UP GENETIC MATERIAL FROM THEIR NEIGHBORS OR THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THIS AFFECTS HOW BACTERIA EVOLVE, THEIR ROLES IN THE ECOSYSTEM, AND THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH HUMANS AND OTHER ORGANISMS. THE MOST READILY TRANSFERABLE GENES COME FROM PLASMID DNA, WHICH REPLICATES SEPARATELY FROM THE BACTERIAL GENOME AND IS THEREFORE MORE PORTABLE. CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF HOW BACTERIA ACTIVELY TAKE UP PLASMIDS, A PROCESS CALLED PLASMID NATURAL TRANSFORMATION (PNT), IS LIMITED. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE PLASMID NATURAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE BACTERIUM VIBRIO NATRIEGENS, THE FASTEST GROWING MICROBE KNOWN AND A PROMISING MODEL FOR SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY, AND HELP ESTABLISH THAT ORGANISM AS A MODEL SYSTEM FOR SUCH STUDIES. THE RESEARCH WILL EXAMINE WHETHER PLASMIDS WITH PARTICULAR SEQUENCES OR GENES TRANSFER MORE EFFICIENTLY. THIS WILL ILLUMINATE HOW PLASMIDS SPREAD IN THE NATURAL WORLD AND HOW THEY COULD BE ADAPTED FOR BIOENGINEERING PURPOSES. WORK WILL BE CARRIED OUT EXCLUSIVELY BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, SUPPORTING THEIR SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT. TO BUILD THE MANY NECESSARY TEST PLASMIDS, THE INVESTIGATOR?S GROUP WILL USE AND DEVELOP THEIR ?CLONECOORDINATE? SOFTWARE PLATFORM. THIS TRACKS AND MANAGES THE MANY STEPS OF DNA CONSTRUCTION SO THEY CAN BE DONE COLLECTIVELY AND AT SCALE BY PARTICIPANTS WITH VARYING EXPERIENCE LEVELS. CLONECOORDINATE WILL BE SHARED BROADLY AS AN OPEN-SOURCE RESOURCE TO PROMOTE DNA BUILDING ACROSS DIVERSE SETTINGS. PNT IS UNIQUE AMONG HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER (HGT) MECHANISMS IN THAT IT OPERATES ON NAKED DNA, IS CONDUCTED BY THE RECIPIENT CELL, AND IS NOT CONSTRAINED BY GENOME HOMOLOGY. BECAUSE THE MECHANISM OF PLASMID ESTABLISHMENT REMAINS UNCERTAIN, PNT?S PLASMID AND ORGANISMAL SCOPE ARE NOT KNOWN AND ITS POTENTIALLY IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO OVERALL HGT MUST BE CLARIFIED. THIS WORK WILL INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS ON PNT EFFICIENCY OF PLASMID SEQUENCE PARAMETERS SUCH AS SIZE, GENETIC CARGO, ORIGIN OF REPLICATION, AND PRESENCE OF SINGLE-STRAND ORIGIN SEQUENCES THAT MAY PROMOTE DOUBLE-STRANDED DNA SYNTHESIS DURING ESTABLISHMENT. SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF PNT HAS BEEN INHIBITED BY THE DIFFICULTY OF PREPARING PLASMID MULTIMERS AND THE LIMITED PLASMID REPERTOIRE FOR WELL-CHARACTERIZED GRAM POSITIVE MODEL ORGANISMS. THE RESEARCH WILL ESTABLISH QUANTITATIVELY REPRODUCIBLE AND CONVENIENT PROCEDURES FOR MEASURING PNT EFFICIENCY USING THE TRACTABLE, GRAM NEGATIVE V. NATRIEGENS, USING MULTIMERS GENERATED THROUGH IN VITRO ROLLING CIRCLE AMPLIFICATION. IT WILL SUPPORT LEVERAGING OF PNT FOR IN VIVO LIBRARY GENERATION AND DIRECTED EVOLUTION OF HIGHLY TRANSFORMABLE PLASMIDS THROUGH SERIAL PASSAGE THROUGH PNT. 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.

AREA: RAPAMYCIN AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND LONGEVITY

RUI: CORONAL PLASMA OBSERVED AT ECLIPSES AND OTHERWISE SIMULTANEOUSLY

UNDERSTANDING EXTREME NEARSHORE WAVE EVENTS THROUGH STUDIES OF COASTAL BOULDER TRANSPORT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ROL, RUI: THE EVOLUTION AND MAINTENANCE OF VARIABLE SPECIES BOUNDARIES

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN AFM SYSTEM FOR IMAGING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SYNTHETIC NANOSTRUCTURES AND NATIVE BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES

REU SITE: THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE SMALL REU PROGRAM -THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE SMALL REU PROGRAM BRINGS 25 TO 40 UNDERGRADUATES TO CAMPUS FOR 9 WEEKS EACH SUMMER TO WORK ON RESEARCH PROJECTS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF FACULTY MEMBERS IN MATHEMATICS OR STATISTICS. THE SUMMER CULMINATES WITH STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS AT WILLIAMS AND STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO FOLLOW UP WITH PRESENTATIONS AT REGIONAL OR NATIONAL CONFERENCES. MOST RESEARCH GROUPS WILL WRITE UP THEIR RESULTS FOR SUBMISSIONS TO RESEARCH JOURNALS. THE PROGRAM INCLUDES WEEKLY TALKS BY FACULTY AND STUDENTS, BOTH IN MATHEMATICS AND IN RELATED FIELDS. STUDENTS ARE PART OF A VIBRANT SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY WITH OVER 100 STUDENTS DOING ORIGINAL RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICS AND THE SCIENCES AT WILLIAMS EACH SUMMER, AND THERE ARE A VARIETY OF ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES BRINGING ALL SUMMER STUDENTS AND FACULTY TOGETHER. THE GOAL OF THIS REU IS TO INTRODUCE UNDERGRADUATES TO THE EXCITEMENT AND CHALLENGE OF DOING ORIGINAL RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICS. TOPICS ARE DRAWN FROM ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY, COMBINATORICS, COMMUTATIVE ALGEBRA, COMPUTATIONAL GEOMETRY, DISCRETE GEOMETRY, DYNAMICS AND ERGODIC THEORY, GRAPH THEORY, HYPERBOLIC MANIFOLDS, KNOT THEORY, MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY, MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS, MEASURE THEORY, NUMBER THEORY, PROBABILITY, RANDOM MATRIX THEORY, REPRESENTATION THEORY, STATISTICS AND TROPICAL GEOMETRY. IN THE PROCESS, STUDENTS NATURALLY LEARN SIGNIFICANT BACKGROUND MATERIAL AND ARE ENCOURAGED TO PRESENT AS WELL AS PUBLISH THEIR WORK, ALL INVALUABLE FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL. THE VARIETY OF MATHEMATICAL ACTIVITIES IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE A RICH INTELLECTUAL ENVIRONMENT. THE NUMBERS OF STUDENTS FROM TRADITIONALLY UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM HAS INCREASED GREATLY OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS, AND THERE ARE ONGOING EFFORTS TO LOOK FOR NEW AND BETTER WAYS TO ENCOURAGE APPLICATIONS FROM WOMEN, FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS, AND UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN STEM. STUDENTS, FACULTY AND THE BROADER MATHEMATICS COMMUNITY WILL BENEFIT FROM THE PRESENTATION AND PUBLICATION OF ORIGINAL RESEARCH. STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP A LIFETIME NETWORK OF PEERS AND MENTORS, AND MANY OF THEM WILL PURSUE GRADUATE STUDIES, PARTIALLY BECAUSE OF THEIR REU EXPERIENCE. ALMOST ALL STUDENTS WILL PUBLISH PAPERS IN RESEARCH JOURNALS AND MANY PRESENT THEIR RESULTS AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CONFERENCES. 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.

BINDING AND SPLICING MRNA

RUI: PRECISE ATOMIC STRUCTURE MEASUREMENTS AND TESTS OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS IN GROUP IIIA ATOMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: STRUCTURAL, FUNCTIONAL, AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PROCHLOROCOCCUS CARBOXYSOME, THE OCEAN'S PRIMARY MOLECULAR M

CLASSIC MAYA POLITICAL DYNAMICS AT MOTUL DE SAN JOSE, GUATEMALA

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNRAVELING THE CONTROLS ON THE ORIGIN AND ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONING OF OXBOW LAKES -AS MEANDERING RIVERS MOVE THROUGH THEIR FLOODPLAINS, THEY EVENTUALLY INTERSECT THEMSELVES TO REMOVE A PORTION OF THE CHANNEL. THAT CHANNEL SEGMENT CAN EXIST AS A WATER BODY, CALLED AN OXBOW LAKE, OR BECOME FILLED WITH SEDIMENT. THE ABILITY TO PREDICT WHETHER A SEGMENT WILL TRANSFORM INTO AN OXBOW HOLDS SIGNIFICANT IMPORTANCE, GIVEN THAT THESE LAKES SERVE AS REPOSITORIES FOR POLLUTANTS AND PROVIDE UNIQUE HABITATS. DURING THE INITIAL STAGES FOLLOWING CUTOFF, THE GEOMETRY OF THE CONNECTION IS DECISIVE IN DETERMINING HOW OXBOW EVOLUTION PLAYS OUT. NOTABLY, CUTOFFS WITH HIGH-ANGLE JUNCTIONS TEND TO ACCUMULATE SEDIMENT AT THE ENTRANCE, INITIATING OXBOW FORMATION. TO EVALUATE THE IDEA THAT THE INITIAL CUTOFF GEOMETRY DETERMINES THE LIKELIHOOD OF OXBOW FORMATION, THE RESEARCHERS WILL UNDERTAKE A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF RECENT CUTOFFS IN THE WEST FORK WHITE RIVER (INDIANA, USA). THEY WILL EMPLOY BOTH FIELD DATA COLLECTION AND NUMERICAL MODELING METHODOLOGIES. FURTHERMORE, COLLABORATION WITH THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT WILL ENABLE ESTIMATES OF POLLUTANT STORAGE WITHIN OXBOWS. ADDITIONALLY, PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE INDY WATER CONNECTION CAMP AND THE WILLIAMS SUMMER SCIENCE PROGRAM WILL FACILITATE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL STUDENTS. ONCE A MEANDER CUTOFF OCCURS, IT ESTABLISHES A BIFURCATION WITH THE PRIMARY RIVER CHANNEL. THE STABILITY OF THIS BIFURCATION DETERMINES WHETHER IT ULTIMATELY TRANSFORMS INTO AN OXBOW LAKE. IF THE BIFURCATION IS UNSTABLE AND RAPIDLY FILLS WITH SEDIMENT, THE FORMATION OF AN OXBOW LAKE BECOMES MORE PROBABLE. TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF INITIAL BIFURCATION GEOMETRY IN FACILITATING SEDIMENTARY PLUGGING AND OXBOW DEVELOPMENT, THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON CUTOFFS ON THE WEST FORK OF THE WHITE RIVER IN INDIANA. VARIOUS TOOLS, INCLUDING MULTIBEAM BATHYMETRY, SUB-BOTTOM PROFILING, AND SEDIMENT CORE ANALYSIS, WILL BE EMPLOYED TO ASSESS THE GEOMETRY AND CHRONOLOGY OF SEDIMENT FILL. SUBSEQUENTLY, THESE DATA WILL BE UTILIZED IN MORPHODYNAMIC MODELS THAT SIMULATE THE EVOLUTION OF BIFURCATIONS FOLLOWING A CUTOFF EVENT. THE PRESENCE OF DIFFERENT BIFURCATION GEOMETRIES WILL ALLOW THE RESEARCHERS TO MODEL AND EVALUATE HOW SPECIFIC GEOMETRIC CONFIGURATIONS LEAD TO ACCELERATED SEDIMENT PLUGGING AND SUBSEQUENT OXBOW FORMATION. 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: OPTICAL AND RADIO STUDIES OF CORONAL PLASMA AT THE 2017 ECLIPSE

RUI:EROSION IN MADAGASCAR: INVESTIGATING BACKGROUND AND MODERN RATES USING 10BE AND STREAM SEDIMENT GAUGING DATA

WE PROPOSE TO CONTINUE OUR EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL STUDIES OF OBJECTS IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM BY THEIR OCCULTATIONS OF STARS, WHICH WE HAVE SO FAR USE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SHF: SMALL: RUI: KEYSTONE: MODULAR CONCURRENT SOFTWARE VERIFICATION -MULTI-CORE PROCESSORS ARE UBIQUITOUS ACROSS COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE, FROM CELL PHONES TO DATA CENTERS. WRITING CORRECT MULTI-THREADED SOFTWARE THAT EFFICIENTLY UTILIZES THIS MULTI-CORE HARDWARE IS NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT. OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES, THE ?ELD OF SEQUENTIAL SOFTWARE VERI?CATION HAS ACHIEVED ENORMOUS ADVANCES. CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART TOOLS ARE CAPABLE OF VERIFYING SOPHISTICATED SYSTEMS SUCH AS COMPILERS AND OPERATING SYSTEM (OS) KERNELS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ACHIEVE SIMILAR ADVANCES IN MULTI-THREADED SOFTWARE VERI?CATION. THE PROJECT'S NOVELTIES ADDRESS THE FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE OF CONCURRENT SOFTWARE VERI?CATION: SPECIFYING AND REASONING ABOUT THREAD INTERFERENCE. THE PROJECT LEVERAGES A NEW SPECI?CATION NOTATION FOR THREAD INTERFERENCE AND WILL EMBED THOSE SPECI?CATIONS INTO A NEW PROGRAM LOGIC, CALLED MOVER LOGIC, AND A NEW VERI?CATION TOOL CALLED KEYSTONE. THE PROJECT'S IMPACTS ARE BETTER TOOLS FOR DEVELOPING AND VERIFYING LARGE MULTI-THREADED SOFTWARE SYSTEMS AND, ULTIMATELY, IMPROVED RELIABILITY AND SECURITY FOR THE NATION'S COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THE PROJECT INCLUDE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH MENTORING ACTIVITIES, WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON STUDENTS FROM GROUPS TRADITIONALLY UNDER-REPRESENTED IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. THE STARTING POINT FOR THIS PROJECT IS THE OBSERVATION THAT, IN A MULTI-THREADED SYSTEM, A PROCEDURE?S EXECUTION IS NON-DETERMINISTICALLY INTERLEAVED WITH STEPS OF OTHER THREADS, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO DISENTANGLE THE EFFECT OF THE PROCEDURE FROM THE EFFECTS OF THOSE INTERLEAVED EFFECTS OF OTHER THREADS. FOR EXAMPLE, RELY-GUARANTEE REASONING USES PROCEDURE SPECIFICATIONS IN WHICH THE EFFECTS OF THE PROCEDURE AND OTHER THREADS REMAIN ENTANGLED. AS A RESULT, SPECIFICATIONS ARE TIGHTLY-COUPLED TO WHAT OTHER THREADS MAY DO, LIMITING THEIR REUSE IN OTHER CONTEXTS. LIPTON?S THEORY OF REDUCTION DISENTANGLES A PROCEDURE?S SPECIFICATION FROM OTHER THREADS VIA A COMMUTING ARGUMENT, BUT EXISTING REDUCTION-BASED VERIFIERS REQUIRE PROGRAMMERS TO WRITE MULTIPLE, INCREASINGLY REFINED, VARIANTS OF THE SYSTEM. THIS PROJECT USES A SPECIFICATION NOTATION FOR THREAD INTERFERENCE THAT FOCUSES ON THE COMMUTING PROPERTIES OF PROGRAM OPERATIONS, THEREBY ENABLING MORE NATURAL AND COMPOSITIONAL REDUCTION PROOFS WITHOUT THE CURRENT LIMITATIONS OF EITHER RELY-GUARANTEE OR REDUCTION-BASED APPROACHES. 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.

AREA: OPTIMIZING GENE EXPRESSION WITH MRNA FREE ENERGY MODELING AND ALGORITHMS

RUI: HYDROPOWERED PLANTS: HOW PRIMITIVE LAND PLANTS REPRODUCE BY HARNESSING MECHANICAL ENERGY FROM WATER

XPS: FULL: SDA: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: SCORE: SCALABILITY-ORIENTED OPTIMIZATION

RUI: TRAPPED ION PHONONICS: THERMAL RECTIFICATION AND CONTROLLED HEAT FLOW IN 1D ION CHAINS -ENERGY FLOW IN THE NATURAL WORLD TAKES MANY FORMS: ELECTRICAL CURRENTS, WATER CASCADING OVER A CATARACT, LIGHT ARRIVING FROM DISTANT STARS, OR HEAT LEAKING INTO A COOLER TO RUIN ONE'S PICNIC LUNCH. OF THESE, THE MECHANISMS OF GREATEST PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE FOR OUR DAILY LIVES ARE THERMAL AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION. A CENTURY OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES, SUCH AS THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRICAL DIODES AND TRANSISTORS, HAVE GIVEN HUMANITY EXQUISITE CONTROL OVER ELECTRICAL CURRENTS AND DRIVEN TODAY'S INFORMATION REVOLUTION. IN CONTRAST, OUR COMMAND OF THERMAL CURRENTS - WHICH GOVERN 90% OF ENERGY PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES - REMAINS IN ITS INFANCY, YET MASTERING CONTROL OVER THERMAL CURRENTS COULD ENABLE APPLICATIONS RANGING FROM THERMAL LOGIC GATES TO IMPROVED EFFICIENCY FROM PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION. THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON DEVELOPING A PROOF-OF-PRINCIPLE EXAMPLE OF A THERMAL DIODE, ONE OF THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS FOR CONTROLLING THERMAL CURRENTS, USING LASER-COOLED ION CHAINS. SUCH CHAINS WILL ALSO ENABLE THE STUDY OF MESOSCOPIC THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY AT THE CROSSOVER BETWEEN QUANTUM AND CLASSICAL REGIMES, RELEVANT FOR UNDERSTANDING THERMAL CURRENTS IN MICROSCOPIC DEVICES. THE WORK WILL TAKE PLACE AT AN UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION; STUDENTS WILL BE INVOLVED IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE EXPERIMENTS AND THEIR PRESENTATION IN JOURNAL ARTICLES AND AT SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES, ALL OF WHICH WILL PROVIDE SUPERB TRAINING FOR FUTURE CAREERS IN THE SCIENCES. THE CENTRAL GOAL OF THIS WORK WILL BE TO DEMONSTRATE A TWO-ION THERMAL RECTIFIER FORMED FROM CO-TRAPPED CALCIUM AND STRONTIUM IONS. BY COUPLING THE TWO IONS TO THERMAL RESERVOIRS AT DIFFERENT EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURES FORMED BY LASER COOLING, A THERMAL CURRENT WILL FLOW FROM THE `HOT' TO THE `COLD' IONS. THE THERMAL CURRENT CAN THEN BE EXTRACTED FROM THE IONS VIA LASER-BASED FAST THERMOMETRY TECHNIQUES UTILIZING THE IONS' DARK RESONANCES. THE SIGN OF RECTIFICATION WILL BE AN ASYMMETRY IN THE THERMAL CURRENT UNDER EXCHANGE OF THE RESERVOIRS. LONGER DUAL-SPECIES CHAINS WITH CONTROLLABLY INTRODUCED DISORDER WILL ALSO ENABLE THE STUDY OF THE ONSET OF THERMAL GRADIENTS ACROSS THE CHAIN USING SIMILAR TECHNIQUES. ALL OF THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH TRAINING TO A LARGE NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT ALL STAGES OF THEIR EDUCATION, WITH A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ENGAGING A DIVERSE GROUP OF STUDENTS EARLY IN THEIR UNDERGRADUATE YEARS. 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.

A DYNAMICAL STUDY OF CHEMICAL SELF-REPLICATION AND REGULATORY MECHANISMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CONSTRAINING VOLATILE STORAGE IN THE LOWER CRUST - A CASE STUDY OF EXHUMED ROCKS FROM THE TALKEETNA ARC, ALASKA -VOLATILE ELEMENTS, SUCH AS HYDROGEN (H), CARBON, NITROGEN (N), AND NOBLE GASES, COMMONLY OCCUR AS GASES AT EARTH?S SURFACE. WHEN TECTONIC PLATES COLLIDE, ONE WILL SINK ? OR SUBDUCT ? UNDER THE ANOTHER, AND THE VOLATILES IN THE OCEANIC CRUST AND SEDIMENTS ARE CARRIED INTO THE MANTLE. THE PROCESS OF SUBDUCTION LEADS TO MELTING, WHICH RESULTS IN A STRING OF VOLCANOES ON THE PLATE ABOVE. THESE VOLCANOES EMIT A PORTION OF THOSE VOLATILES BACK TO EARTH?S SURFACE. THIS CYCLE OF SUBDUCTION, MELTING, AND VOLCANISM MAINTAINS EARTH?S HABITABILITY AND FORMS THE CRUST AND CONTINENTS. HOWEVER, THE CONCENTRATION OF THESE VOLATILES AT EARTH?S SURFACE HAS CHANGED OVER GEOLOGIC TIME. A MAJOR GAP IN OUR UNDERSTANDING IS HOW VOLATILES ARE REMOVED FROM THIS CYCLE AS NEW CRUST IS FORMED. THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE TALKEETNA VOLCANIC SYSTEM IN ALASKA, ONE OF THE FEW PLACES ON EARTH WHERE ROCKS FROM THE BASE OF THE CRUST ARE EXPOSED AT THE SURFACE. THIS TEAM WILL ANALYZE THE ABUNDANCES OF H, N, AND NOBLE GASES IN LOWER CRUSTAL AND UPPER MANTLE ROCKS FROM TALKEETNA TO ESTIMATE HOW MUCH THE CRUST ACTS AS A VOLATILE TRAP. THIS WILL PROVIDE CONTEXT FOR VOLATILE CHANGES AT EARTH?S SURFACE. ADDITIONALLY, COLLABORATIONS WITH A LOCAL ARTIST WHO DEVELOPS FILM IN VOLCANIC HOT SPRINGS WILL BRING CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES TO CLASSES AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE, AND PUBLIC LECTURES AND ART EXHIBITIONS IN THE BERKSHIRES.? VOLATILE ELEMENTS (E.G., H, C, N, NOBLE GASES) PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN VOLCANIC ARC SETTINGS, WHERE THEY INDUCE MELTING OF THE MANTLE AND DRIVE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. GLOBAL VOLATILE BUDGETS ARE ESTIMATED BY QUANTIFYING AND BALANCING VOLATILE INPUT AND OUTPUT FLUXES BETWEEN EARTH RESERVOIRS. OUTPUT FLUXES ARE TYPICALLY LINKED TO VOLCANISM AND THE EXTENT OF DEGASSING, WHEREAS SUBDUCTION OF VOLATILE RICH OCEANIC CRUST REPRESENTS THE MECHANISM FOR RETURNING SURFACE-DERIVED VOLATILES INTO EARTH?S MANTLE. THE CAPACITY FOR THE CRUST TO RETAIN VOLATILES IS COMMONLY OVERLOOKED, BUT THE LOWER ARC CRUST MAY BE A SIGNIFICANT VOLATILE RESERVOIR. THIS PROJECT WILL QUANTIFY THE ABUNDANCES OF N, H, AND NOBLE GASES IN THE WELL-CHARACTERIZED JURASSIC TALKEETNA ARC TO CALCULATE THE STORAGE CAPACITY OF THE LOWER CRUST IN ARCS. MEASURED ISOTOPE COMPOSITIONS AND ELEMENTAL RATIOS WILL IDENTIFY DEEP FLUID SOURCES AND SECONDARY PROCESSES AFFECTING VOLATILE ABUNDANCES IN DEEP ARC CRUST AND SUB-LITHOSPHERIC MANTLE. THESE DATA WILL THEN BE USED TO UPDATE GLOBAL VOLATILE MODELS TO INCLUDE THE LOWER ARC CRUST. THIS MULTI-PRONGED VOLATILE AND ISOTOPE APPROACH WILL ENHANCE MODELING OF VOLATILE BEHAVIOR IN ARCS, ALIGNING WITH SZ4D MAGMATIC DRIVERS OF ERUPTION PRIORITIES BY CLARIFYING THE LOWER CRUST'S ROLE AS A VOLATILE RESERVOIR. THIS WORK WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO SEVERAL COMMUNITIES THROUGH IN COLLABORATION WITH A BERKSHIRE-BASED ARTIST WHO DEVELOPS FILM IN VOLCANIC HOT SPRINGS AND FUMAROLES. PUBLIC TALKS AND EXHIBITIONS WILL BRING THE SCIENCE IN THIS PROJECT TO THE BROADER BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY. THE ART WILL ALSO BE SHOWN AND DISCUSSED IN CLASSES AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE TO HELP ENGAGE STUDENTS THROUGH A DIFFERENT MODE OF LEARNING, WHICH WILL HELP TO ATTRACT STUDENTS WITH DIVERSE EXPERIENCES AND BACKGROUNDS. 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: PLANT-HERBIVORE DYNAMICS IN AN HERBIVORE-PROTECTION MUTUALISM

CONTROL AND MEASUREMENT OF COUPLED MESOSCOPIC QUANTUM SYSTEMS

THE WAR AGAINST WEEDS: HOW 2,4-D RESHAPED THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT -THIS AWARD SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON THE OLDEST AND MOST WIDELY USED SYNTHETIC HERBICIDE, 2,4-DICHLOROPHENOXYACETIC ACID (2,4-D). THE HERBICIDE HAS BEEN USED IN A VARIETY OF CONTEXTS INCLUDING AGRICULTURE, FOR TURFGRASS AND CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT, AND AS A WEAPON OF WAR. THIS PROJECT ANALYZES THE ROLE OF RESEARCH TEAMS, CHEMICAL COMPANIES, AND REGULATORY AGENCIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBAL DISSEMINATION OF 2,4-D. IT ALSO INVESTIGATES HOW 2,4-D HAS SELECTED FOR GRASS SPECIES ACROSS ECOSYSTEM TYPES. RESULTS WILL BE SHARED AS A BOOK MANUSCRIPT AND THROUGH CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, PRESENTATIONS TO POLICYMAKERS, AND OP-EDS AND ESSAYS FOR A PUBLIC AUDIENCE, AND WILL CONTRIBUTE TO POLICY DEBATES ABOUT THE COSTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF HERBICIDES AND OTHER BIOCIDES. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW 2,4-D, DESPITE BEING A MATERIAL THAT OFTEN TREATED AS IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE AND NEGLIGIBLE, HAS BECOME A DRIVER OF GLOBAL ECOLOGICAL CHANGE. THIS PROJECT WILL USE ARCHIVAL METHODS TO FOLLOW 2,4-D AS IT TRAVELLED THROUGH TIME, SPACE, AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS. ITS OBJECTS OF ANALYSIS ARE ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS AS WELL ALSO HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY LAWNS, SUGAR CANE PLANTATIONS, MANAGED NATIVE PRAIRIES, AND OTHER FORESTS AND FIELDS FUNDAMENTALLY SHAPED BY 2,4-D AND ITS RESIDUES. THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE SCHOLARSHIP AT THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY ON NEW MATERIALISM, CHEMICAL RESIDUES, AND MULTISPECIES JUSTICE. IT WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY, OFFERING TOOLS FOR IDENTIFYING LANDSCAPES SHAPED BY 2,4-D AND OTHER SYNTHETIC BIOCIDES. AND IT WILL ADVANCE SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH THAT IDENTIFIES SYNTHETIC CHEMICALS AS DRIVERS OF THE GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY CRISIS. 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: SELF-ASSEMBLED PEG-PEPTIDE COPOLYMERS FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SURFACE RESERVOIR AGES AND VENTILATION IN THE BERING SEA DURING THE LAST DEGLACIATION FROM TEPHRAS AND RADIOCARBON

MOTOR AXON DEVELOPMENT IN A ZEBRAFISH MODEL OF CHARCOT-MARIE-TOOTH DISEASE

ASYMMETRIC METHODS FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF PYRAN-BASED ANTICANCER NATURAL PRODUCTS

BINDING OF THE LEXA PROTEIN TO THE RECA NUCLEOPROTEIN FILAMENT

RUI: THE LIFETIME OF HETEROGENEITIES IN GLASSES STUDIED WITH SINGLE MOLECULE SPECTROSCOPY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CNS CORE: SMALL: RUI: INTELLIGENT DEVELOPER INFRASTRUCTURE

RUI: IN-KIND GIVING: MOTIVES, BELIEFS, AND BEHAVIORS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CHEMISTRY COALITIONS, WORKSHOPS AND COMMUNITIES OF SCHOLARS

RUI: POLYMER ASSEMBLIES AS MODEL DRUG DELIVERY VEHICLES

RUI: VARIATIONAL AND TOPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO COMPLEX DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS

III-COR-SMALL: RUI: MODELS AND METHODS FOR INFORMATION ORGANIZATION

SHF: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: SYNCHRONICITY: A FRAMEWORK FOR SYNTHESIZING CONCURRENT SOFTWARE FROM SEQUENTIAL AND COOPERATIVE SPECIFICATIONS

SHF: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: FAST AND PRECISE DYNAMIC RACE DETECTION: ELIMINATING STATE AND CHECKING REDUNDANCY

"OCCULTATION STUDIES OF PLUTO KBO'S AND OTHER OUTER-SOLAR-SYSTEM OBJECTS"WE PROPOSE TO CONTINUE OUR

RUI: MEASURING NANOSCALE THERMAL TRANSPORT WITH TRAPPED IONS

RUI: INFORMATION AVOIDANCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

ERI: RUI: CONTROLLING AND DESIGNING SOFT MATERIAL ROBOTS FOR MIXED REALITY APPLICATIONS -THIS ENGINEERING RESEARCH INITIATION (ERI) RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS (RUI) GRANT WILL SUPPORT RESEARCH TO CONTRIBUTE NEW KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO A CLASS OF ROBOTS, PROMOTING BOTH THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND ADVANCING NATIONAL PROSPERITY. SOFT ROBOTS ARE ROBOTS WITH BODIES MADE FROM SOFT MATERIALS LIKE RUBBERS AND FOAMS. SOFT ROBOTS ARE A NATURAL CHOICE FOR APPLICATIONS REQUIRING SAFE, CLOSE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN HUMANS AND ROBOTS. ONE PARTICULAR CLASS OF APPLICATIONS THAT PROMISES TO BENEFIT FROM SOFT ROBOTS ARE MIXED REALITY APPLICATIONS, WHICH COMBINE PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL ELEMENTS TO CREATE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES THAT USERS CAN BOTH TOUCH AND SEE. HOWEVER, THERE CURRENTLY EXISTS NO PRINCIPLED FRAMEWORK FOR CONTROLLING AND DESIGNING SOFT ROBOTS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING MIXED REALITY EXPERIENCES. THIS AWARD SUPPORTS FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH TO ENDOW SOFT ROBOTS WITH THE CAPABILITY TO GENERATE MIXED REALITY EXPERIENCES. THESE MIXED REALITY EXPERIENCES COULD INCLUDE HIGHLY ACCURATE SURGICAL TRAINING SIMULATORS AS WELL AS EDUCATIONAL DEMONSTRATIONS. THIS RESEARCH HAS BROAD IMPACTS IN HEALTHCARE, MANUFACTURING, EDUCATION, AND AGRICULTURE AND WILL BENEFIT THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY AND SOCIETY. THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATES AT A PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION TO ENGAGE IN NOVEL ROBOTICS RESEARCH AT THE INTERSECTION OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE. OPTIMIZATION-BASED TECHNIQUES ENABLE REAL-TIME SOLUTIONS TO THE SOFT ROBOT INVERSE KINEMATICS PROBLEM. HOWEVER, EXISTING METHODS HAVE LIMITED APPLICATION TO MIXED REALITY BECAUSE THEY ONLY CONSIDER PHYSICAL ROBOTS IN ISOLATION AND CANNOT COORDINATE MOVEMENTS WITH VIRTUAL CONTENT OR MAINTAIN PHYSICAL-VIRTUAL COHERENCE DURING USER INTERACTION. THIS RESEARCH ADDRESSES THIS GAP BY FORMALIZING THE SIMULTANEOUS CONTROL OF PHYSICAL SOFT ROBOTS AND CORRESPONDING VIRTUAL AVATARS AND THEREBY ENDOWING SOFT ROBOTS WITH THE ABILITY TO GENERATE MIXED REALITY EXPERIENCES. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL DEVELOP A UNIFIED MODEL-BASED OPTIMIZATION FRAMEWORK FOR CONTROLLING MIXED REALITY SOFT ROBOTS, INCLUDING A NOVEL USER-AWARE IMMERSION GAP CONSTRAINT, WILL DEVELOP A COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN ALGORITHM FOR MIXED REALITY SOFT ROBOTS, AND WILL VALIDATE THEIR METHODS USING PHYSICAL SOFT ROBOTS AND VR HEADSETS. 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.

CRII: RI: RUI: ROBUST CAUSAL INFERENCE UNDER MODEL MISSPECIFICATION AND UNCERTAINTY -CAUSAL REASONING IS CENTRAL TO HUMAN DECISION MAKING. ENACTING NEW ECONOMIC POLICY, MODIFYING HIGH SCHOOL SYLLABI, AND APPROVING NEW OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATIONS; THESE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF HUMAN DECISION MAKING THAT RELY ON RIGOROUSLY ASSESSING WHETHER A NEW COURSE OF ACTION IS NOT JUST CORRELATED WITH IMPROVED OUTCOMES, BUT, IN FACT, CAUSES THEM. FOR MANY ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS OF INTEREST HOWEVER, RUNNING A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT TO ASSESS CAUSALITY IS TYPICALLY INFEASIBLE OR UNETHICAL. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP NEW ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARE TOOLS TO ENABLE DATA SCIENTISTS TO DRAW ROBUST CAUSAL CONCLUSIONS EVEN WHEN FACED WITH MESSY OBSERVATIONAL SOURCES OF DATA, SUCH AS ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS, AS WELL AS SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE BEST TECHNIQUE TO USE TO ESTIMATE THE CAUSAL EFFECT. SPECIFICALLY, THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP STATISTICAL AND MACHINE LEARNING METHODS THAT GIVE DATA SCIENTISTS THE ABILITY TO PUT FORWARD MULTIPLE DIFFERENT CAUSAL HYPOTHESES, SOME OF WHICH MAY BE INCORRECT, AND AUTOMATICALLY DISTILL INFORMATION FROM THE SUBSET OF HYPOTHESES THAT REFLECT THE TRUE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VARIABLES WHILE DISCARDING INFORMATION FROM ALL THE REST. MODEL MISSPECIFICATION POSES A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO RELIABLE ESTIMATION OF CAUSAL EFFECTS FROM OBSERVATIONAL DATA. IN THE CONTEXT OF CAUSAL INFERENCE, MODEL MISSPECIFICATION CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO BROAD CATEGORIES: (I) INCORRECT SPECIFICATION OF A CAUSAL MODEL THAT ENCODES SUBSTANTIVE ASSUMPTIONS USED TO IDENTIFY THE TARGET PARAMETER, AND (II) INCORRECT SPECIFICATION OF STATISTICAL MODELS, SUCH AS OUTCOME REGRESSION OR PROPENSITY SCORE MODELS, USED TO ESTIMATE THE IDENTIFIED PARAMETER FROM FINITE DATA. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO BUILD CAUSAL INFERENCE METHODS THAT DISPLAY BOTH FORMS OF ROBUSTNESS. CONCRETELY, THE PROJECT AIMS TO BUILD ALGORITHMS AND TOOLS FOR DATA SCIENTISTS THAT ALLOW THEM TO (I) PROPOSE MULTIPLE CAUSAL MODELS AND COMBINE EFFECT ESTIMATES OBTAINED BY APPLYING MACHINE LEARNING MODELS TO THE IDENTIFYING FUNCTIONALS OF EACH MODEL SUCH THAT INFERENCES MADE BASED ON THE AGGREGATED ESTIMATE ARE VALID IF AT LEAST ONE OF THE PROPOSED CAUSAL MODELS IS CORRECT (WITHOUT REQUIRING ANY KNOWLEDGE OF WHICH ONES MAY BE CORRECT); AND (II) PERFORM MODEL SELECTION BETWEEN PARTIALLY SPECIFIED CANDIDATE CAUSAL MODELS SUCH THAT THE MODEL SELECTION PROCEDURE IS ROBUST TO ISSUES OF UNMEASURED CONFOUNDING AND NON-IGNORABLE MESSINESS IN THE DATA. BUILDING SUCH ROBUST CAUSAL INFERENCE PIPELINES AND SOFTWARE TOOLS CAN GREATLY IMPROVE THE RELIABILITY OF DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN A VARIETY OF FIELDS EVEN WHEN A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT CANNOT BE CONDUCTED IN ORDER TO ASSESS CAUSALITY. 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.

CRII: RI: RUI: NLP MODELS IN HETEROGENEOUS CAUSAL EFFECT ESTIMATION -A GOAL OF ALMOST EVERY SCIENTIFIC FIELD IS CAUSAL INFERENCE; THAT IS, IMPLYING A CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP FROM DATA, SO THAT ONE CAN QUANTIFY HOW INTERVENING ON CERTAIN VARIABLES AFFECTS OTHER VARIABLES IN A SYSTEM. RECENTLY, RESEARCHERS HAVE STARTED TO COMBINE CAUSAL INFERENCE WITH MODERN NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (NLP) MODELS IN ORDER TO ANALYZE TEXT DATA, WHICH CAN BE A RICH SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR, THOUGHT, AND INTERACTIONS. HOWEVER, METHODS IN THIS AREA HAVE LARGELY BEEN FOCUSED ON ESTIMATING AVERAGE CAUSAL EFFECTS. THE GOAL OF MANY REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS, IS ESTIMATING HETEROGENOUS CAUSAL EFFECTS BY EXPLORING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SPECIFIC VARIABLES SO THAT THE KNOWLEDGE CAN BE CUSTOMIZED FOR SUB-GROUPS. FOR EXAMPLE, KNOWLEDGE TO HELP CLINICIANS DECIDE WHICH MEDICATIONS TO PRESCRIBE TO SPECIFIC PATIENTS, CENTRAL BANK COMMITTEES' DECISIONS ON INTEREST RATES IN RELATION TO CHANGES IN KEY VARIABLES, AND PLATFORM ADMINISTRATORS DECIDING HOW TO OPTIMALLY MANAGE USERS. ESTIMATING THE EFFECT OF INTERVENTIONS FROM DATA CAN HELP INFORM DECISION MAKING, PARTICULARLY WHEN EFFECT ESTIMATES VARY BASED ON INDIVIDUALS? FEATURES. A RICH, UNSTRUCTURED SOURCE OF FEATURES IS WRITTEN TEXT: NOTES FROM ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS (EHRS) DETAIL PATIENTS? PERSONAL AND MEDICAL HISTORIES, NEWSPAPER ARTICLES DOCUMENT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EVENTS, AND ONLINE PLATFORMS HOST EXCHANGES OF USERS? WRITTEN OPINIONS. YET, THERE EXIST FEW METHODS THAT CAN INCORPORATE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF UNSTRUCTURED TEXT DATA INTO CAUSAL ESTIMATES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND EVALUATE METHODS TO ESTIMATE HOW CAUSAL EFFECTS VARY BASED ON FEATURES THAT ARE COMPUTATIONALLY MEASURED FROM TEXT DATA. THE MORE FINE-GRAINED CAUSAL ESTIMATES FROM THESE METHODS COULD HELP DATA SCIENTISTS AND THE PUBLIC BETTER TARGET INTERVENTIONS FOR THOSE WITH ESTIMATED POSITIVE EFFECTS. THIS PROJECT WILL BUILD, EXPAND, AND EVALUATE HETEROGENEOUS CAUSAL EFFECT ESTIMATION METHODS THAT INCORPORATE NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (NLP) MODELS AND TEXT DATA. THE INVESTIGATOR WILL USE DATA-DRIVEN METHODS TO DISCOVER TEXT-BASED PROXIES FOR CAUSAL VARIABLES AND EMPLOY A PROXY ADJUSTMENT STRATEGY TO COMBINE NLP CLASSIFIERS WITH CONDITIONAL AVERAGE TREATMENT EFFECT (CATE) MODELS. THEN THE INVESTIGATOR WILL CREATE DATASETS FOR REALISTIC EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF HETEROGENEOUS CAUSAL ESTIMATION METHODS BY BUILDING FROM THE INVESTIGATOR?S PRIOR WORK THAT DOWN-SAMPLES RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. FINALLY, THE INVESTIGATOR WILL DEVELOP METHODS FOR SETTINGS IN WHICH TEXT IS A PROXY FOR MULTIPLE CAUSAL VARIABLES, I.E. THE TREATMENT VARIABLE, THE PRE-TREATMENT FEATURES, AND THE OUTCOME VARIABLE. OVERALL, THIS PROJECT WILL HELP EXPAND METHODS AT THE INTERSECTION OF NLP AND CAUSAL INFERENCE. 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.

CONSTRAINING NITROGEN SOURCES AND RECYCLING EFFICIENCY IN HOT SUBDUCTION ZONES USING FLUID INCLUSIONS IN MINERAL SEPARATES FROM MAFIC LAVAS -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED IN WHOLE OR IN PART UNDER THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 (PUBLIC LAW 117-2). THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES NITROGEN RECYCLING BETWEEN EARTH?S SURFACE AND THE MANTLE THROUGH SUBDUCTION AND VOLCANISM. THE RESEARCH AND PUBLIC SERVICE WILL BE CONDUCTED AT THE WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION (WHOI). SUBDUCTION ZONES PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN GLOBAL GEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, ESPECIALLY FOR VOLATILE ELEMENTS SUCH AS HYDROGEN, CARBON, SULFUR, CHLORINE, AND NITROGEN (N) THAT LARGELY RETURN TO THE SURFACE THROUGH VOLCANIC DEGASSING. WHILE NITROGEN IS THE MOST ABUNDANT GAS IN EARTH?S ATMOSPHERE, THE EXTENT TO WHICH IT CAN RETURN TO THE DEEP MANTLE THROUGH SUBDUCTION AND, THE FACTORS THAT CONTROL DEEP N SEQUESTRATION, REMAIN UNKNOWN. FOR THIS PROJECT, THE RESEARCHER WILL 1) QUANTIFY NITROGEN OUTPUTS FROM DOZENS OF VOLCANOES IN THE CENTRAL AMERICA VOLCANIC ARC (CAVA) AND THE SOUTHERN VOLCANIC ZONE (SVZ) OF THE CHILEAN ANDES, AND 2) IDENTIFY THE SOURCES OF N IN ARC MAGMAS. THIS WORK INVOLVES DETERMINING N CONCENTRATIONS AND ISOTOPE RATIOS IN SMALL INCLUSIONS OF FLUIDS THAT ARE TRAPPED IN CRYSTALS BEFORE N HAS BEEN DEGASSED TO EARTH?S SURFACE. DURING HIS TENURE AT WHOI, THE PI WILL PARTNER WITH NEW HEIGHTS CHARTER SCHOOL (GRADES 6-12) IN BROCKTON, MA TO DEVELOP TEACHING MATERIALS AND DEMONSTRATIONS RELATED TO SUBDUCTION AND VOLCANISM THAT CAN BE DIRECTLY INCORPORATED INTO THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE STANDARDS FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCES. HE WILL ALSO MENTOR SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS THROUGH THE REU PROGRAM AT WHOI. VOLATILE RECYCLING THROUGH SUBDUCTION ZONES AND VOLCANIC ARCS MODIFIES EARTH?S ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND HELPS TO MAINTAIN A STABLE CLIMATE AND A HABITABLE PLANET OVER GEOLOGIC TIME. HOWEVER, A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE DEEP N CYCLE IS ONLY BEGINNING TO EMERGE. WHETHER THE MANTLE IS A NET SOURCE (VIA VOLCANISM) OR A NET SINK (VIA SUBDUCTION) OF N REMAINS A SUBJECT OF DEBATE AND MAY BE LARGELY GOVERNED BY THE THERMAL EVOLUTION OF THE SUBDUCTING SLAB. THE RESEARCHER WILL USE SAMPLES THAT IN HAND TO PRODUCE TWO COMPREHENSIVE, ALONG-ARC N AND ?15N DATA SETS, EXAMINING FLUID INCLUSIONS IN MINERAL SEPARATES FROM MAFIC ARC LAVAS ALONG THE CAVA AND THE SVZ. BECAUSE THESE SYSTEMS ARE THERMALLY SIMILAR BUT HAVE DISTINCT N SOURCES AND SUBDUCTION DYNAMICS, THESE DATA ALLOW FOR THE ISOLATION OF GEOLOGIC CONTROLS ON N RECYCLING THROUGH SUBDUCTION ZONES AND VOLCANIC ARCS. RATIOS OF N2/3HE AND N2/AR WILL CONSTRAIN N FLUXES ALONG THESE ARC SEGMENTS WHILE ?15N WILL ALLOW FOR SOURCE DISCRIMINATION. THIS PROJECT LEVERAGES THE UNIQUE ANALYTICAL CAPACITY OF A NU NOBLESSE HR NOBLE GAS MASS SPECTROMETER CONNECTED TO A DEDICATED SAMPLE CRUSHING AND N PURIFICATION LINE AT WHOI, AVOIDING SAMPLE CONTAMINATION FROM THE MODERN ATMOSPHERE, AND PROVIDING THE HIGHEST PRECISION SUBDUCTION ZONE N DATA CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. 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 ATOMIC STRUCTURE MEASUREMENTS AND TESTS OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS

OPTICAL AND RADIO UNIQUELY HIGH-RESOLUTION ECLIPSE CORONAL STUDIES

EAGER: SCALABLE ENERGY MONITORING AND VISUALIZATION IN A LIVING BUILDING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RESEARCH NETWORKING ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF SUSTAINED COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS OF ARCTIC CHANGE

CRII: AF: RUI: VERIFIABLE COMPUTATION OUTSOURCING: A NON-COOPERATIVE APPROACH

CRII: IIS: RUI: UNDERSTANDING LEARNING ANALYTICS ALGORITHMS IN TEACHER AND STUDENT DECISION-MAKING

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

RUI: THEORIES OF DARK MATTER AND BARYOGENESIS CONFRONT EXPERIMENT -THIS RUI AWARD FUNDS THE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES OF PROFESSOR DAVID TUCKER-SMITH AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE. DESPITE ITS SPECTACULAR SUCCESSES, THE STANDARD MODEL (SM) OF PARTICLE PHYSICS FAILS TO ADDRESS CERTAIN QUESTIONS OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE. THE SM HAS NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT THE NATURE OF DARK MATTER, A MYSTERIOUS COMPONENT OF OUR UNIVERSE THAT HAS PLAYED A CRUCIAL ROLE IN ITS EVOLUTION. NOR DOES THE SM SHED LIGHT ON MATTER-ANTIMATTER ASYMMETRY: IF THE SM WERE THE WHOLE STORY, VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL QUANTITIES OF PARTICLES AND ANTIPARTICLES PRODUCED BY THE BIG BANG WOULD HAVE ANNIHILATED EACH OTHER NEARLY COMPLETELY, LEAVING TOO LITTLE BEHIND TO FORM THE STRUCTURES AROUND TODAY (GALAXIES, PEOPLE, AND SO ON). IN HIS WORK, PROFESSOR TUCKER-SMITH WILL EXPLORE THEORIES OF DARK MATTER AND MATTER-ANTIMATTER ASYMMETRY, WITH A FOCUS ON UNDERSTANDING HOW THESE THEORIES CAN BE TESTED AT EXISTING AND PLANNED EXPERIMENTS. RESEARCH ON THESE TOPICS ADVANCES THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY PROMOTING THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE IN AN ESSENTIAL DIRECTION: LEARNING ABOUT THE MAKEUP OF OUR UNIVERSE AND THE PHYSICAL LAWS THAT GOVERN IT. SIGNIFICANT BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS PROJECT WILL COME FROM UNDERGRADUATE INVOLVEMENT. BY ENGAGING IN THIS RESEARCH, WILLIAMS COLLEGE STUDENTS WILL LEARN IMPORTANT IDEAS, RESULTS, AND METHODS RELATING TO PARTICLE PHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY. THEY WILL ALSO DEVELOP BROADLY APPLICABLE SKILLS THROUGH ACTIVITIES THAT WILL INCLUDE COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION, AND ORAL PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS. IN MORE TECHNICAL TERMS, PROFESSOR TUCKER-SMITH WILL CONDUCT RESEARCH IN PHYSICS BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL ALONG THE FOLLOWING FOUR DIRECTIONS. FIRST, HE WILL DEVELOP AND STUDY FREEZE-IN BARYOGENESIS MODELS IN WHICH DARK MATTER INTERACTS WITH THE STANDARD-MODEL HIGGS PARTICLE. SECOND, HE WILL PERFORM DETAILED MONTE CARLO STUDIES OF THE COLLIDER PHENOMENOLOGY OF ELECTROWEAK-CHARGED PORTAL PARTICLES THAT APPEAR IN FREEZE-IN BARYOGENESIS MODELS AND MANY OTHERS. THIRD, HE WILL ASSESS HOW LYMAN-ALPHA FOREST SURVEYS AND OTHER COSMOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS CONSTRAIN SCENARIOS WITH MULTIPLE NON-COLD DARK-MATTER PARTICLES. FINALLY, HE WILL CARRY OUT A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF A MODEL OF ELECTROWEAK BARYOGENESIS IN WHICH DARK MATTER PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE IN ASYMMETRY GENERATION. 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: ADDITIVE NUMBER THEORY, ZEROS OF L-FUNCTIONS, AND BENFORD'S LAW

CRII: AF: RUI: NEW APPROACHES FOR SPACE-EFFICIENT SIMILARITY SEARCH

RUI: MANIFOLDS WITH DENSITY AND ISOPERIMETRIC PROBLEMS

VISUALIZING STRAIN IN ROCKS WITH INTERACTIVE COMPUTER PROGRAMS

RUI: LOW-LYING ZEROS OF L-FUNCTIONS AND PROBLEMS IN ADDITIVE NUMBER THEORY

EAGER: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INVISIBLE FLOODS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOODPLAIN: UNRAVELLING THE CAUSES OF URBAN FLOODING IN A COMMUNITY-CENTERED APPROACH TO GEOMORPHOLOGY

RUI: PARTICLE THEORY AND THE LHC

SHF: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND RUI: STATIC AND DYNAMIC ANALYSIS FOR COOPERATIVE CONCURRENCY

RUI: INVESTIGATIONS OF L-FUNCTIONS AND BENFORD'S LAW

OCCULATION STUDIES OF PLUTO'S, CHARON'S AND TRITION'S ATMOSPHERES AND KBO'S

RUI: A DYNAMICAL APPROACH TO CHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL MECHANISMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HOW HAVE OROGENIES, RIFTING, AND RECENT MANTLE DYNAMICS SHAPED THE LITHOSPHERE BENEATH THE NEW ENGLAND APPALACHIANS? -CONTINENTS REPRESENT A KEY COMPONENT OF THE EARTH?S PLATE TECTONIC SYSTEM. PLATE TECTONICS APPEARS TO BE UNIQUE AMONG ALL PLANETARY BODIES IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN MAKING OUR PLANET HOSPITABLE TO LIFE. CONTINENTS ARE FORMED AND MODIFIED BY FUNDAMENTAL PLATE TECTONIC PROCESSES, INCLUDING VOLCANISM, MOUNTAIN-BUILDING, COLLISIONS WITH OTHER CONTINENTAL MASSES, AND RIFTING OR BREAKUP OF SUPERCONTINENTS. UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE (THAT IS, THE CRUST AND UPPERMOST MANTLE BENEATH CONTINENTS) THROUGH TIME REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHALLENGES IN EARTH SCIENCE. THIS PROJECT WILL STUDY THE PROCESSES THAT HAVE SHAPED THE CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE BENEATH THE NEW ENGLAND APPALACHIANS THROUGH GEOLOGIC TIME USING A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH THAT INCLUDES SEISMIC IMAGING OF THE CRUST AND UPPER MANTLE, THE ANALYSIS OF GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES, AND DATING THE MOTION ON ANCIENT FAULTS. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL CARRY OUT DETAILED IMAGING USING SEISMIC WAVES FROM DISTANT EARTHQUAKES MEASURED AT SEISMOMETERS DEPLOYED IN TWO LINEAR ARRAYS (ONE ACROSS NEW YORK AND MASSACHUSETTS, THE OTHER ACROSS VERMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND MAINE). THEY WILL PAIR THEIR SEISMIC IMAGING WORK WITH STUDIES OF GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES EXPOSED AT THE SURFACE THAT WILL PROVIDE ESSENTIAL CONTEXT ON ITS PLATE TECTONIC HISTORY. THE INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM BOTH APPROACHES WILL ILLUMINATE THE PROCESSES THAT HAVE SHAPED THE LITHOSPHERE BENEATH NEW ENGLAND THROUGH THE GEOLOGIC PAST, OPENING A WINDOW INTO HOW CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE EVOLVES AS A PART OF THE EARTH?S PLATE TECTONIC SYSTEM. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO UNDERSTAND HOW RIFTING, SUBDUCTION, AND TERRANE ACCRETION HAVE SHAPED LITHOSPHERIC STRUCTURE BENEATH NEW ENGLAND: DOES THE LITHOSPHERE PRESERVE A RECORD OF SUBDUCTION AND ACCRETION OR DOES LITHOSPHERIC STRUCTURE HEAL OVER TIME? HOW DO SUBSEQUENT ACCRETION EVENTS OVERPRINT THE STRUCTURE OF EARLIER COLLISIONS? HOW DID MESOZOIC RIFTING AFFECT THE STRUCTURE OF PALEOZOIC ACCRETIONS? ARE RECENT TO ONGOING MANTLE PROCESSES MODIFYING THE LITHOSPHERIC STRUCTURE? THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ANALYZE DATA FROM THE NEST (NEW ENGLAND SEISMIC TRANSECTS) EXPERIMENT, A DEPLOYMENT OF ~25 BROADBAND SEISMOMETERS THAT IS CONFIGURED TO RESOLVE CRUSTAL TARGETS ON LENGTH SCALES THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR DIRECT LINKAGE WITH GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES. THEY WILL APPLY A SUITE OF IMAGING TECHNIQUES (RECEIVER FUNCTION ANALYSIS, BODY WAVE TRAVEL TIME ANALYSIS, WAVEFIELD MIGRATION IMAGING, AND SKS SPLITTING MEASUREMENTS) THAT WILL PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF BOTH THE ISOTROPIC AND ANISOTROPIC STRUCTURE OF THE NEW ENGLAND CRUST AND UPPER MANTLE, INCLUDING THE REGION UNDERLAIN BY THE SO-CALLED NORTHERN APPALACHIAN ANOMALY (NAA). THE U-PB GEOCHRONOLOGY WORK WILL FOCUS ON THE IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS OF XENOCRYSTIC (INHERITED) CORES IN ZIRCON GRAINS FROM ARC PLUTONIC AND VOLCANIC ROCKS FROM THE SHELBURNE FALLS AND BRONSON HILL ARCS, IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY AND TIMING OF TACONIC (AND LATER) OROGENIC PROCESSES. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ALSO CONDUCT FIELD WORK AND STRUCTURAL ANALYSES TO INVESTIGATE THE EXTENT AND RELATIVE TIMING ON FRONTAL THRUSTS OF BASEMENT MASSIFS AND THE TACONIC MOUNTAINS IN WESTERN NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK, AND THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY BORDER FAULT SYSTEM IN CENTRAL NEW ENGLAND. THEY WILL CONSTRAIN THE TIMING OF DEFORMATION BY COLLECTING AND DATING SAMPLES VIA 40AR/39AR GEOCHRONOLOGY FROM THESE REGIONS, IN ORDER TO DETERMINE HOW WIDESPREAD REACTIVATION OF OLD FAULTS (AND DISPLACEMENT ON NEW FAULTS) HAS BEEN THROUGHOUT THE REGION. THE PROJECT EMPHASIZES UNDERGRADUATE INVOLVEMENT IN CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND FIELD WORK, PARTICULARLY BY PARTICIPANTS FROM GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN EARTH SCIENCE, ENABLED BY COLLABORATION AMONG FACULTY AT A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS. 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: PARTICLE THEORY IN THE LHC ERA

UTILITY AND TIME PERCEPTION EFFECTS IN DISCOUNTING OF DELAYED REWARDS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PNE AS PROBES OF THE EARLY CHEMICAL HISTORY OF THE GALAXY AND M31

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: CORPORATE LAW, FINANCE, AND PRODUCTIVITY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: EXPLORING EARLY METAZOAN REEF EVOLUTION THROUGH A MULTI-SCALE APPROACH -SHALLOW WATER REEFS HAVE BEEN CALLED CRADLES OF EVOLUTION. BY STUDYING THE REMAINS OF ANCIENT REEFS, SCIENTISTS CAN GAIN CRITICAL INSIGHTS INTO THE ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY IMPACT OF EARTH'S EARLIEST ANIMALS AND OUR PLANET'S TRANSITION FROM A WORLD DOMINATED BY MICROBES TO THE ONE WE KNOW TODAY. HERE, THE RESEARCHERS PROPOSE A MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND MULTISCALE SURVEY OF THE LITTLE DAL REEFS IN NORTHWESTERN CANADA, WHICH FORMED NEARLY ONE BILLION YEARS AGO AND ARE HOME TO THE EARLIEST PURPORTED REMAINS OF SPONGES ON OUR PLANET. IN THIS STUDY, THEY WILL UTILIZE VARIOUS METHODS?FROM DRONE-DERIVED MODELS OF OUTCROPS TO 3D RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE SPONGE FOSSILS TO ISOTOPIC ANALYSES?TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INHABITANTS (E.G., WERE THERE TRULY SPONGES ON EARTH A BILLION YEARS AGO?) AND ECOLOGY (E.G., WHO OR WHAT BUILT THE REEFS?) OF THE LITTLE DAL REEFS. THIS WORK WILL INVOLVE TRAINING UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS AND A POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW WITHIN A FRAMEWORK THAT ENCOURAGES A COLLABORATIVE, INTERDISCIPLINARY, INCLUSIVE, AND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC APPROACH. ADDITIONALLY, THEY PROPOSE TO MENTOR A STUDENT FROM THE FIRST NATIONS SAHTU ?/DENE COMMUNITIES OF FORT SIMPSON, NORMAN WELLS, AND FORT GOOD HOPE AND ENGAGE WITH THESE COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT. RECENTLY, SCIENTISTS HAVE POSITED THAT VERMIFORM MICROSTRUCTURES (VERM), FOUND IN THE TONIAN LITTLE DAL GROUP OF NORTHWESTERN CANADA, REPRESENT THE REMAINS OF THE OLDEST PORIFERAN-GRADE ORGANISM IN THE ROCK RECORD. ANY CLAIM OF METAZOAN REEF INHABITATION (OR CONSTRUCTION) DURING THE PROTEROZOIC REQUIRES CAREFUL CONSIDERATION AND EVALUATION USING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH. HERE, THE RESEARCHERS PROPOSE TO EXPLORE THE ECOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE LITTLE DAL REEF SYSTEM VIA A MULTISCALE FIELD AND ANALYTICAL STUDY. THEY AIM TO 1) DETERMINE WHETHER VERM ARE UNAMBIGUOUSLY THE REMAINS OF A SPONGE-GRADE ORGANISM AND THEREFORE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE EARLIEST METAZOAN REEF INHABITANTS, AND 2) QUANTIFY THE MICRO- TO MACRO-SCALE MORPHOLOGIES OF THE LITTLE DAL REEF SYSTEM, INCLUDING CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS SURFACE ROUGHNESS, ECOLOGICAL ZONATION, AND THE ABUNDANCE OF CONSTITUENT REEF COMPONENTS. ANY ASSIGNMENT OF BIOLOGICAL AFFINITY FOR PUTATIVE NEOPROTEROZOIC SPONGE REMAINS WILL HAVE BROAD IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TEMPO AND MODE OF METAZOAN EVOLUTION. ADDITIONALLY, THEIR FINDINGS WILL ENABLE QUANTITATIVE COMPARISONS BETWEEN FOSSIL REEFS THROUGHOUT THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD. SUCH COMPARISONS WILL HELP CHART THE TIMING AND STRUCTURAL NATURE OF THE TRANSITION FROM PURELY MICROBIAL REEFS OF THE EARLIER PROTEROZOIC TO METAZOAN FRAMEWORK REEFS OF THE PHANEROZOIC. 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: ALGORITHMS AND COMPLEXITY IN CHIP-FIRING GAMES AND GRAPH GONALITY

EARTH EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE SOCIETIES WORKSHOP

PLANNING: FORMALIZING A MODEL FOR EXTERNAL REVIEW OF PUI GRANTS OFFICES THROUGH THE CLASP NETWORK -SMALL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES THAT WISH TO CREATE OR STRENGTHEN THEIR RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION INFRASTRUCTURE ARE OFTEN CHALLENGED BY THE COST AND ACCESSIBILITY OF EXTERNAL REVIEW SERVICES. THIS PROJECT WILL FILL A DISTINCT GAP FOR PREDOMINANTLY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS (PUIS) BY DEVELOPING, PILOTING, ASSESSING, AND SHARING A READILY AVAILABLE AND AFFORDABLE EXTERNAL REVIEW SERVICE MODEL FOR USE AT PUIS AS THEY SEEK TO CREATE AND/OR STRENGTHEN THEIR CAMPUS GRANTS CULTURE AND DEVELOP RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION INFRASTRUCTURE. GUIDED BY THE EXTENSIVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES AND EXPERTISE OF RESEARCH ADMINISTRATORS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE COLLEGES OF THE LIBERAL ARTS SPONSORED PROGRAMS (CLASP) NETWORK, THE PI AND WORKING GROUP WILL FORMALIZE AND SHARE BEST PRACTICES AROUND THE BROADER OPERATIONS WITHIN GRANTS OFFICES AT PUIS. THIS PROJECT WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT BY PROVIDING A SUCCESSFUL MODEL FOR EXTERNAL REVIEW SERVICES SPECIFIC TO THE PUI EXPERIENCE. PUIS ACROSS THE NATION WILL HAVE ACCESS TO AN AFFORDABLE AND PROFESSIONAL EXTERNAL EVALUATION PROCESS TO AID THEM AS THEY BUILD, GROW, AND/OR IMPROVE THEIR OWN RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE. THIS PROJECT WILL STRENGTHEN AND GROW RESEARCH CAPACITY AND IT WILL CREATE A FRAMEWORK TO ENABLE PUIS TO EXAMINE AND IMPROVE THEIR RESEARCH ENTERPRISE. INSTITUTIONS THAT HAVE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT POLICIES, PROCESSES, AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE CAN SUPPORT FACULTY TO ENGAGE IN COLLABORATIVE AND COMPLEX PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES THAT MAY INVOLVE REGIONAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS THEREBY PRODUCING MEANINGFUL RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR OUR 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EXPEDITION 323 OBJECTIVE RESEARCH ON THE PALEOCEANOGRAPHY OF THE BERING SEA

TO SUPPORT "KIDSPACE " A VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM PRESENTED BY THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART IN CONSORTIUM WITH THE MASS MOCA.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH, SG, RUI: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE X-CHROMOSOMES IN SPECIATION: ARE GENES THAT DO NOT INTROGRESS CONCENTRATED ON THE X CHROMOSOME?

RUI: COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL: USING ORGANIC CARBON ISOTOPES OF SINGLE MICROFOSSILS TO ILLUMINATE PROTEROZOIC EUKARYOTIC ECOSYSTEMS

RUI: PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE AND SCHOOL BULLYING: DO MISPERCEPTIONS OF CLASSROOM NORMS CONTRIBUTE TO PEER HARRASSMENT?

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: CSI DEVONIAN - TESTING LATE DEVONIAN OCEAN ANOXIA PROXIES ACROSS DIFFERENT PALEOENVIRONMENTS

RUI: MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF WINTER STORMS (2013-2014) ON THE MOVEMENT OF BOULDERS IN WESTERN IRELAND

NSF WORKSHOP: DESIGNING TOOLS AND CURRICULA FOR UNDERGRADUATE COURSES IN DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS

HIGH FIDELITY QUANTUM LOGIC OPERATIONS WITH PARAMETRICALLY COUPLED TRANSMON DEVICES

RUI: PHOTOSYNTHETIC RESPONSE TO ABIOTIC STRESS IN PROCHLOROCOCCUS, A GLOBALLY IMPORTANT MARINE CYANOBACTERIUM

RUI: APPLIED DYNAMICS AND TOPOLOGY OF AGGREGATION SYSTEMS

CLIOMETRICS CONFERENCES 2021, 2023 AND WORLD CONGRESS FOR 2022 -ABSTRACT THIS AWARD FUNDS THREE CONFERENCES THAT WILL STIMULATE NEW RESEARCH IN THE INTERDISCIPLINARY AREA OF CLIOMETRICS, WHICH COMBINES ECONOMICS, STATISTICS, HISTORY, DEMOGRAPHY, SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, ANATOMY, AND CLIMATOLOGY AS WELL AS OTHER DISCIPLINES TO EXAMINE CORE QUESTIONS ABOUT ECONOMIC THEORY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN ECONOMIES. THE CONFERENCES BRING TOGETHER YOUNG SCHOLARS, INCLUDING GRADUATE STUDENTS, WITH A GROUP OF EXCELLENT SENIOR SCHOLARS TO ENGAGE IN WORKSHOP SESSIONS THAT GIVE INTENSIVE COMMENTARY ON EARLY RESEARCH RESULTS. THE GOAL IS TO IMPROVE RESEARCH QUALITY, PROMOTE GRADUATE TRAINING, AND ALLOW YOUNG SCHOLARS TO BUILD DEEPER RESEARCH NETWORKS. THE RESULT IS BETTER SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE EVOLUTION AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF THE U.S. ECONOMY AND THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY. THE CONFERENCES ADVANCE SCIENCE, PROMOTE THE TRAINING OF U.S. STUDENTS IN THIS AREA, AND SHED VALUABLE LIGHT ON HOW GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS DECISIONS CAN AFFECT THE U.S. ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS. 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.

TO SUPPORT KIDSPACE, A VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM, CO-PRESENTED BY THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART.

EAGER: COLLABORATOVE RESEARCH: DIVERSITY AND THE WEALTH OF NATIONS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH, RUI, SG: PHENOTYPIC AND GENOMIC PATTERNS OF DIVERGENCE ACROSS A YOUNG DROSOPHILA SPECIES COMPLEX.

THE MACROECONOMICS OF SECOND-BEST CLIMATE POLICIES -THIS AWARD FUNDS RESEARCH THAT USES ECONOMIC THEORY AND ON THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF ?NON-TRADITIONAL? ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES DESIGNED TO REDUCE CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS. WHILE MOST ECONOMIC STUDIES OF CARBON REDUCTION POLICIES HAVE FOCUSED ON TAXING FOSSIL FUELS, THIS RESEARCH PROJECT FOCUSES ON POLICIES THAT SUBSIDIES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MANDATES FOR THE USE OF CLEAN ENERGY. THE RESEARCH WILL USE THEORETICAL MODELLING, A LARGE DATA SET, AND INNOVATIVE EMPIRICAL METHODS TO INVESTIGATE HOW SUBSIDIES AND MANDATES CAN BE DESIGNED TO REDUCE EMISSIONS AT THE LOWEST COST TO ECONOMIC GROWTH AND EFFICIENCY COMPARED TO OTHER FORMS OF FUELS. IN ADDITION, THE PROJECT WILL ESTIMATE THE IMPACT OF THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AS WELL AS THE IMPACT OF THE CLEAN POWER PLAN ON BOTH CARBON EMISSIONS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL PROVIDE MAJOR INPUTS INTO POLICIES TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS, WHILE SPURRING ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ESTABLISH THE US AS A GLOBAL LEADER IN CARBON REDUCTION POLICIES. THIS AWARD FUNDS A RESEARCH AGENDA TO STUDY THE EFFICIENCY OF CARBON REDUCTION POLICIES OTHER THAN THOSE THAT TAX FOSSIL FUELS. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND ESTIMATE A QUANTITATIVE, DYNAMIC MODEL OF THE MACROECONOMY AND THE ENVIRONMENT TO TEST THE EFFICIENCY OF ?SECOND BEST? CARBON POLICIES. THE MODEL EXTENDS THE STANDARD MODELING FRAMEWORK IN TWO WAYS: FIRST, IT WILL ALLOW THE PRICE ELASTICITY OF ENERGY DEMAND TO DIFFER IN THE SHORT-, MEDIUM- AND LONG-RUN BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF CARBON AND SUBSIDIES FOR RENEWABLES ON THE PRICE OF ENERGY; IN ADDITION, THE MODEL WILL INCORPORATE THE VALUE OF PUBLIC FUNDS RAISED FROM CARBON TAXES. THE RESEARCHERS WILL USE A LARGE DATA SET AND DIFFERENT ECONOMETRIC METHODS TO ESTIMATE THE MODEL AND COMPARE IT TO THE RESULTS FROM EMISSION TAX POLICIES. THE ESTIMATES WILL THEN BE USED TO ANALYZE RECENT POLICY PROPOSALS SUCH AS THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AND THE CLEAN POWER PLAN. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL PROVIDE MAJOR INPUTS INTO POLICIES TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS, WHILE SPURRING ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ESTABLISH THE US AS A GLOBAL LEADER IN CARBON REDUCTION POLICIES. 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.

INVESTIGATIONS ON LOW-LYING ZEROS OF L-FUNCTIONS

RUI: THEORETICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN PHYSICS BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL

OXTOBY CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE

STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY AND TECTONICS FORUM

WILLIAMS COLLEGE IS SUBMITTING THIS UNSOLICITED PROPOSAL ON BEHALF OF PROF. JAY M. PASACHOFF TO DR. ALPHONSE STERLING OF NASA'S MSFC. THE PROPOSAL IS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NEW TO IUSE: EDU DCL:DIVERSIFYING ECONOMICS EDUCATION THROUGH PLUG AND PLAY VIDEO MODULES WITH DIVERSE ROLE MODELS, RELEVANT RESEARCH, AND ACTIVE LEARNING -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY IMPROVING ECONOMICS EDUCATION IN UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS. INTRODUCTORY ECONOMICS COURSES (TAKEN BY A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS) OFTEN FALL SHORT OF THEIR POTENTIAL DUE TO OUTDATED TEACHING METHODS, CLASSROOM PRACTICES THAT ARE NOT INCLUSIVE, AND A PAUCITY OF DIVERSE ROLE MODELS. IN COMPARISON TO OTHER STEM FIELDS THAT HAVE MADE STRIDES IN DEVELOPING AND ADOPTING INNOVATIVE TEACHING APPROACHES THAT WELCOME DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES, ECONOMICS HAS LAGGED BEHIND. CONSEQUENTLY, THE ABILITY OF ECONOMICS TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOLVING SOCIETAL PROBLEMS IS COMPROMISED. THE LACK OF DIVERSITY NOT ONLY AFFECTS THE TOPICS STUDIED BUT ALSO LIMITS THE EXCHANGE OF DIVERSE IDEAS IN THE CLASSROOM, HINDERING BROADER SOCIETAL PROGRESS. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES BY DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING A CLASSROOM INTERVENTION USING EVIDENCE-BASED METHODS FROM STEM EDUCATION LITERATURE, WITH THE GOAL OF BROADENING PERCEPTIONS OF ECONOMICS, ENHANCING STUDENT SENSE OF BELONGING, AND INCREASING DIVERSITY AND RETENTION IN THE FIELD. THE PROPOSED INTERVENTION CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF MODULES INSTRUCTORS CAN EASILY PLUG INTO INTRODUCTORY ECONOMICS COURSES DESIGNED TO EXPOSE STUDENTS TO DIVERSE ROLE MODELS AND A RANGE OF EXCITING AND RELEVANT TOPICS THROUGH PROFESSIONALLY PRODUCED VIDEOS. ACCOMPANYING CURRICULAR MATERIALS, GROUNDED IN EVIDENCE-BASED ACTIVE LEARNING PRINCIPLES, WILL DEEPEN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING. THE PROJECT HYPOTHESIZES THAT THIS INTERVENTION WILL POSITIVELY INFLUENCE STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ABOUT ECONOMICS, STRENGTHEN THEIR SENSE OF BELONGING IN ECONOMICS AND THEIR BELIEF IN THEIR OWN ABILITIES, AND IMPROVE LEARNING, PERSISTENCE, AND RETENTION, PARTICULARLY AMONG DIVERSE STUDENTS. THE MODULES WILL ALSO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ECONOMICS INSTRUCTORS, ENABLING THEM TO IMPLEMENT BEST PRACTICES IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. BY BRINGING TOGETHER THESE EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACHES AND DELIVERING THEM TO THE INTRODUCTORY ECONOMICS CLASSROOM, THIS TIER 1 PROJECT ALIGNS WITH THE IUSE: EDU PROGRAM'S ENGAGED STUDENT LEARNING TRACK, AIMING TO IMPROVE ECONOMICS EDUCATION, ENGAGE STUDENTS THROUGH INNOVATIVE AND INCLUSIVE PRACTICES, ENHANCE DIVERSITY, AND PREPARE STUDENTS WITH A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. THE PROJECT ALSO FURTHERS THE NSF MISSION BY EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE ON STEM EDUCATION AND INCREASING THE CAPACITY OF THE US TO CONDUCT RESEARCH IN ECONOMICS, A CRUCIAL STEM FIELD, BY CONTRIBUTING TO A MORE VIBRANT AND DIVERSE ECONOMICS WORKFORCE. THIS PROJECT USES A MIXED METHODS RESEARCH APPROACH BY INCORPORATING FOCUS GROUP INPUT INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT MODULES AND QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHODS FOR IMPACT EVALUATION. THE PROJECT TEAM PLANS TO DEPLOY THE MODULES IN CLASSES AT VARIED TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS IN COLLABORATION WITH INSTRUCTORS. EACH INSTRUCTOR WILL HAVE A ?CONTROL? SEMESTER IN WHICH THEY DO NOT USE THE MODULES AND A ?TREATMENT? SEMESTER IN WHICH THEY CONDUCT THE PRE- AND POST-SURVEYS THAT WILL BE USED TO COLLECT DATA ON CONSTRUCTS SUCH AS STEM IDENTITY, SELF-EFFICACY, CONNECTEDNESS AND BELONGING, AND PERCEPTIONS OF PERSISTENCE IN ECONOMICS. COMBINING THAT DATA WITH INSTITUTIONAL DATA, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL PERFORM DIFFERENCE-IN-DIFFERENCES REGRESSIONS TO ANALYZE PROJECT IMPACTS. THE INTELLECTUAL MERIT OF THIS PROJECT LIES IN LEVERAGING THE EXISTING EVIDENCE ABOUT ACTIVE LEARNING AND ROLE MODELS TO CREATE A NOVEL SET OF MODULES, COMBINING DIVERSE ROLE MODELS, POLICY RELEVANCE, AND ACTIVE LEARNING TECHNIQUES TO SHAPE DIVERSE STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS, IDENTITY, AND PERSISTENCE. THE MODULES ARE DESIGNED TO BE ADAPTABLE TO A WIDE RANGE OF INSTITUTIONS, FACILITATING THEIR EASY INTEGRATION INTO INTRODUCTORY ECONOMICS CLASSROOMS. THE BROADER GOALS OF THIS PROJECT START IN THE CLASSROOM BUT EXTEND BEYOND IT, AIMING TO CREATE A PROFESSION THAT WELCOMES ECONOMISTS FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS TO ADDRESS SOCIETY'S CHALLENGES. THE MODULES THIS PROJECT CREATES SHOULD POSITIVELY INFLUENCE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES IN ECONOMICS EDUCATION, DIVERSIFY THE PIPELINE OF ECONOMICS STUDENTS, PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR INSTRUCTORS, AND BROADEN THE VOICES AND PERSPECTIVES REPRESENTED IN ECONOMICS. THE NSF IUSE: EDU 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 AND TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PERSISTENCE IN ECONOMICS. 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.

THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SUPPORT AND PROMOTE RESEARCH ON SOCIAL INJUSTICE IN FARMING, FOOD MARKETS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT. WHILE ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN FARMING AND FOOD SYSTEMS ARE CRUCIAL TO ACHIEVING TRUE SUSTAINABILITY, THESE ISSUES HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE RESEARCH ATTENTION THEY DESERVE. ONE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT THE PRACTITIONERS OF AGRICULTURAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND RESOURCE ECONOMICS RESEARCH ARE NOT, IN THEIR DEMOGRAPHICS AND LIVED EXPERIENCES, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DIVERSITY OF THE GREATER WORLD. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED, WE SEEK TO BRING TOGETHER A DIVERSE GROUP OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMISTS TO RESEARCH INJUSTICE IN FARMING, FOOD SYSTEMS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT. IN THIS PROJECT, WE PROPOSE PUBLISHING A SPECIAL ISSUE IN A PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL AND ORGANIZING SESSIONS FOCUSED ON SOCIAL JUSTICE RESEARCH AT A PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMISTS. OUR AIM IS TO USE THE SPECIAL ISSUE AND CONFERENCE SESSIONS TO, FIRST, DRAW ATTENTION TO AND ENCOURAGE MORE WIDESPREAD RESEARCH ON SOCIAL JUSTICE TOPICS AND, SECOND, FOSTER SYNERGIES AND COLLABORATION AMONG DIVERSE ECONOMISTS WORKING ON OR PROXIMATE TO THESE TOPICS.

THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF SOLAR SPICULES, A FUNDAMENTAL AND UBIQUITOUS FEATURE OF THE LOWER SOLAR ATMOSPHERE, RESEARCH TITLE: "DYNAMI

COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL:TESTING THE INVASION PROCESS: SURVIVAL, DISPERSAL, GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION, AND ATTENUATION OF MARINE BIOTA ON THE 2011 JAPAN

CPS: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TOWARDS SECURE, PRIVACY-PRESERVING, VERIFIABLE CYBERPHYSICAL SYSTEMS

TO SUPPORT A CAMPUS-BASED RESIDENCY WITH FORKLIFT DANCEWORKS.

TO SUPPORT A STUDY THAT WILL EXAMINE WHETHER A CAUSAL LINK EXISTS BETWEEN CULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND ECONOMIC PROSPERITY, AND WHICH INVESTIGATES THE TEN

TO SUPPORT CONTINUATION OF KIDSPACE, A VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION PROJECT, IN CONSORTIUM WITH THE MASSACHUSETTS MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENABLING HYBRID METHODS IN THE NIMBLE HIERARCHICAL STATISTICAL MODELING PLATFORM -THIS PROJECT WILL ENABLE RESEARCHERS IN MANY FIELDS OF SCIENCE TO HARNESS ADVANCED COMPUTER ALGORITHMS TO ANALYZE COMPLEX DATA SETS. IN MANY FIELDS, RESEARCHERS SEEK TO DETERMINE WHAT HYPOTHESES ARE SUPPORTED BY DATA COLLECTED IN COMPLEX STUDY DESIGNS. DATA MAY BE COMPLEX BECAUSE THEY ARE COLLECTED IN MANY LOCATIONS, AT MANY POINTS IN TIME, FROM RELATED SAMPLING UNITS, UNDER DIFFERENT SAMPLING CONDITIONS, WITH DIFFERENT SAMPLE SIZES, AND/OR WITH IMPERFECT MEASUREMENTS. SUCH COMPLEXITIES ARISE IN RESEARCH FIELDS SUCH AS BIOLOGY, ASTRONOMY, EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, POLITICAL SCIENCE, AND PSYCHOLOGY, AMONG OTHERS. WHEN ANALYZING COMPLEX DATA, IT CAN BE DIFFICULT FOR RESEARCHERS TO DETERMINE WHICH POTENTIAL PATTERNS ARE REAL AND WHICH ARE SPURIOUS. TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM, RESEARCHERS UTILIZE COMPUTER ALGORITHMS TO THOROUGHLY EXPLORE ALL POSSIBLE UNDERLYING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG VARIABLES THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN THE OBSERVED DATA. SUCH ALGORITHMS CAN BE SLOW, COSTLY, AND DIFFICULT TO CREATE, SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE THEM FASTER AND EASIER FOR RESEARCHERS TO USE. THE INVESTIGATORS OF THIS PROJECT HAVE PREVIOUSLY CREATED A SOFTWARE PACKAGE CALLED NIMBLE (NUMERICAL INFERENCE FOR STATISTICAL MODELS USING BAYESIAN AND LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATION) FOR THIS PURPOSE. NIMBLE HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY USED FOR MANY COMPLEX DATA ANALYSIS PROBLEMS. COMPARED TO OTHER RELEVANT SOFTWARE, NIMBLE ENABLES RESEARCHERS TO USE A WIDER RANGE OF ALGORITHMS AND TO CUSTOMIZE ALGORITHMS TO EACH RESEARCH PROBLEM. THIS HAS ALLOWED MUCH FASTER PERFORMANCE IN SOME CASES, WHICH IN TURN ALLOWS MORE COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX DATA. IN THE CURRENT PROJECT, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL EXTEND NIMBLE?S CAPABILITIES. THEY WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO USE SOME KIND OF ACCURATE MATHEMATICAL APPROXIMATIONS FOR STATISTICAL CALCULATIONS IN COMBINATION WITH EXISTING ALGORITHMS, WHICH IN TURN WILL ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO CREATE NEW KINDS OF HYBRID ALGORITHMS FOR DATA ANALYSIS. THEY WILL ALSO MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO USE CERTAIN KINDS OF VERY EFFICIENT CALCULATIONS IN SOME PROBLEMS, WHICH WILL GREATLY IMPROVE PERFORMANCE. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ALSO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND TRAINING TO USERS OF THE SOFTWARE AS WELL AS CREATING EDUCATIONAL MODULES TO HELP THE NEXT GENERATION OF UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS LEARN TO USE THESE METHODS. NIMBLE IS UNIQUE AMONG HIERARCHICAL STATISTICAL MODELING SOFTWARE BECAUSE IT COMBINES A LANGUAGE FOR STATISTICAL MODELS, A LANGUAGE FOR MODEL-GENERIC ALGORITHMS, AND A COMPILER TO GENERATE AND USE C++ SOURCE CODE FOR MODELS AND ALGORITHMS. IN THE CURRENT PROJECT, NIMBLE WILL BE EXTENDED TO SUPPORT HYBRID METHODS BY ENABLING ALGORITHMS TO BE NESTED WITHIN MODELS. THIS WILL ALLOW METHODS SUCH AS SPARSE GRID QUADRATURE TO INTEGRATE OVER ONE SET OF MODEL DIMENSIONS TO ACHIEVE THE CALCULATIONS NEEDED BY ANOTHER ALGORITHM SUCH AS MARKOV CHAIN MONTE CARLO. IN TURN, THIS CAPABILITY WILL ALLOW COMPOSITION OF METHODS SUCH AS LAPLACE APPROXIMATION AND METHODS THAT USE IT. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO EXTEND NIMBLE?S ALGORITHM LANGUAGE TO SUPPORT SPARSE MATRIX ALGEBRA METHODS, ALLOWING THIS EFFICIENT APPROACH TO BE USED BY ALGORITHM DEVELOPERS TO ENHANCE COMPUTATIONAL EFFICIENCY. TOGETHER, THE ADVANCES IN THIS PROJECT WILL ENHANCE STATISTICAL RESEARCH BY ENABLING NIMBLE TO SERVE AS A HUB FOR COMPOSITION OF MODELS AND METHODS, WHEREBY A DATA ANALYST CAN CREATE ONE STATISTICAL MODEL AND USE MANY DIFFERENT METHODS WITH IT. FINALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL INCLUDE TRAINING AND SUPPORT FOR NEW AND EXISTING USERS. 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 PROPOSAL: FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH STUDENT TEAMS (FURST)

RAPID: IMPACTS OF STATE SECURITY RESPONSES TO GLOBAL SPORTING EVENTS ON MARGINAL SOCIAL GROUPS AND THEIR INFORMAL ECONOMIES

TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR DAMOP 2015 FOR U.S. STUDENTS

FY 2011 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (SURF) - GAITHERSBURG

CONFERENCE ON ISOPERIMETRIC PROBLEMS

TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR DAMOP2015 FOR US STUDENTS -THE CONFERENCE IS BEING HELD JUNE 8-12, 2015 AT THE GREATER COLUMBUS CONVENTION CENTER IN COLUMBUS, OHI

SMALL PROGRAM 2008 CONFERENCE, JUNE 2008

CONFERENCE: 21ST INTERNATIONAL FIBONACCI CONFERENCE -THIS AWARD IS TO PROVIDE PARTIAL SUPPORT FOR ATTENDEES OF THE 21ST INTERNATIONAL FIBONACCI CONFERENCE WHICH WILL RUN FROM JULY 8TH TO 12TH, 2024 AT HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE IN CALIFORNIA. FIBONACCI NUMBERS IN PARTICULAR AND RECURRENCE RELATIONS IN GENERAL ARISE IN MANY AREAS. THUS THERE ARE MANY COLLEAGUES AT ALL LEVELS, FROM R1 INSTITUTIONS TO TEACHING COLLEGES TO GENERAL SCIENTISTS, WORKING ON PROBLEMS IN THE FIELD. THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE AN INVITING AVENUE FOR PEOPLE TO PRESENT THEIR WORK AND MEET OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES. BY BRINGING TOGETHER A DIVERSE GROUP OF RESEARCHERS AND PRACTITIONERS WE EXPECT, AS HAS HAPPENED IN PREVIOUS YEARS, TO HAVE A PRODUCTIVE MEETING WHERE SEVERAL VANTAGE POINTS ARE PROVIDED TO RESEARCHERS TO HELP SUGGEST APPROACHES AND RELATED PROBLEMS; BASED ON SUCCESSES FROM PREVIOUS CONFERENCES WE EXPECT MANY NEW COLLABORATIONS TO FORM. WE HAVE EXPANDED TOPICS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS TO INCLUDE APPLICATIONS IN MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY, MUSIC, AND SECONDARY EDUCATION TO EXCITE THE NEXT GENERATION OF STUDENTS. RUN BY THE FIBONACCI ASSOCIATION, MANY OF THE TALKS WILL BE RECORDED AND MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, AND PAPERS RELATED TO THE TALKS WILL BE PUBLISHED AS A CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS AS A SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE FIBONACCI QUARTERLY. WITH TWO SESSIONS EACH DAY WHICH CAN BE ATTENDED IN PERSON OR BY ZOOM, SPEAKERS WILL DISCUSS THEIR WORK IN 20 MINUTE TALKS. TOPICS RANGE FROM APPLICATIONS TO $L$-FUNCTIONS TO GRAPH THEORY TO COMBINATORIAL GAMES TO MATHEMATICS EDUCATION TO MUSIC TO EXPANDED PREDATOR-PREY MODELS IN MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY. THERE WILL ALSO BE 1-2 PROBLEM SESSIONS WHERE RESEARCHERS WILL DISCUSS BOTH PROBLEMS RELATED TO THEIR TALKS AS WELL AS ACCESSIBLE TOPICS FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS; THE GOAL IS TO BUILD RESEARCH GROUPS WITH SENIOR PERSONNEL MENTORING THE LARGE NUMBER OF YOUNG MATHEMATICIANS IN ATTENDANCE. FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE: HTTPS://21STINTERNATIONALFIBONACCICONFERENCE.WORDPRESS.COM/ . 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.

FY 2016 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP CNST

TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR DAMOP 2015 FOR U.S. STUDENTS

RUI: IMAGING AND SPECTRA AT THE 2023 AND 2024 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSES -A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOLAR CORONA REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AREAS IN SOLAR RESEARCH. STUDIES OF THE SOLAR CORONA DURING SOLAR ECLIPSES HAVE BEEN A MAJOR PART OF THE SUCCESS OF THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE ASTRONOMY DEPARTMENT IN ATTRACTING AND TRAINING STUDENTS. THIS PROJECT CONTINUES SOLAR ECLIPSE STUDIES WITH UNIQUE, GROUND-BASED MEASUREMENTS IN CONCERT WITH SPACE-BASED AND GROUND-BASED RADIO OBSERVATIONS FROM NSF-FUNDED TELESCOPES. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, INCLUDING STUDENTS FROM UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS IN STEM, WILL BE TRAINED AND PARTICIPATING IN OBSERVATIONS OF TWO SOLAR ECLIPSES. THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OBSERVATIONS INCLUDE EXQUISITELY HIGH-RESOLUTION OBSERVATIONS WITH A FABRY-PEROT AND WITH LYOT/HALLE FILTERS. OBSERVATIONS ALSO INCLUDE HIGH-FREQUENCY (> 1 HZ) POWER SPECTRA OF NARROW-BAND CORONAL LOOPS TO COMPARE MECHANISMS OF CORONAL HEATING. SPECTROGRAPHIC OBSERVATIONS CONTINUE TO STUDY CHANGES OF THE SPECTRAL-LINE RATIOS OVER THE SOLAR-ACTIVITY CYCLE THROUGH THE PREDICTED 2024 LOW MAXIMUM, COMPARING WITH PREVIOUS SOLAR-MINIMUM OBSERVATIONS FROM THIS GROUP. ADDITIONALLY, RADIO OBSERVATIONS WILL BE MAKE WITH THE NSF-FUNDED JANSKY VERY LARGE ARRAY, TO PROVIDE THE BEST-EVER MAPPING OF ACTIVE REGIONS TO PINPOINT THE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS OF RADIO AND EUV ERUPTION ORIGINS, AND OWENS VALLEY RADIO OBSERVATORY AND A RADIOTELESCOPE IN THE APPLE VALLEY. THE AIM IS TO STUDY DIFFERENCES IN THE CORONA DURING SOLAR MINIMUM AND SOLAR MAXIMUM. 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.