Oberlin College

HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND - OBERLIN COLLEGE-IHE/INSTITUTION

HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND - OBERLIN COLLEGE

TAS::89 0318::TAS - NEW AWARD TO OBERLIN COLLEGE FOR EFFORT ENTITLED "ENERGY TRANSMISSION AND INFRASTRUCTURE NORTHERN OHIO"

TRIO - STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES - STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM

MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF A 600 MHZ NMR CONSOLE AND A HELIUM RECOVERY SYSTEM FOR SHARED USE IN RESEARCH AND TEACHING -THIS AWARD IS FUNDED BY THE MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAM AND THE CHEMISTRY RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAMS TO ACQUIRE A CONSOLE FOR A 600 MHZ NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) SPECTROMETER TO ENHANCE THE RESEARCH OF SIX FACULTY AND THE TRAINING OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT OBERLIN COLLEGE. NMR IS A POWERFUL TECHNIQUE FOR STUDYING MOLECULAR STRUCTURE, AND THE INSTRUMENT WILL EXPAND THE RANGE OF EXPERIMENTS FACULTY AND STUDENTS CAN PERFORM ON LIQUID AND SOLID SAMPLES. IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE MORE PRECISE MEASUREMENTS, AND THROUGH THE USE OF AN AUTOMATED SAMPLE CHANGER, INCREASE RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY. THE RESEARCH AREAS OF THE FACULTY INCLUDE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY, MATERIALS SCIENCE, ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, AND NMR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, AND ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY. FACULTY-STUDENT RESEARCH USING THE NEW INSTRUMENT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO KNOWLEDGE IN SUCH AREAS AS DETECTION OF LEAD IN DRINKING WATER, UNDERSTANDING OF DRUG ACTION AND PROTEIN FUNCTION, AND DESIGN OF CATALYSTS. ACCESS TO UP-TO-DATE INSTRUMENTATION IS ESSENTIAL TO WORKFORCE TRAINING AND PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTIFIC LEADERS. THE STATE-OF-THE-ART INSTRUMENT WILL BE USED IN MENTORED STUDENT RESEARCH AND IN COURSES THAT SERVE CHEMISTRY, BIOCHEMISTRY, AND BIOLOGY MAJORS AND PRE-MEDICAL STUDENTS. A HELIUM RECOVERY SYSTEM WILL AID IN THE NATIONAL EFFORT TO CONSERVE HELIUM, A LIMITED RESOURCE THAT IS NECESSARY FOR THE OPERATION OF THE NMR INSTRUMENT. THE NEW 600 MHZ CONSOLE HAS ENHANCED SENSITIVITY AND THROUGHPUT, AND ITS COMBINED LIQUIDS AND SOLIDS CAPABILITY, UNCOMMON IN ONE NMR INSTRUMENT, AND WILL EXPAND THE RANGE OF RESEARCH POSSIBLE. RESEARCH PROJECTS BY THE 6 FACULTY-STUDENT TEAMS INCLUDE THE USE OF NMR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY TO STUDY THE KINETICS OF CO-CRYSTAL FORMATION, ELUCIDATE ATMOSPHERIC SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOL REACTION MECHANISMS, MAP DRIVERS OF SELECTIVITY IN SYNTHETICALLY IMPORTANT TRANSFORMATIONS, EXPLORE MELANIN-INSPIRED MATERIALS, CHARACTERIZE SMALL-MOLECULE PROBES TO STUDY TRANSMEMBRANE PROTEASES, AND INVESTIGATE HYBRID INORGANIC-ORGANIC MATERIALS. IN LIQUIDS MODE, MULTIPLE NUCLEI ARE INVESTIGATED; AND IN SOLIDS MODE, MAGIC ANGLE SPINNING SPECTRA OF MULTIPLE NUCLEI ARE COLLECTED. TRIPLE-CHANNEL AND PULSE PROGRAMMING CAPABILITIES OF THE CONSOLE ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO PERFORM EXPERIMENTS NOT POSSIBLE WITH THE OLDER CONSOLE. THANKS TO ADVANCES IN INSTRUMENT INTEGRATION, THE AUTOMATED SAMPLE CHANGER ACCESSORY CAN SUPPORT THE LIQUIDS PROBE AND THE SOLIDS PROBE, ALLOWING EFFICIENT INSTRUMENT USE IN BOTH MODES. THE CLOSED-LOOP HELIUM SYSTEM, DEDICATED TO THE 600 MHZ NMR MAGNET, CAN CAPTURE THE HELIUM BOILOFF, LIQUEFY THE GAS, AND RETURN IT TO THE CRYOSTAT IN CONTINUOUS FASHION AND IS DESIGNED FOR NEARLY 100% RECOVERY. 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.

RENOVATING AND EXPANDING RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING FACILITIES IN THE GEOSCIENCES AT OBERLIN COLLEGE

CPATH- 2: TEACHING COMPUTATIONAL THINKING THROUGH INTEGRATION OF DYNAMIC SYSTEMS MODELING

ACTIVITY-BASED PROTEIN PROFILING OF THE HUMAN RHOMBOID PROTEASES FOR INHIBITOR DISCOVERY AND ENZYME CHARACTERIZATION - HYDROLASES, PROTEINS THAT CLEAVE COVALENT BONDS USING WATER, REPRESENT ONE OF THE LARGEST CLASSES OF ENZYMES IN THE HUMAN BODY AND PLAY ESSENTIAL ROLES IN NUMEROUS PHYSIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS RANGING FROM DIGESTION TO NERVOUS SYSTEM SIGNALING. DESPITE THE PREVALENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF THIS ENZYME CLASS, THE BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF MANY HYDROLASES REMAIN POORLY CHARACTERIZED. AMONG THESE LESS STUDIED MEMBERS, RHOMBOID INTRAMEMBRANE PROTEASES (RIPS), WHICH PERFORM HYDROLYSIS CHEMISTRY WITHIN THE HYDROPHOBIC ENVIRONMENT OF BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES, ARE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST. MUTATION AND DYSREGULATION OF THESE ENZYMES IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES AND MULTIPLE TYPES OF CANCER MOTIVATES THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENHANCED UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR PHYSIOLOGICAL ROLES AND AN INVESTIGATION OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO SERVE AS THERAPEUTIC TARGETS; HOWEVER, METHODS TO CONDUCT THESE STUDIES ARE CURRENTLY LACKING. ACTIVITY-BASED PROTEIN PROFILING (ABPP) TECHNOLOGY, IN WHICH ACTIVE SITE-DIRECTED CHEMICAL PROBES ARE USED TO DETECT ENZYME ACTIVITY, HAS FACILITATED THE CHARACTERIZATION OF MANY SERINE HYDROLASES. AS MEMBERS OF THIS SUPERFAMILY OF ENZYMES, RIPS REPRESENT PROMISING CANDIDATES FOR STUDY BY ABPP METHODS, WHICH CAN THEN BE LEVERAGED TO DISCOVER SELECTIVE INHIBITORS AND TO CHARACTERIZE THE ACTIVE PROTEOFORMS OF THESE ENZYMES. THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO (1) DEVELOP OPTIMIZED ABPP ASSAYS TO MONITOR THE ACTIVITY OF EACH OF THE FIVE HUMAN RHOMBOID PROTEASES IN COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES, (2) GENERATE AND SCREEN A LIBRARY OF N-SULFONYLATED HETEROCYCLES AS POTENTIAL INHIBITORS FOR THESE ENZYMES, AND (3) CHARACTERIZE PROTEOLYTIC PROCESSING OF THE ER-LOCALIZED RIP RHBDL4 AND THE IMPACT OF PROCESSING ON ENZYMATIC ACTIVITY. THESE STUDIES WILL EMPOWER EFFORTS TO INVESTIGATE THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ROLES OF THE HUMAN RIPS AND THEIR POTENTIAL AS THERAPEUTIC TARGETS. FURTHER, THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TRAIN OBERLIN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS IN CONTEMPORARY CHEMICAL BIOLOGY METHODS THAT INCORPORATE TECHNIQUES FROM SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY, BIOCHEMISTRY, AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. RESEARCH STUDENTS AT OBERLIN WILL LEARN THEORY AND ADVANCED LABORATORY SKILLS NOT OTHERWISE COVERED IN AN UNDERGRADUATE CLASSROOM SETTING WHILE DEVELOPING THEIR ABILITY TO ANALYZE AND PRESENT SCIENTIFIC DATA. COLLECTIVELY, THESE ACTIVITIES WILL ENRICH THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AT OBERLIN COLLEGE AND HELP PREPARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF RESEARCHERS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY MOLECULAR SCIENCE.

CAREER: GYPSUM ENDEMICS OF THE CHIHUAHUAN DESERT: EXPLORING THE ORIGINS AND DIVERSIFICATION OF AN EDAPHIC FLORA USING COMPARATIVE PHYLOGENETICS AND

EQUIPMENT: MRI TRACK 1: ACQUISITION OF A LA-ICP-MS FOR RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING -THIS MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION (MRI) AWARD PROVIDES FUNDING TO OBERLIN COLLEGE TO ACQUIRE A LASER ABLATION INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA QUADRUPOLE MASS SPECTROMETER (LA-ICP-MS), AN INSTRUMENT USED TO ANALYZE A BROAD RANGE OF SOLID (MINERAL AND TISSUE) AND LIQUID SAMPLES TO DEEPEN UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR COMPOSITION AND SIGNIFICANCE. THIS HIGHLY VERSATILE SYSTEM WILL ENABLE TEN FACULTY ? SIX FROM THREE DEPARTMENTS AT OBERLIN COLLEGE AND FOUR FROM OTHER OHIO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ? TO PERFORM CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AND TO TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE SCIENCE STUDENTS. OBERLIN COLLEGE GEOSCIENCES FACULTY AND STUDENTS WILL MAP THE DISTRIBUTION OF TRACE METALS IN MINERALS IN METAMORPHIC ROCKS TO RECONSTRUCT THEIR PRESSURE-TEMPERATURE HISTORIES, AND, BY EXAMINING ISOTOPE CLOCKS IN THE MINERAL ZIRCON, STUDY FUNDAMENTAL EARTH PROCESSES SUCH AS MOUNTAIN BUILDING. OTHER FACULTY WILL APPLY SIMILAR TECHNIQUES TO FOSSILS AND MODERN SHELLS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THESE ORGANISMS RESPOND TO AND RECORD THE CHANGING CLIMATE. THE INSTRUMENT WILL ALSO BE USED TO STUDY CHLORINE POLLUTION IN LAKE ERIE AND TO RESEARCH EROSION AND CHANGING LAND USE. FACULTY IN NEUROSCIENCE AND CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY WILL STUDY THE UPTAKE OF HEAVY METALS IN BRAIN TISSUE AND THE MODEL ORGANISM CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS (C. ELEGANS), RESEARCH THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING THE HARMFUL IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS. THE LA-ICP-MS WILL ENHANCE THE RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY OF THE TEN-MEMBER PROPOSING TEAM, WHICH IS MAJORITY FEMALE AND INCLUDES FOUR EARLY-CAREER SCIENTISTS AND THREE MEMBERS OF MINORITIZED GROUPS UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE SCIENCES. OBERLIN IS A LEADING EDUCATOR OF STUDENTS WHO GO ON TO EARN PHDS IN THE SCIENCES, AND THIS INSTRUMENT WILL IMPROVE THE RESEARCH TRAINING OF UNDERGRADUATES, WHO WILL USE IT IN UPPER-LEVEL CLASSES AS WELL AS IN INDEPENDENT PROJECTS. IT WILL ALSO IMPROVE THE ABILITY OF OBERLIN AND THE OTHER PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS ? DENISON UNIVERSITY, THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER, AND CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY ? TO RECRUIT AND TRAIN A DIVERSE GROUP OF STUDENTS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. THE ACQUISITION OF AN ICP-MS WITH TANDEM QUADRUPOLES AND GAS REACTION CELL COUPLED TO A 193 NM LASER ABLATION SYSTEM WITH PRECISE STAGE CONTROL WILL ENABLE FACULTY AT OBERLIN TO PERFORM CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH WHILE RECRUITING AND TRAINING FUTURE SCIENTISTS. THE NEWEST GENERATION OF LA SYSTEMS SUPPORTS HIGH-RESOLUTION (~3 ?M) SPATIAL ANALYSES WITH A FAST WASH-OUT, WHICH, WHEN CAREFULLY SYNCHRONIZED WITH A HIGH-SENSITIVITY QUADRUPOLE ICP-MS, ALLOWS FOR DETAILED IMAGING OF TRACE ELEMENTS, OPENING UP NEW AVENUES OF RESEARCH. LIKEWISE, SUBSTANTIAL RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TANDEM QUADRUPOLE AND COLLISION/REACTION CELL MASS SPECTROMETRY ALLOW GREATLY INCREASED SENSITIVITY THROUGH THE REMOVAL OF MASS INTERFERENCES. SCIENCE EDUCATION AT OBERLIN IS ENHANCED BY THE ACTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS OF INDIVIDUAL AND COLLABORATIVE FACULTY, AND ACCESS TO THE LA-ICP-MS SYSTEM WILL ADVANCE SEVERAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS AT THE INSTITUTION, WILL ENABLE OBERLIN TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN A TOP SCIENCE FACULTY AND PROVIDE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THEM TO REMAIN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THEIR DISCIPLINES WHILE CONTINUING OUR MISSION OF HIGH-QUALITY RESEARCH TRAINING. IMPORTANTLY, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL BE PRIMARY USERS OF THE LA-ICP-MS, ENABLING THEM TO DEVELOP HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS USEFUL FOR THEIR FUTURE CAREERS IN SCIENCE 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.

EXPANDING AND IMPROVING STORAGE FOR THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF THE ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM AT OBERLIN COLLEGE

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE FOR STUDENT-FACULTY RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING

CAREER: UNDERSTANDING AND DIRECTING SELECTIVITY IN FUNCTIONALIZATIONS OF STRONG COVALENT BONDS UTILIZING COORDINATION-SPHERE EFFECTS -WITH SUPPORT OF THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE, DYNAMICS & MECHANISMS-B PROGRAM OF THE CHEMISTRY DIVISION, SHUMING CHEN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT OBERLIN COLLEGE WILL USE COMPUTATIONAL MODELS TO HELP UNDERSTAND AND STEER SELECTIVITY IN REACTIONS CATALYZED BY TRANSITION METAL-LIGAND COMPLEXES. THESE REACTIONS CAN BE USED TO TRANSFORM STRONG COVALENT BONDS, SUCH AS CARBON-CARBON AND CARBON-HYDROGEN BONDS, INTO USEFULLY FUNCTIONALIZED COMPOUNDS, WITH WIDE-RANGING IMPLICATIONS FOR CATALYTIC CHEMISTRY IN MATERIALS SYNTHESIS, NATURAL PRODUCT TOTAL SYNTHESIS AND PHARMACEUTICAL DRUG CANDIDATE SYNTHESIS. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO PURSUE EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES AIMED AT FOSTERING GREATER INVOLVEMENT IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR STUDENTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUNDS. THESE INITIATIVES ENCOMPASS A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING THE SEED EXPERIENCE IN AUTHENTIC RESEARCH FOR FIRST-YEARS (SEARF) WORKSHOP, WHICH OFFERS FIRST-YEAR CHEMISTRY STUDENTS AT OBERLIN A STRAIGHTFORWARD ENTRY POINT INTO AUTHENTIC RESEARCH. COLLABORATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF OPEN-SOURCE PEDAGOGICAL MODULES WILL ADDRESS CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH TEACHING TRANSITION-METAL MECHANISMS IN UNDERGRADUATE CLASSROOMS. TO FURTHER PROMOTE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, THE PROJECT WILL ALSO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO PERFORM RESEARCH THROUGHOUT THE ACADEMIC YEAR AND TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS. WHILE MECHANISTIC INSIGHT DERIVED FROM COMPUTATIONS IS INCREASINGLY USED TO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SYNTHETIC METHODOLOGIES, MANY IMPORTANT TRANSITION-METAL-CATALYZED SYSTEMS REMAIN CHALLENGING FOR COMPUTATIONALLY-GUIDED REACTION DESIGN. THE OVERARCHING RESEARCH OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND APPLY EFFECTIVE COMPUTATIONAL MODELS TO UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT TRANSITION-METAL-CATALYZED FUNCTIONALIZATIONS OF STRONG COVALENT BONDS. BUILDING ON PRELIMINARY RESULTS THAT REVEALED MULTIPLE TYPES OF UNEXPECTED COORDINATION-SPHERE EFFECTS IN C?H, C?C AND C=C FUNCTIONALIZATION SYSTEMS, DR. CHEN AND HER RESEARCH GROUP PLAN TO CARRY OUT COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES THAT WILL SHED LIGHT ON THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN COORDINATION-SPHERE ELEMENTS. THEY AIM TO ELUCIDATE THE POWER STRUCTURE OF COORDINATION-SPHERE EFFECTS, INCLUDING THE PRIMARY (CORE LIGAND MOIETIES), SECONDARY (PENDANT LIGAND MOIETIES), AND TERTIARY (SOLVENT SHELL) COORDINATION SPHERES, IN KEY MECHANISTIC STEPS THAT OFTEN CONSTITUTE THE ENERGETIC BOTTLENECKS OF SYNTHETICALLY USEFUL CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS. THEIR EFFORTS HAVE THE IMPORTANT POTENTIAL TO QUANTIFY THESE EFFECTS ON MEASURABLE REACTION OUTCOMES AND REVEAL PRODUCTIVE DIRECTIONS FOR REACTION DESIGN BASED UPON COORDINATION SPHERE EFFECTS. 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: SUGAR-MEDIATED REMODELING OF THE E. COLI TRANSCRIPTOME AND ITS IMPACT ON BIOFILM GROWTH AND COMPOSITION -ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE HAS REDUCED THE EFFICACY OF MANY ANTIBIOTICS AND LED TO LIVESTOCK CULLING, COMPROMISED CROPS, AND INCREASED HUMAN DEATHS. RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS IS HEIGHTENED WHEN BACTERIAL CELLS ARE IN THE SEDENTARY, BIOFILM STATE. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IDENTIFY ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS THAT LEAD TO DEFECTS IN BIOFILM FORMATION AND/OR AN INCREASE IN THE ANTIBIOTIC SENSITIVITY OF BIOFILM-ASSOCIATED BACTERIA. RESEARCH AND EDUCATION WILL BE INTEGRATED THROUGH A COURSE-BASED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (CURE) IN AN UPPER-DIVISION BIOCHEMISTRY LABORATORY THAT HAS APPROXIMATELY 40 STUDENTS ANNUALLY. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS OF THE PROJECT IS THAT DIFFERENT SUGARS REMODEL THE BACTERIAL TRANSCRIPTOME TO MODULATE BIOFILM GROWTH AND THE COMPOSITION OF THE EXTRACELLULAR SUBSTANCES SURROUNDING CELLS IN THE BIOFILM. A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF MONOSACCHARIDES ON E. COLI BIOFILM FORMATION AND COMPOSITION HAS NOT BEEN CONDUCTED AT EITHER PHENOTYPIC OR TRANSCRIPTOMIC LEVELS. TO UNDERSTAND HOW SUGARS MIGHT BE INFLUENCING BIOFILM GROWTH AND COMPOSITION, TWO METHODS OF INQUIRY WILL BE PURSUED. FIRST, THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MONOSACCHARIDES ON BIOFILM GROWTH AND COMPOSITION WILL BE MEASURED USING WELL-ESTABLISHED UV-VISIBLE GROWTH AND BIOCHEMICAL ASSAYS AND CONFOCAL SCANNING LASER MICROSCOPY. SECOND, THE EFFECT OF THESE MONOSACCHARIDES ON THE TRANSCRIPTOMES OF PLANKTONIC AND BIOFILM BACTERIA WILL BE CHARACTERIZED USING RNA-SEQ AND PUTATIVE TARGETS WILL BE CONFIRMED WITH DELETION STUDIES. THE UNIQUE FOCUS ON EXAMINING BOTH GROWTH AND COMPOSITION WILL PROVIDE THE FIELD WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT HOW SPECIFIC PATHWAYS INTERACT TO CHANGE THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX, WHICH RELATES TO THE HEARTINESS OF BIOFILM. UNDERSTANDING THE INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS SUGARS ON THESE PROCESSES WILL REVEAL HOW DIFFERENT CARBON METABOLIC PATHWAYS ARE INTERLINKED WITH BIOFILM FORMATION AND COMPOSITION. MOREOVER, LEVERAGE POINTS WILL BE IDENTIFIED IN THESE LINKED METABOLIC AND SIGNALING PATHWAYS THAT COULD WORK SYNERGISTICALLY TO ERADICATE OR PROMOTE BIOFILM FORMATION. THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE THE GREATER SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY WITH A LIST OF PATHWAYS AND INDIVIDUAL PROTEINS TO TARGET, WHICH WILL AUGMENT THE LEADS MEDICINAL CHEMISTS CAN USE TO DEVELOP NEW ANTIBIOTICS AND PROVIDE MATERIALS CHEMISTS WITH A STARTING POINT FOR DEVELOPING ANTIBIOFILM COMPOUNDS FOR COATINGS. 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.

ENDOWMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE CURATOR OF ASIAN ART AT THE ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM, OBERLIN COLLEGE

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING CLUSTER TO ENHANCE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ACROSS THE SCIENCES AT OBERLIN COLLEGE

RCN-UBE: MIDWEST AND GREAT PLAINS PULSE NETWORK - BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY FOR INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE BIOLOGY EDUCATION

CAREER: COMPLEX LEAD OXIDES AS CORROSION FILMS AND EXTENDED INORGANIC HYBRIDS

RUI: THERMODYNAMICS AND NMR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY OF ORGANIC CRYSTAL FORMS

SEX DIFFERENCE IN COCAINE-INDUCED IMPULSIVITY: CONTRIBUTION OF THE MESOCORTICOLIMBIC DOPAMINE SYSTEM AND ESTRADIOL - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT FEMALE DRUG USERS ESCALATE TO MORE PROBLEMATIC PATTERNS OF DRUG USE MORE RAPIDLY THAN MALE DRUG USERS. FURTHER THEY EXHIBIT GREATER DYSREGULATION IN THEIR DRUG-TAKING BEHAVIOR. IT IS HYPOTHESIZED THAT FLUCTUATIONS IN CIRCULATING OVARIAN HORMONES (ESTRADIOL AND PROGESTERONE) CONTRIBUTE TO THE VARIABILITY IN DRUG-TAKING BEHAVIOR. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN ESTRADIOL LEVELS ARE HIGH, FEMALES EXHIBIT ENHANCED COCAINE-SELF- ADMINISTRATION, COCAINE REWARD AND INCREASED COCAINE-INDUCED LOCOMOTOR ACTIVITY. FURTHERMORE, ESTRADIOL ENHANCES PSYCHOSTIMULANT-MEDIATED DOPAMINE RELEASE. WE HAVE RECENTLY FOUND THAT FEMALE RATS EXHIBIT ENHANCED COCAINE-INDUCED IMPULSIVE ACTION AND EXHIBIT INCREASES IN D1 RECEPTORS IN BRAIN REGIONS REGULATING IMPULSIVITY. THE GOALS OF THIS PROPOSAL ARE TO DETERMINE 1) IF DOPAMINE D1 RECEPTORS CONTRIBUTE TO THE ENHANCEMENT OF COCAINE-INDUCED IMPULSIVITY IN FEMALE RATS, 2) IF COCAINE-INDUCED IMPULSIVITY FLUCTUATES ACROSS THE ESTROUS CYCLE AND, 3) IF EXOGENOUS ADMINISTRATION OF EITHER ESTRADIOL OR PROGESTERONE AFFECTS COCAINE-INDUCED IMPULSIVITY IN OVARIECTOMIZED RATS. IN ALL CASES IMPULSIVE ACTION WILL BE MEASURED USING THE 5-CHOICE SERIAL REACTION TIME (5CSRT) TASK AND THE DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT OF LOW RATES OF RESPONDING (DRL) TASK. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL DETERMINE IF OVARIAN HORMONES AFFECT THE EXPRESSION DOPAMINE-RELATED PROTEINS (E.G., D1 RECEPTORS, D2 RECEPTORS, TYROSINE HYDROXYLASE, DOPAMINE TRANSPORTER, AND THE VESICULAR MONOAMINE TRANSPORTER) IN BRAIN AREAS THAT REGULATE IMPULSIVE ACTION (E.G., PREFRONTAL CORTEX, VENTRAL STRIATUM, DORSAL STRIATUM) USING WESTERN BLOTS. THIS WORK WILL DETERMINE IF CHANGES DRUG-INDUCED IMPULSIVITY COULD CONTRIBUTE TO OBSERVED SEX DIFFERENCES IN DRUG-TAKING BEHAVIOR; ULTIMATELY THIS MAY LEAD TO MORE TARGETED APPROACHES TO TREATMENT. FURTHERMORE, THIS WORK WILL HELP INSPIRE AND TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS AT OBERLIN COLLEGE TO CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS THAT INVOLVE A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF BEHAVIORAL AND MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES. NOT ONLY WILL STUDENTS LEARN A VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES, BUT THEY WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN, DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION OF DATA AT CONFERENCES AND THE PREPARATION OF RESULTING MANUSCRIPTS. THUS, THIS PROPOSAL WILL ENHANCE THE STUDENTS’ EDUCATION AND WILL ENHANCE THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AT OBERLIN COLLEGE.

RUI: ASSESSING MECHANISMS FOR ORGANOSULFATE FORMATION IN SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOL

DETERMINING THE CONTRIBUTION OF STRIATAL PATCHES AND DOPAMINE TO HABIT FORMATION

DEVELOPMENT OF APTAMER-BASED DETECTION AND THERAPY STRATEGIES FOR OVARIAN CANCER

RUI: ANALYSIS OF THE MOLECULAR, CELLULAR AND PHYSIOLOGIC REGULATION OF A PROTON MEDIATED CELL-CELL SIGNALING EVENT IN C. ELEGANS

RUI: GAS AND AEROSOL PHASE CHEMISTRY OF MULTI-GENERATION ISOPRENE OXIDATION PRODUCTS

RUI: NMR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND WEAK HYDROGEN BONDS

TO CARRY OUT AFCP PROJECT IN LIBYA

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DEVELOPMENT OF 2D IR SPECTROSCOPY AS A QUANTITATIVE PROBE OF PROTEIN STRUCTURE, WITH APPLICATIONS TO MEMBRANE AND AGGREGATED

RUI: ROOT ARCHITECTURE AND PHASE CHANGE, HOW TWO SEEMINGLY DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF PLANT DEVELOPMENT TIE TOGETHER

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE WITH INTEGRATED EDS, WDS, AND EBSD FOR RESEARCH AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH TRAINING

SES RUI: ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF SYSTEMS THINKING ON DECISION MAKING

RUI: NMR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY OF CO-CRYSTALS

RUI: LATERAL ROOT INITIATION

RUI: THE LABORATORY OPOSSUM AS A MODEL FOR STUDYING MAMMALIAN EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT

RUI: PROBING ADSORBATE INTERACTIONS IN METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS USING SITE SELECTIVE SPECTROSCOPY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RI: MEDIUM: RUI: AUTOMATED DECISION MAKING FOR OPEN MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS -VARIOUS TYPES OF UNCERTAINTIES COMPLICATE DECISION MAKING IN REAL-WORLD CONTEXTS. IN ADDITION TO IMPERFECT SENSING, THERE IS ADDED UNCERTAINTY IN SHARED CONTEXTS DUE TO THE UNKNOWN ACTIONS OF OTHERS AND THE DYNAMISM BROUGHT ABOUT BY THESE AGENTS. OPEN SYSTEMS ARE THOSE REAL-WORLD CONTEXTS WHOSE COMPOSITION CHANGES OVER TIME DUE TO EITHER INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL EVENTS. THIS RESEARCH INVESTIGATES HOW DECISION-MAKERS (I.E., AGENTS) MAY BEST ACT UNDER UNCERTAINTY IN OPEN SYSTEMS. THREE FORMS OF OPENNESS WILL BE EXPLORED. THE FIRST IS WHEN THE AGENTS ENTER OR LEAVE THE SYSTEM OVER TIME. THE SECOND OCCURS WHEN THE TASKS THAT MUST BE COMPLETED BY AGENTS CHANGE OVER TIME. THE THIRD OCCURS WHEN THE AGENTS? CAPABILITIES CHANGE FROM LEARNING NEW ROLES OR SKILLS. ALL THREE FORMS OF OPENNESS, THOUGH PREVALENT IN THE REAL WORLD AND FOUND IN EXAMPLES SUCH AS HUMAN ORGANIZATIONS, DISASTER RESPONSE, AND SMART TRANSPORTATION, HAVE NOT BEEN STUDIED PREVIOUSLY WITH RESPECT TO HOW THEY COMPLICATE DECISION MAKING AND THEIR IMPORTANT ROLE IN ENABLING APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. RESEARCHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITIES OF GEORGIA AND NEBRASKA-LINCOLN, AND FROM OBERLIN COLLEGE, WILL COLLABORATE ON THIS PROJECT. A NEW EVALUATION INITIATIVE LEADING INTO THE CREATION OF A COMPETITION INVOLVING USE-INSPIRED DOMAINS EXHIBITING VARIOUS TYPES OF OPENNESS WILL BE LAUNCHED TO SPUR BROADER INTEREST. AN INNOVATIVE LESSON MODULE BASED ON PRINCIPLES OF CREATIVE THINKING THAT BRINGS THE CHALLENGES OF OPENNESS AND HOW WE MAY ADDRESS THEM TO UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS WILL ALLOW THIS PROJECT?S OUTCOMES TO BE INTEGRATED INTO THE CLASSROOM. THE PROJECT TAKES THE APPROACH OF INVESTIGATING FRAMEWORKS FOR MODELING THE VARIOUS TYPES OF OPENNESS AND REALIZING METHODS FOR ACTING OPTIMALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF THESE FRAMEWORKS. SPECIFICALLY, THE RESEARCHERS WILL CONTINUE THEIR INVESTIGATIONS INTO SCALING AUTOMATED PLANNING AND REINFORCEMENT LEARNING TO OPEN SYSTEMS INVOLVING MANY AGENTS WITH A NOVEL FOCUS ON UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF TASK AND FRAME OPENNESS. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO COMBINE REPRESENTATIONS OF ALL THREE FORMS OF OPENNESS AND STUDY WHETHER THIS MAKES THE DECISION-MAKING PROBLEM FUNDAMENTALLY HARDER. SYNERGIES BETWEEN THE PLANNING AND LEARNING TECHNIQUES UNDER EACH TYPE OF OPENNESS WILL BE IDENTIFIED AND EXPLOITED. WHEN COMBINED WITH THE ADVANCES OF THE PAST COUPLE OF DECADES IN DECISION MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY DUE TO SENSOR NOISE, THESE METHODS WILL REPRESENT A TRANSFORMATIVE STEP IN TRANSLATING PRINCIPLED PLANNING AND LEARNING TO THE TRUE COMPLEXITIES OF REAL-WORLD CONTEXTS. 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: TROPOSPHERIC OZONE AND AEROSOL PRECURSORS FROM THE OXIDATION OF AROMATICS

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A POWDER X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER FOR RESEARCH AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH TRAINING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PM: RUI - SEARCHES FOR ULTRALIGHT BOSONIC DARK MATTER WITH ATOMIC MAGNETOMETER NETWORKS

RUI: DETECTING GRAVITATIONAL WAVES WITH PULSARS - ISM PROPAGATION DELAY

DO 'SCHIZOPHRENIA-LIKE' DECREASES IN CORTICAL GABA FUNCTION IMPAIR COGNITION?

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNLOCKING THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF SCHIEDEA (CARNATION FAMILY, CARYOPHYLLACEAE): RAPID RADIATION OF AN ENDEMIC PLANT GENUS IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

RUI: RECONSTRUCTING DISCRETE IMAGES FROM LOW-FREQUENCY FOURIER DATA -THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE HOW PRIOR MATHEMATICAL INFORMATION CAN BE USED TO DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE THE RESOLUTION OF IMAGES FROM BLURRED DATA. IN MANY REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS, THE IMAGES TO BE RECOVERED CONTAIN ONLY A FEW DISTINCT TYPES OF MATERIALS. THIS INCLUDES DISTINGUISHING SOLID ROCK FROM FLUID IN SCIENTIFIC IMAGING, BONE FROM SOFT TISSUE AND TUMORS IN MEDICAL SCANS, AND IDENTIFYING ORGANIC MATERIAL VERSUS METAL OR PLASTIC IN SECURITY SCREENINGS. THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON WAYS TO RESTORE FINE, HIGH-RESOLUTION DETAILS IN THESE KINDS OF DISCRETE IMAGES WHEN ONLY LOW-RESOLUTION INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE. THIS IS A COMMON CHALLENGE IN IMAGING SYSTEMS WHERE DATA IS DEGRADED BY NOISE, PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS, OR TRANSMISSION LOSSES. BY DEVELOPING NEW ALGORITHMS THAT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS STRONG MATHEMATICAL STRUCTURE, THE RESEARCH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND RESOLUTION OF IMAGING TECHNIQUES USED IN SCIENTIFIC, MEDICAL, AND SECURITY APPLICATIONS. A MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE PROJECT INVOLVES PROVIDING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH HANDS-ON RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE WITH CUTTING-EDGE TECHNIQUES IN MACHINE LEARNING, HELPING PREPARE THE FUTURE WORKFORCE WITH EXPERTISE IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF RESTORING MISSING DISCRETE FOURIER TRANSFORM (DFT) COEFFICIENTS IN BLURRED IMAGES BY LEVERAGING THE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE THAT EACH PIXEL TAKES ON A VALUE FROM A LIMITED, KNOWN SET. PRIOR WORK HAS ESTABLISHED STRONG THEORETICAL GUARANTEES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL EXTEND THESE RESULTS TO MORE GENERAL CASES WHERE THE KNOWN DFT DATA IS NOT CONFINED TO A PASS-BAND AND WHERE STANDARD ERROR CORRECTION TECHNIQUES ARE APPLIED. THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPING RELIABLE, EFFICIENT NUMERICAL METHODS FOR SUCH INVERSIONS, ALONG WITH PRACTICAL ANALYSES OF RUNTIME AND STABILITY. THE WORK WILL INTEGRATE TOOLS FROM CRYPTOGRAPHY, OPTIMIZATION, AND PROBABILITY THEORY. UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS WILL PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT, THEORETICAL ANALYSIS, AND COMPUTATIONAL EXPERIMENTATION, WITH STRUCTURED PROJECTS DESIGNED FOR MEANINGFUL STUDENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 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: FW-HTF-RM: AI-ASSISTED PROGRAMMING: EQUIPPING SOCIAL AND NATURAL SCIENTISTS FOR THE FUTURE OF RESEARCH -COMPUTER PROGRAMMING IS ESSENTIAL FOR MODERN SCIENCE. SCIENTISTS WRITE PROGRAMS TO CONTROL INSTRUMENTS, RUN SIMULATIONS, AND ANALYZE DATA. HOWEVER, THE PROGRAMMING TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES THAT SCIENTISTS USE OFTEN LAG BEHIND THOSE IN THE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INDUSTRY. THIS LAG MAKES SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY SLOWER, MORE COSTLY, AND CAN LEAD TO UNREPRODUCIBLE RESULTS. IN THE PAST TWO YEARS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TOOLS, SUCH AS CHATGPT, HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY. THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO MAKE SOFTWARE ENGINEERS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE PRODUCTIVE, BUT HAVE NOT HAD THE SAME IMPACT ON THE SCIENCES. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND TEST AI PROGRAMMING TOOLS THAT WORK FOR SCIENTISTS. THE RESEARCH TEAM IS DEVELOPING AI MODELS AND TOOLS THAT SUPPORT THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES THAT SCIENTISTS USE. THEY ARE DEVELOPING BENCHMARKS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AI TOOLS FOR PROGRAMMING TASKS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THE SCIENCES. THEY ARE INVESTIGATING HOW AI PROGRAMMING TOOLS CAN HELP COLLEGE STUDENTS STUDY SCIENCE MORE EFFECTIVELY. BY HARNESSING AI TO MAKE PROGRAMMING EASIER FOR SCIENTISTS, THE PROJECT IS HELPING TO ACCELERATE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY, LOWER ITS COST, AND ALLOW MORE PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN SCIENTIFIC WORK. THE PROJECT IS DEVELOPING LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS OF CODE AND ASSOCIATED TOOLS TO SUPPORT SCIENTISTS. TO UNDERSTAND SCIENTISTS' NEEDS, THE TEAM IS RUNNING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE STUDIES OF HOW SCIENTISTS WRITE PROGRAMS. BASED ON THESE FINDINGS, THEY ARE DEVELOPING DEEP NEURAL NETWORK MODELS FOR PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES THAT ARE FREQUENTLY USED IN THE SCIENCES, SUCH AS MATLAB AND R, BUT ARE LESS COMMONLY USED IN THE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INDUSTRY. THESE MODELS ARE PARTICULARLY HELPFUL FOR SCIENTISTS WHO ARE NOT EXPERT PROGRAMMERS; THEY CAN TURN DESCRIPTIONS INTO COMPUTER PROGRAMS, AND ALSO GENERATE EXPLANATIONS OF EXISTING PROGRAMS. THE TEAM IS DEVELOPING MODELS THAT SUPPORT THE PROGRAMMING PARADIGMS THAT SCIENTISTS USE, INCLUDING COMPUTATIONAL NOTEBOOKS AND PROGRAMS WHOSE STRUCTURE IS DETERMINED BY DATA FORMATS. THE TEAM IS DEVELOPING CODE GENERATION MODELS THAT CAN BE DEPLOYED ON PRIVATE, AIR GAPPED NETWORKS, MAKING THEM SUITABLE FOR SCIENTISTS WORKING IN SENSITIVE FIELDS, INCLUDING ENERGY AND DEFENSE. 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: BIOORGANIC CHEMISTRY OF EUMELANIN

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AF: SMALL: RUI: DATA SCIENCE FROM ECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS -THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP A THEORY OF COMPUTATIONAL LEARNING ADAPTED TO THE PARTICULAR CHALLENGES OF ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTS. SUCH ENVIRONMENTS OFTEN HAVE STRATEGIC PARTICIPANTS WHO ARE AWARE THAT THEIR DATA WILL BE USED BY A PLATFORM DESIGNER TO MAKE FUTURE DECISIONS. WHEN PARTICIPANTS ANTICIPATE THESE DECISIONS, THEY MAY CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR; A CONSUMER MAY WAIT FOR A COUPON TO PURCHASE, AND A CONTRACTOR MAY START THEIR PRICE HIGH TO FACILITATE LATER NEGOTIATIONS. STRATEGIC MANIPULATION IN TURN NECESSITATES NEW LEARNING ALGORITHMS WHICH INTERPRET THE DATA CORRECTLY AND USE IT CAREFULLY. THE APPLICATIONS OF INTEREST RANGE FROM E-COMMERCE AND MANAGERIAL DECISION-MAKING, WHERE FIRMS OPTIMIZE OPERATIONS FROM DATA, TO THE DESIGN OF THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET, WHERE THE SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS IMPACTS THE LIVELIHOODS OF THE MOST ECONOMICALLY VULNERABLE. THE END GOAL IS THEORETICAL CONCLUSIONS THAT CAN GUIDE BOTH DESIGNERS OF AND REGULATORS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS. THE STANDARD THEORY OF ONLINE LEARNING IS INSUFFICIENT IN SETTINGS WITH STRATEGIC CONCERNS. A DESIGNER NOW NEEDS TO CONTROL A SUBTLE FEEDBACK LOOP: THE WAY DATA WILL BE USED DICTATES WHAT DATA WILL BE PROVIDED IN THE FIRST PLACE. IT IS ADDITIONALLY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND WHICH LEARNING ALGORITHMS ARE STABLE WHEN THE LEARNER CAN CHANGE THEIR ALGORITHM IN RESPONSE TO THE DATA. TO TACKLE THESE ISSUES, THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO USE AND EXPAND ON TECHNIQUES FROM DATA PRIVACY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND THE THEORY OF DYNAMIC GAMES IN ECONOMICS. THE RESEARCH WILL APPLY THESE TOOLS IN TWO PRIMARY WAYS. THE FIRST IS COMPARATIVE: UNDERSTANDING MANY DISTINCT APPLICATIONS WILL HIGHLIGHT THE STRUCTURAL FEATURES THAT HELP OR HINDER ALGORITHMIC LEARNING. THESE INCLUDE STANDARD ECONOMIC MODELS FROM CONTRACT THEORY AND DELEGATION, PRICING, AND TARGETING OF SOCIAL BENEFITS. THE SECOND APPROACH IS TO APPLY THE INSIGHTS FROM THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS TO DESIGN NEW SYSTEMS. THE GOAL IS TO PRODUCE NEW ALGORITHMS FOR WELL-STUDIED STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTS, OR UNDERSTAND HOW THESE ENVIRONMENTS CAN BE MODIFIED BY A GOVERNMENT OR FIRM TO ENABLE LEARNING (OR MITIGATE ITS HARMS). THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH (RUI): SEARCH FOR EXOTIC TRANSIENT SPIN-DEPENDENT SIGNALS FROM ULTRALIGHT DARK MATTER FIELDS

RUI: PROBING THE QUANTUM DYNAMICS OF ADSORBED MOLECULES IN METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS

RUI: EXPLORING THE GAS-PHASE PROPERTIES OF MANGA GALAXIES -MUCH OF THE CHEMICAL ENRICHMENT OF PRISTINE GAS IN GALAXIES IS THROUGH STELLAR MASS LOSS AND EXPLOSIONS. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (PI) SCUDDER WILL USE DATA FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY MAPPING NEARBY GALAXIES AT APACHE POINT (SDSS-MANGA) TO MEASURE THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE GAS IN GALAXIES. THIS WORK WILL FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE GROWTH OF GALAXIES THROUGH STAR FORMATION. THE PI WILL OFFER ACADEMIC YEAR AND SUMMER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT OBERLIN COLLEGE. PI SCUDDER WILL USE ARCHIVAL INTEGRAL FIELD SPECTRA FROM THE SDSS-MANGA SURVEY OF 10,000 GALAXIES TO DETERMINE SPATIALLY RESOLVED GAS-PHASE METALLICITIES. THE MEASUREMENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR CONTAMINATION FROM EMISSION FROM AN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS (AGN). TO OBTAIN A MORE ACCURATE ESTIMATE OF STELLAR ENRICHMENT THE PI WILL QUANTIFY METALLICITY INDICATOR SYSTEMATICS AND BIASES THROUGH A COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT CALIBRATION METHODS. 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: MAGNETIC MORPHOLOGIES AND EXCITATIONS IN FERRITE NANOPARTICLE ASSEMBLIES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INTEGRATING PERSPECTIVE-TAKING AND SYSTEMS THINKING FOR COMPLEX PROBLEM-SOLVING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: BSM-PM: EXOTIC PHYSICS SEARCHES WITH MAGNETOMETER NETWORKS -UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF DARK MATTER, THE INVISIBLE SUBSTANCE MAKING UP MOST OF THE UNIVERSE'S MASS, IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CHALLENGES IN SCIENCE TODAY. THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS A TEAM OF PHYSICISTS WHO WILL LEAD TWO INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTS SEARCHING FOR EVIDENCE OF NEW PHYSICS BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL (BSM) OF PHYSICS. (THE STANDARD MODEL ENCAPSULATES OUR BEST UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE TO DATE.) THESE EXPERIMENTS, THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF OPTICAL MAGNETOMETERS FOR EXOTIC PHYSICS SEARCHES (GNOME) AND THE SEARCH FOR NON-INTERACTING PARTICLES EXPERIMENTAL HUNT (SNIPE HUNT), USE HIGHLY SENSITIVE DETECTORS TO DETECT FAINT MAGNETIC SIGNALS THAT COULD BE CAUSED BY DARK MATTER OR OTHER EXOTIC FIELDS ORIGINATING FROM ASTROPHYSICAL EVENTS LIKE BLACK HOLE MERGERS. GNOME LOOKS FOR SHORT-LIVED TRANSIENT SIGNALS DETECTED ACROSS A GLOBAL SENSOR NETWORK, WHILE SNIPE HUNT SEARCHES FOR WAVE-LIKE SIGNALS CAUSED BY THE EARTH ACTING AS A GIANT DARK-MATTER ANTENNA. TOGETHER, THESE PROJECTS PROVIDE A UNIQUE AND POWERFUL APPROACH TO DISCOVERING NEW PHYSICS. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS SUPPORTED BY THE AWARD WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ALL ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH: FROM EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION TO DATA COLLECTION AND THEORETICAL MODELING, WHILE GAINING EXPERIENCE THAT PREPARES THEM FOR A WIDE RANGE OF CAREERS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. ADDITIONALLY, ACTIVITIES SUCH AS COLLABORATIVE TRAINING NETWORKS, OUTREACH TO LOCAL SCHOOLS, CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT, AND PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL MENTORING PROGRAMS ARE DESIGNED TO EXPAND PARTICIPATION IN STEM BY MAKING ADVANCED RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES WIDELY ACCESSIBLE. THIS PROJECT ADVANCES EXPERIMENTAL SEARCHES FOR ULTRALIGHT BOSONIC FIELDS, SUCH AS AXIONS AND HIDDEN PHOTONS, THAT MAY CONSTITUTE DARK MATTER OR ARISE IN OTHER BSM SCENARIOS. THE SNIPE HUNT USES THE EARTH-IONOSPHERE SYSTEM AS A PLANET-SCALE TRANSDUCER TO CONVERT DARK MATTER FIELDS INTO OSCILLATING MAGNETIC SIGNALS THAT CAN BE MEASURED BY WIDELY SEPARATED INDUCTION-COIL MAGNETOMETERS IN ELECTROMAGNETICALLY QUIET ENVIRONMENTS. BUILDING ON PRIOR RESULTS THAT SET LEADING CONSTRAINTS IN THE SUB-HZ RANGE, THE NEXT-GENERATION SNIPE HUNT WILL IMPLEMENT NOVEL GRADIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES TO MEASURE THE MAGNETIC FIELD CURL AND EXPAND THE DETECTABLE MASS RANGE BY TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. GNOME, BY CONTRAST, IS SENSITIVE TO TRANSIENT EVENTS CAUSED BY COMPACT DARK MATTER OBJECTS OR BURSTS OF EXOTIC FIELDS. THE EXPERIMENT EMPLOYS GPS-SYNCHRONIZED, MAGNETICALLY-SHIELDED ALKALI MAGNETOMETERS AND ALKALI/NOBLE-GAS COMAGNETOMETERS WITH SUB-FEMTOTESLA SENSITIVITY DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE GLOBE. THE ADVANCED GNOME SCIENCE RUN WILL USE UPGRADED COMAGNETOMETERS CAPABLE OF DETECTING BOTH PROTON AND NEUTRON SPIN COUPLINGS, SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVING SENSITIVITY TO SPIN-DEPENDENT INTERACTIONS OF BSM FIELDS. TARGETED SIGNAL CLASSES INCLUDE TOPOLOGICAL DEFECT DARK MATTER, Q-BALLS, AXION STARS, SOLAR AXION HALOS, GRAVITATIONALLY FOCUSED DARK MATTER STREAMS, AND EXOTIC BURSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ASTROPHYSICAL PHENOMENA. THE COLLABORATIVE ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK INTEGRATES MACHINE LEARNING, GPU-BASED INFERENCE PIPELINES, AND DATA FROM LIGO AND OTHER OBSERVATORIES TO PURSUE MULTI-MESSENGER DETECTION STRATEGIES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO DEVELOP INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LONG-TERM STABLE OPERATION OF COMAGNETOMETERS AND ESTABLISH NEW CONSTRAINTS ON BSM PARAMETER SPACE. 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.

LEAPS-MPS: HOMOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF DIFFERENTIAL OPERATORS, ALMOST COMPLETE INTERSECTIONS, AND GORENSTEIN IDEALS -COMMUTATIVE ALGEBRA IS AN ESSENTIAL BRANCH OF MATHEMATICS THAT INVESTIGATES THE SOLUTIONS OF SYSTEMS OF POLYNOMIAL EQUATIONS, WHICH CAN BE REPRESENTED AS CURVES, SURFACES, OR HIGHER DIMENSIONAL SPACES. IT AIMS TO DISCOVER GEOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THESE SOLUTION SETS FROM A PURELY ALGEBRAIC PERSPECTIVE BY EXAMINING IMPORTANT ALGEBRAIC STRUCTURES CALLED COMMUTATIVE RINGS AND MODULES THAT NATURALLY ENCODE THE DESIRED GEOMETRIC INFORMATION. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE SEVERAL SUCH ALGEBRAIC STRUCTURES, INCLUDING DIFFERENTIAL OPERATORS, WHICH CAN BE USED TO DETECT AND QUANTIFY SINGULARITIES (I.E., MEASURE HOW SMOOTH OR POINTY A CURVE OR SURFACE IS). SUCH GEOMETRIC DATA HAS POTENTIAL FAR-REACHING APPLICATIONS IN THE SCIENCES AND MODERN TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDING MEDICAL IMAGING AND ROBOTICS. CENTRAL TO THIS PROJECT IS THE OBJECTIVE TO BROADEN PARTICIPATION OF UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN MATHEMATICS THROUGH MENTORED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES, AND PREPARATION FOR STEM CAREERS. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW HOMOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES TO ANSWER FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT SEVERAL CLASSICAL OBJECTS IN COMMUTATIVE ALGEBRA WHICH REMAIN AT THE HEART OF MODERN RESEARCH IN THE FIELD, NAMELY, DIFFERENTIAL OPERATORS, ALMOST COMPLETE INTERSECTIONS, AND GORENSTEIN IDEALS, AS WELL AS IDEALS THAT HAVE UNDERLYING COMBINATORIAL STRUCTURES. EACH INVESTIGATION WILL INVOLVE UNDERSTANDING, AND IN SEVERAL CASES CONSTRUCTING, MINIMAL FREE RESOLUTIONS AS PRIMARY HOMOLOGICAL TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDING THESE ALGEBRAIC OBJECTS. THE INVESTIGATION WILL PROCEED IN FOUR MAIN DIRECTIONS: (1) CONSTRUCTION OF FREE RESOLUTIONS OF THE MODULES OF DIFFERENTIAL OPERATORS OVER CERTAIN HYPERSURFACE RINGS, (2) CALCULATION OF POINCARE SERIES OVER ALMOST COMPLETE INTERSECTION RINGS, (3) INVESTIGATION OF KOSZUL HOMOLOGY AND OTHER HOMOLOGICAL INVARIANTS OF CERTAIN GORENSTEIN RINGS AND IDEALS, AND (4) INVESTIGATION OF THE HOMOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF CERTAIN EDGE IDEALS AND THEIR FREE RESOLUTIONS. 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.

RI: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: SCALABLE DECENTRALIZED PLANNING IN OPEN MULTIAGENT ENVIRONMENTS

RUI: EFFECTS OF SOLVENT-BACKBONE HYDROGEN BONDING AND BACKBONE N-METHYLATION ON PEPTIDE CONFORMATION

EAGER:FROM VISION TO CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE BIOLOGY EDUCATION ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS, MIDWEST, AND NEW ENGLAND

RUI: DETERMINING MAGNETIC STRUCTURES IN OXIDE-BASED NANOPARTICLE SYSTEMS

RUI: PULSAR SCINTILLATION - PROBING THE ISM AND IMPROVING GRAVITY WAVE DETECTION

SUPPORT A SERIES OF FIVE TRAINING WORKSHOPS INTENDED TO ENABLE THE LIBYA DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES TO MEET EVOLVING THREATS TO CULTURAL HERITAGE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HRI: ESTABLISHING AND BREAKING CONCEPTUAL PACTS WITH DIALOG PARTNERS

TO CARRY OUT AFCP PROJECT IN TRIPOLITANIA.

TO CARRY OUT A PROJECT SUPPORTED BY THE AFCP TITLED: DOCUMENTATION AND ASSESSMENT OF OF CYRANEICAN ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES.

RUI: EPOXIDES FROM BIOGENIC VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS: GAS PHASE FORMATION AND AEROSOL PHASE REACTIONS

RUI: THE GEOMETRY OF ARITHMETIC LOCALLY SYMMETRIC SPACES

RUI: SUBDUCTION ZONE FLIGHT RECORDERS: INTEGRATING P-T-T-F HISTORIES OF SUBDUCTION AND EXHUMATION OF ECLOGITE THROUGH MICROANALYSIS OF GARNET AND ITS

CPS: SYNERGY: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FOUNDATIONS OF SECURE CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS OF SYSTEMS

RUI: DETECTING GRAVITATIONAL WAVES WITH PULSARS: MITIGATING THE ISM DELAY

RUI: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FROM CACTI TO CARNIVORES: USING TRANSCRIPTOMES TO EXPLORE THE EVOLUTION OF THE HIGHLY DIVERSE AND GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED C

TO SUPPORT THREE CULTURAL PROPERTY PROTECTION WORKSHOPS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, CUSTOMS, AND CIVIL SOCIETY

PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY OF COLD LITHIUM ATOMS WITH A FEMTOSECOND FREQUENCY COMB

RUI: PRECISION SPECTROSCOPY OF HIGH-LYING STATES OF ATOMIC LITHIUM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DECIPHERING CONNECTIONS AMONG LAND MANAGEMENT, SOIL EROSION, AND SEDIMENT YIELD IN LARGE RIVER BASINS

RUI: HOW POROUS IS THE WARM IONIZED ISM? DRILLING IN WITH PULSARS

IRES TRACK I: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: GYP-NEXTGEN: EMPOWERING FUTURE SCIENTISTS WITHIN AN INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM FOCUSED ON GYPSUM PLANT COMMUNITIES -UNUSUAL SOIL TYPES SUCH AS GYPSUM ARE HOME TO A SIGNIFICANT PROPORTION OF THE WORLD?S PLANT DIVERSITY, HOST UNIQUE AND OFTEN RARE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES OF CONSERVATION CONCERN, AND SERVE AS EXCELLENT SYSTEMS TO FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC EVOLUTIONARY AND ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES. THROUGH IRES TRACK I FUNDING, THE GYP-NEXTGEN PROJECT ALLOWS JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY, NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY, AND OBERLIN COLLEGE TO SUPPORT ANNUAL 6-STUDENT COHORTS (TWO STUDENTS PER INSTITUTION PER YEAR FOR THREE YEARS) TO CONDUCT MENTORED RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH PARTNERS IN SPAIN AT THE INSTITUTO PIRENAICO DE ECOLOG?A, UNIVERSIDAD DE ALMER?A, AND UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOS. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIQUE PLANTS AND ASSOCIATED ORGANISMS THAT SPECIALIZE ON UNUSUAL GYPSUM SOILS, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDING HIGH-QUALITY INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCES TO A DIVERSE SET OF US UNDERGRADUATES (18 STUDENTS, TOTAL). THE STUDENT PARTICIPANTS WILL BE DRAWN FROM THREE DIVERSE INSTITUTIONS, INCLUDING A HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION AND TWO UNDERGRADUATE-FOCUSED INSTITUTIONS, ONE OF WHICH HAS MANY FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS. GYP-NEXTGEN BUILDS ON AN EXISTING US-SPANISH COLLABORATION, PROVIDING US STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK ALONGSIDE MANY OF THE WORLDWIDE EXPERTS IN THIS RESEARCH AREA. GYP-NEXTGEN WILL TRAIN 18 FUTURE SCIENTISTS FOR A GLOBAL WORKFORCE, DEVELOPING THEIR CROSS-CULTURAL, INTERPERSONAL, AND ACADEMIC RESEARCH SKILLS IN STEM FIELDS. EACH STUDENT WILL BE CLOSELY MENTORED BY US AND SPANISH SCIENTISTS AS THEY DEVELOP RESEARCH PROPOSALS, CONDUCT STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND LABORATORY, AND PREPARE THEIR WORK FOR PRESENTATION AND FURTHER PUBLICATION. STUDENTS WILL ADVANCE THEIR SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS THROUGH DIRECT OUTREACH TO LOCAL SCHOOLS IN SPAIN TO TALK ABOUT THEIR WORK, AND IN THE US AND MEXICO THROUGH PRODUCTION OF A BILINGUAL PODCAST ABOUT THEIR PROJECTS. THE PROJECT ALSO PROVIDES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR A DIVERSE FACULTY TEAM IN THE US AND SPAIN. BY LEVERAGING AND EXPANDING UPON GYPWORLD, GYP-NEXTGEN STRENGTHENS THE LINKS BETWEEN THE US AND SPANISH PARTNER INSTITUTIONS, ENABLES SUBSTANTIVE ADVANCES IN BASIC RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION OF GYPSUM ECOSYSTEMS, AND CREATES MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR UNDERGRADUATES, JUNIOR FACULTY, AND SENIOR FACULTY ALIKE. UNUSUAL SOIL TYPES SUCH AS GYPSUM OFFER UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERSTANDING BASIC ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES. ORGANISMS ADAPTED TO THESE SOILS ARE OFTEN INHERENTLY RARE AND OF CONSERVATION CONCERN. DESPITE THEIR GLOBAL PRESENCE IN ARID AND SEMI-ARID REGIONS, GYPSUM ECOSYSTEMS REMAIN UNDERSTUDIED COMPARED TO OTHER HARSH SOIL TYPES, YET THEY HOST BIODIVERSE ENDEMIC PLANT AND BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUST COMMUNITIES ON FIVE CONTINENTS. THIS PROJECT BUILDS ON AN EXISTING COLLABORATION BETWEEN US AND SPANISH PARTNERS, PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES TO MENTOR AND TRAIN 18 STUDENTS TOTAL FROM THREE US INSTITUTIONS (JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY, NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY, AND OBERLIN COLLEGE) AT THREE SPANISH INSTITUTIONS (INSTITUTO PIRENAICO DE ECOLOG?A, UNIVERSIDAD DE ALMER?A, AND UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOS). BY FURTHER LINKING US AND SPANISH PARTNERS, THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE PHYSIOLOGY, ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND CONSERVATION OF GYPSUM ECOSYSTEMS. OUR MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF GYPSUM ECOSYSTEMS WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDING HIGH-QUALITY INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCES TO A DIVERSE SET OF US UNDERGRADUATES. IMPORTANTLY, SPAIN IS THE INTERNATIONAL HUB OF GYPSUM ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH, AND THE SPANISH PIS INCLUDED IN GYP-NEXTGEN REPRESENT MOST OF THE GLOBAL LEADERS IN GYPSUM ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION. STUDENTS WILL BE MENTORED THROUGH AN INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN OF ACTIVITIES BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THEIR RESEARCH EXPERIENCES IN SPAIN, TO ENSURE CONSISTENT HIGH-QUALITY MENTORSHIP. GYP-NEXTGEN WILL TRAIN 18 FUTURE SCIENTISTS FOR A GLOBAL WORKFORCE, DEVELOPING THEIR CROSS-CULTURAL, INTERPERSONAL, AND ACADEMIC RESEARCH SKILLS IN STEM FIELDS. EACH STUDENT WILL BE CLOSELY MENTORED BY US AND SPANISH SCIENTISTS AS THEY DEVELOP RESEARCH PROPOSALS, CONDUCT STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND LABORATORY, AND PREPARE THEIR WORK FOR PRESENTATION AND FURTHER PUBLICATION. STUDENTS WILL ADVANCE THEIR SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS THROUGH DIRECT OUTREACH TO LOCAL SCHOOLS IN SPAIN TO TALK ABOUT THEIR WORK, AND IN THE US AND MEXICO THROUGH PRODUCTION OF A BILINGUAL PODCAST ABOUT THEIR PROJECTS. THE PROJECT ALSO PROVIDES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR A DIVERSE FACULTY. BY LEVERAGING AND EXPANDING UPON THE EXISTING EUROPEAN UNION FUNDED GYPWORLD PROJECT, GYP-NEXTGEN STRENGTHENS THE LINKS BETWEEN THE US AND SPANISH PARTNER INSTITUTIONS, ENABLES SUBSTANTIVE ADVANCES IN BASIC RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION OF GYPSUM ECOSYSTEMS, AND CREATES MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR UNDERGRADUATES, JUNIOR FACULTY, AND SENIOR FACULTY ALIKE. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (OISE) AND THE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (EPSCOR). 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.

TO SAFEGUARD ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION AND OTHER PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS HOUSED AT RED CASTLE IN TRIPOLI.

TO SAFEGUARD ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION AND OTHER PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS HOUSED AT RED CASTLE, TRIPOLI.

OBERLIN COLLEGE REQUESTS FUNDING FOR 15 PALESTINIAN STUDENTS AND 3 PALESTINIAN FACULTY/ASSISTANTS TO TRAVEL TO OBERLIN, OHIO AND WASHINGTON, DC TO PA

RBDG RURAL BUSINESS COOP RURAL ENTERPRISE GRANT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE CUBAN LANDSCAPE, QUANTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALIZED AGRICULTURE FOLLOWED BY COUNTRY-WIDE SOIL CONSERVATION USING SEDIMENT-ASSOCIATED ISOTOPES

TO CONDUCT THE PROJECT ENTITLED "GIS DEVELOPMENT AND SANCTUARY RESTORATION AT CYRENE, LIBYA".

THE STRATOSPHERIC TERAHERTZ OBSERVATORY: WORK AT OBERLIN THIS CO-I PROPOSAL (PLEASE SEE C. WALKER (U. ARIZONA) FOR THE LEAD PROPOSAL) FOR THE STRATOS

PROJECT INCUBATION: TRAINING UNDERGRADUATES IN COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ETHICS -THIS INCUBATION AWARD SUPPORTS A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS FROM DIVERSE DISCIPLINES AT A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE AND HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES WHO WILL WORK WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ALABAMA TO DEVELOP CURRICULAR MATERIALS AND A PILOT WORKSHOP ON THE ETHICS OF RESEARCH. THE PROJECT?S AIM IS TO DEVELOP A NETWORK OF RESEARCHERS TO RESPOND TO COMMUNITY DIRECTIONS ROOTED IN BEST PRACTICES TO FACILITATE JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION IN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. INCLUSION OF COMMUNITY PARTNERS AS KNOWLEDGE KEEPERS AND MENTORS ? AND AS CO-CREATORS OF THE PROJECT?S GOALS ? OFFERS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE METHODS OF COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN AND PRACTICE AND TO MODEL SUCH PARTNERSHIPS, WITH THE GOAL OF EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL RECRUIT AND TRAIN A DIVERSE GROUP OF STUDENTS IN BEST PRACTICES FOR COLLABORATION TO CREATE ACTIONABLE GUIDELINES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES, ETHICS BOARDS, AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. THE PROJECT WILL ENABLE FACULTY, UNDERGRADUATES, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER, WITH THE SHARED INTENTION OF BENEFITING COMMUNITIES IN ALABAMA AND TRAINING STUDENTS ON RESEARCH ETHICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. THE TEAM WILL USE A THREE-PHASE PROCESS TO DEVELOP AND VALIDATE A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR TRAINING STUDENTS IN THE ETHICS OF COMMUNITY-ENGAGED RESEARCH. THE REMOTE PLANNING PHASE WILL CREATE THE FRAMEWORK BY UTILIZING COMMUNITY-ENGAGED APPROACHES TO CENTER THE VOICES OF LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND ORGANIZERS TO DEVELOP ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE METHODS OF COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN. IN THE SYNERGY PHASE, RESEARCHERS, STUDENTS, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS WILL WORK TOGETHER TO REFINE AND DISSEMINATE THE INITIAL FRAMEWORK THROUGH COLLABORATIVE COURSEWORK. AT THE WORKSHOP PHASE, STUDENTS WILL LEARN BEST PRACTICES FOR COLLABORATION WITH ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES AS WELL AS METHODS OF GEOSPATIAL DATA, ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT SAMPLING, AND ORAL NARRATIVE DATA COLLECTION USING SOFTWARE TOOLS. THE PROJECT WILL PILOT A CURRICULUM AND METHODOLOGY FOR TRAINING A DIVERSE COHORT OF UNDERGRADUATES IN ETHICAL RESEARCH WITH ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES, ITS SYNERGY WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND CLIMATE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION, AND BEST PRACTICES FOR FACILITATING INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION. OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT WILL BE ASSESSED AND REFINED THROUGH AN ITERATIVE ONLINE PROCESS WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS, ORGANIZERS, AND PARTNERS. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE DIRECTORATE FOR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND MANAGED BY THE ER2 PROGRAM OF THE DIRECTORATE FOR SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: USING THE WEB TO STUDY CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS AND REPRESENTATION

ACQUISITION OF A PXRF AND REFURBISHMENT OF USED GERMANIUM DETECTORS FOR RESEARCH AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH TRAINING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: USING WEB DATA TO STUDY CAMPAIGNS AND REPRESENTATION

COLLABORATIVE PROPOSAL: SCALABLE VIRTUAL MACHINE LABORATORY SYSTEMS FOR SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW INFORMATION ASSURANCE PROGRAMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IRES TRACK I: POST-HURRICANE RECOVERY OF ISLAND FRESHWATER LENSES: UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL AND HYDROLOGICAL DYNAMICS -THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PROVIDE INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES TO SIX STUDENTS PER YEAR TO EXPLORE BROADER CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES RELATED TO FRESHWATER RESILIENCE OF SMALL ISLANDS THROUGH A SIX-WEEK LONG INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN THE ISLAND OF GRAND BAHAMA. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMBINED ROLE OF SOCIAL AND HYDROLOGICAL DYNAMICS ON POST-HURRICANE RECOVERY OF FRESHWATER RESOURCES ON SMALL SUB-TROPICAL ISLANDS. A GROUP OF U.S. STUDENTS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH MENTORS AND STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF THE BAHAMAS, GRAND BAHAMA UTILITY COMPANY, THE BAHAMIAN FORESTRY UNIT, AND FACULTY FROM FOUR US UNIVERSITIES (CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO, UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, OBERLIN COLLEGE, AND RUTGERS UNIVERSITY), COMPRISING A DIVERSE, INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM OF SOCIAL SCIENTISTS, HYDROLOGISTS, SOIL SCIENTISTS, AND PLANT EXPERTS. STUDENTS WILL LEARN HOW TO STUDY LOCAL, GLOBAL, AND INTERCULTURAL ISSUES, UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, AND INTERACT WITH INDIVIDUALS FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND BACKGROUNDS. THE EXPERIENCES GAINED THROUGH THIS INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION WILL BE KEY TO STUDENT'S FUTURE SUCCESS IN AN INCREASINGLY GLOBAL ECONOMY, AND WILL FURTHER THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DIVERSE, GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE WORKFORCE, ABLE TO ADDRESS CROSS-CUTTING CHALLENGES IN SOCIO-HYDROLOGY. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON STUDENTS FROM THE HOST INSTITUTION, GAINING RESEARCH EXPERIENCES AND TRAINING THAT THEY WOULD OTHERWISE NOT HAVE ACCESS TO. BEYOND THE IMPACTS ON STUDENTS, LOCAL WATER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES WILL BENEFIT FROM THE GENERATION OF NEW DATA AND MODELING TOOLS AND THE PROJECT WILL HELP INFORM LOCAL COMMUNITIES ABOUT CLIMATE AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES AND THEIR ROLE ON THE SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE OF THEIR WATER RESOURCES, WHICH IS ANTICIPATED TO INCREASE THEIR INVOLVEMENT AND LEVEL OF ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION STRATEGIES. DESPITE THE RECOGNIZED IMPORTANCE OF SOCIO-HYDROLOGY IN INCREASING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN WATER AND HUMAN SYSTEMS, INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDENT TRAINING ADDRESSING THE CROSS-CUTTING NATURE OF SOCIO-HYDROLOGY IS NOT COMMON. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIO-HYDROLOGICAL DYNAMICS ON POST-HURRICANE RECOVERY OF FRESHWATER RESOURCES OF SMALL SUB-TROPICAL ISLANDS BY COLLECTING, INTEGRATING, AND ANALYZING UNIQUE INFORMATION ON THE SOCIAL AND HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES THAT ARE IDENTIFIED AS THE MAIN DRIVERS OF POST-HURRICANE RECOVERY OF WATER RESOURCES IN GRAND BAHAMA. OUR RESEARCH WILL GENERATE NEW DATA AND KNOWLEDGE ON THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE AND COMPOUND ROLE OF SOCIAL AND HYDROLOGICAL FACTORS AND WILL ULTIMATELY CONTRIBUTE TO INCREASED WATER RESOURCES SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE OF SMALL ISLANDS UNDER A CHANGING CLIMATE. STUDENTS WILL PARTICIPATE IN FIELD CAMPAIGNS TO COLLECT GROUNDWATER AND SOIL SALINITY, GROUNDWATER LEVELS AND SOIL MOISTURE DATA ON VARIOUS LOCATIONS ON THE ISLAND. IN ADDITION, INFILTRATION EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO ASSESS SALT BUILD-UP ON THE SOIL AND ITS IMPACT ON THE INFILTRATION CAPACITY OF THE SOIL. THE ABOVE DATA WILL BE USED TO IMPROVE THE CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION OF AN EXISTING ISLAND SCALE MODEL GROUNDWATER FLOW AND SALT TRANSPORT MODELING. THIS MODEL WILL SIMULATE FWL RECOVERY UNDER VARIOUS RECHARGE SCENARIOS BASED ON CLIMATIC PROJECTIONS. SOIL SALINITY DATA WILL ALSO BE USED TO ASSESS THE LOSS IN PLANT/FOREST BIODIVERSITY AND CHANGES IN FOREST STRUCTURE POST-HURRICANE. SOCIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF COMMUNITY MEMBER?S PERCEPTIONS ON WATER MANAGEMENT IN GRAND BAHAMA WILL ALSO BE CONDUCTED THROUGH FOCUS GROUPS AND INTERVIEWS. IN ADDITION TO INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS, THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY WILL CULMINATE IN AN ANNUAL INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PROJECT THAT PROVIDES INSIGHTS INTO THE SOCIO-HYDROLOGICAL DYNAMICS OF FWL RECOVERY AFTER STORM INDUCED SALINIZATION EVENTS. STUDENTS WILL PRESENT THEIR RESEARCH FINDINGS AT AN ANNUAL PROJECT VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM, COMMUNICATE THEIR RESEARCH BEYOND THE PROGRAM THROUGH OUTREACH PROJECTS AND SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS AND GAIN IMPORTANT WRITING AND PRESENTATION SKILLS. 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.

NSF STUDENT TRAVEL GRANT FOR THE 2022 TO 2024 ACM SIGPLAN CONFERENCES ON SYSTEMS, PROGRAMMING, LANGUAGES AND APPLICATIONS: SOFTWARE FOR HUMANITY (SPLASH) -A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES MENTORING WORKSHOP (PLMW) IS BEING ORGANIZED AS AN ANNUAL SATELLITE WORKSHOP IN EACH EDITION OF THE 2022--2024 ACM SIGPLAN CONFERENCES ON SYSTEMS, PROGRAMMING, LANGUAGES AND APPLICATIONS: SOFTWARE FOR HUMANITY (SPLASH). SPLASH IS A PREMIER FORUM THAT BRINGS TOGETHER RESEARCHERS WORKING ON FOUNDATIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING. THIS AWARD SPECIFICALLY SUPPORTS STUDENTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS AND GIVES PRIORITY TO US CITIZENS AND PERMANENT RESIDENTS TO ATTEND THE MENTORING WORKSHOPS IN ADDITION TO THE SEVERAL CONFERENCES HELD UNDER THE SPLASH UMBRELLA. THE IMPACT OF THE AWARD RELATES TO BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN COMPUTING, PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO RECEIVE MENTORING FROM LEADING RESEARCHERS, AND BUILDING THE NEXT GENERATION OF RESEARCHERS AND KNOWLEDGEABLE PRACTITIONERS IN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES AND PROGRAMMING SYSTEMS RESEARCH. 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.

LOCAL AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND THE ROLE OF STORYTELLING IN BUILDING AND SUSTAINING RESILIENCE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND ALASKA NATIVE COMMUNITIES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AN EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS INVESTIGATION OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCE DYNAMICS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: USING WEB DATA TO STUDY U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS AND REPRESENTATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: USING WEB DATA TO STUDY THE NATURE AND CONSEQUENCES OF U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

THE 2019 GREAT LAKES MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS MEETING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CAMPAIGNS IN A NEW MEDIA AGE: HOW CANDIDATES USE THE WORLD WIDE WEB

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: DYNAMIC LEARNING IN COMPARATIVE COURTS: A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF JUDICIAL DECISION MAKING IN CANADA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM -COMMON LAW INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURTS HAVE TYPICALLY FUNCTIONED WELL OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT AND OUT OF PUBLIC SCRUTINY. IN RECENT YEARS, HOWEVER, THE NUMBER OF APPEALS WITHIN COMMON LAW JUDICIARIES HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED WHILE THE NUMBER OF CASES HEARD BY HIGH COURTS HAS REMAINED RELATIVELY STABLE. IN LIGHT OF BURGEONING CASELOADS, THE INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURTS EFFECTIVELY SERVE AS THE COURT OF LAST RESORT FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF JUDICIAL APPEALS. THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS, ASSESSES, AND ADVANCES A NEW AND INNOVATIVE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ON THE DYNAMIC TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION BETWEEN TWO TIERS OF COURTS ACROSS THE JUDICIARIES OF CANADA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM. THIS STUDY REPRESENTS THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF HIERARCHICAL INFLUENCES ON JUDICIAL DECISION MAKING WITHIN A COMPARATIVE CONTEXT. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT EXPLORES HIERARCHICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN LOWER INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT JUDGES AND THEIR HIGH COURT COUNTERPARTS IN CANADA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM. THE COMPARATIVE FOCUS OF THIS PROJECT PRESENTS SCHOLARS, POLICYMAKERS, AND PRACTITIONERS WITH EXCITING, INNOVATIVE, AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPLORE HOW IDEOLOGICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL DIFFERENCES WITHIN JUDICIAL SYSTEMS AND DIFFERENT TIERS OF THE JUDICIARY CAN INFLUENCE DECISION MAKING. THIS PROJECT ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO A BROADER UNDERSTANDING OF COURTS IN A COMPARATIVE CONTEXT BY ILLUSTRATING THAT SCHOLARS CANNOT EASILY ASSUME THAT FRAMEWORKS DEVELOPED FOR AMERICAN COURTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY TRANSPORTABLE TO OTHER COUNTRIES. BEYOND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ACADEMIC SPHERE, THE PROPOSED PROJECT HAS BROAD POLICY AND SOCIAL IMPACTS. UNDERSTANDING HOW JUDGES BEHAVE IN THIS DYNAMIC DECISION MAKING PROCESS IS NECESSARY FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW LAW AND POLICY IS DEVELOPED AND HOW INSTITUTIONAL DESIGNS SEEMINGLY CONDITION JUDICIAL DECISION-MAKING BEHAVIOR. THE EXTENSIVE DATA COLLECTION, BOTH QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE, FOR THE PROJECT WILL FACILITATE THE SHARING OF A VAST DATABASE OF INFORMATION ON APPELLATE COURTS AND HIERARCHICAL RESPONSES TO SUPREME COURT PRECEDENTS FOR A VARIETY OF FUTURE ANALYSES. THE DATABASE OF INTERMEDIATE COURT DECISIONS ASSEMBLED FOR THIS PROJECT PROVIDES A VALUABLE SUPPLEMENT TO THE NATIONAL HIGH COURTS DATABASE. THE COMBINATION OF NEW AND RELIABLE DATA ON TWO TIERS OF THE COURTS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO FOSTER EXTENSIVE NEW ANALYSES FOR ACADEMIC FACULTY, STUDENTS, AND LEGAL PROFESSIONALS. BY PROVIDING COMPARABLE DATA ON THE INTERMEDIATE COURTS OVER A SUBSTANTIAL PERIOD OF TIME, THIS STUDY WILL CREATE A RICH RESOURCE THAT WILL ENABLE FUTURE RESEARCH ON JUDICIAL POLICY MAKING IN A VARIETY OF SETTINGS. SUCH DATA WILL BENEFIT BOTH ESTABLISHED SCHOLARS AS WELL AS THEIR STUDENTS INCLUDING DOCTORAL STUDENTS THROUGHOUT RELATED DISCIPLINES SEEKING DATA FOR COMPARATIVE JUDICIAL DISSERTATION PROJECTS. THIS PROJECT ALSO INCORPORATES THE INSIGHTS GAINED FROM IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH JUDGES TO PROVIDE A MORE NUANCED UNDERSTANDING OF THE WAY JUDGES UNDERSTAND THEIR APPROACH TO DECISION MAKING. THESE RESOURCES HOLD SIGNIFICANT PROMISE FOR MANY ANALYSES BEYOND THIS PROJECT. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CONFERENCE: WORKSHOPS IN GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY -THIS AWARD PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR THREE MEETINGS OF A WELL-ESTABLISHED SERIES OF SUMMER WORKSHOPS IN GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY, WITH THE FIRST TO BE HELD AT CALVIN UNIVERSITY IN GRAND RAPIDS, MI, JUNE 13-15, 2024. THE AWARD WILL ALSO FUND WORKSHOPS AT OBERLIN COLLEGE IN 2025 AND UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE IN 2026. THESE WORKSHOPS PROVIDE AN ANNUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ACTIVE RESEARCHERS AND GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE MATHEMATICAL FIELD OF GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY TO INTERACT IN A SETTING THAT PROVIDES MULTIPLE TANGIBLE BENEFITS, INCLUDING: 1) ATTENDING THE LECTURES OF A PRINCIPAL SPEAKER TO RECEIVE AN IN-DEPTH INTRODUCTION TO IMPORTANT CURRENT STREAMS OF RESEARCH BEING PERFORMED BY NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED EXPERTS, 2) LEARNING ABOUT A BREADTH OF OTHER RESEARCH ACTIVITIES BY ATTENDING SHORTER TALKS GIVEN BY THE OTHER WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS, 3) THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THEIR OWN WORK BY GIVING TALKS IN A CONGENIAL ENVIRONMENT, AND 4) IMPORTANT TIME FOR INFORMAL DISCUSSION AND INTERACTION AMONG PARTICIPANTS AND WITH THE PRINCIPAL SPEAKER. THESE WORKSHOPS REGULARLY FEATURE PARTICIPATION AND TALKS BY MEMBERS OF UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN MATHEMATICS, AND, TO FURTHER BROADEN THE IMPACT OF THE WORKSHOPS, THE TALKS OF THE PRINCIPAL SPEAKER WILL BE RECORDED AND POSTED TO THE INTERNET. THE WORKSHOPS ALSO PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS TO GRADUATE STUDENTS BY PROVIDING A SERIOUS BUT INFORMAL RESEARCH ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH THEY CAN MEET AND LEARN FROM OTHERS IN THE FIELD. NSF FUNDING WILL BE USED TO COVER THE ATTENDANCE COSTS OF WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE WORKSHOPS PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGISTS TO INTERACT AND SHARE IDEAS, LEADING TO RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS. FURTHERMORE, THE PROPOSED WORKSHOPS WILL CONTINUE THE TRADITION OF INVITING EACH YEAR A RENOWNED PRINCIPAL SPEAKER TO PROVIDE A SERIES OF THREE LECTURES ON A TOPIC OF HIS OR HER CHOICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXPANDING THE INTERESTS OF THE PARTICIPANTS BY HAVING A NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED EXPERT DISCUSS AN IMPORTANT AREA OF CURRENT INTEREST. THE 2024 WORKSHOP WILL FEATURE PROFESSOR MAGGIE MILLER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS -- AUSTIN. THE WEB SITE FOR THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE HTTPS://SITES.GOOGLE.COM/VIEW/WORKSHOP2024/HOME. 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 COVER TRAVEL AND PARTICIPATION OF 15 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND 2 FACULTY MEMBERS TO WASHINGTON AND OHIO IN 2012, STUDENTS WILL ATTEND WORKS

CONFERENCE: WASH ECONOMICS CONFERENCE 2025 -ACCESS TO IMPROVED WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE (WASH) SERVICES IS OF FIRST ORDER IMPORTANCE TO IMPROVING THE LIVES AND WELL-BEING OF ALL INDIVIDUALS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR POPULATIONS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, WHERE PROVISION OF IMPROVED WASH SERVICES LAGS BEHIND THE DEVELOPED WORLD AND GOVERNMENTS GRAPPLE WITH ACHIEVING UNIVERSALIZATION OF SERVICE. THIS PROJECT FOCUSSES ON THE SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL BARRIERS TO IMPROVED WASH SERVICE ACROSS THE GLOBE, AND RECOGNIZES THAT THE NATURE OF RESEARCH ON WASH RULES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES REQUIRES CLOSE COLLABORATION BETWEEN RESEARCHERS, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND FUNDING FROM INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES AND DEVELOPMENT BANKS. THE PROJECT BRINGS TOGETHER RESEARCHERS AND DECISION MAKERS FOR A DEDICATED CONFERENCE WORKING ON THE ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF WASH RULES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FOR A TWO-DAY CONFERENCE AT OBERLIN COLLEGE IN MARCH 2025. THE PROJECT FILLS A CRITICAL NEED FOR INCREASING COLLABORATION AMONG WASH RESEARCHERS AT US INSTITUTIONS AND ABROAD. WHILE THERE IS A SIZABLE NUMBER OF RESEARCHERS WORKING ON THE ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF WASH RULES, RESEARCH IN THIS FIELD IS OFTEN PRESENTED AS A PART OF SMALLER THEMED SESSIONS IN LARGER FIELD CONFERENCES SUCH AS DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, PUBLIC ECONOMICS, AND CONFERENCES SPONSORED BY INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS. MOREOVER, THE GEOGRAPHIC SPREAD OF WASH RESEARCH ? BOTH IN TERMS OF HOME INSTITUTION AND FOCUS AREA OF FIELDWORK ? MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO CULTIVATE AND MAINTAIN A NETWORK OF LIKE-MINDED RESEARCHERS. AS SUCH, IT CAN OFTEN BE DIFFICULT TO PRODUCE A ?CRITICAL MASS? OF ECONOMISTS WORKING IN THIS LITERATURE AT A SINGLE CONFERENCE TO COLLABORATE AND GENERATE NEW IDEAS OR PARTNERSHIPS THAT SO OFTEN HAPPEN DURING IN-PERSON INTERACTIONS. THE PROJECT PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ECONOMISTS TO PRESENT EARLY-, MID-STAGE, AND PUBLICATION-READY WORK FROM THEIR CURRENT RESEARCH AGENDA AND TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM FELLOW PRACTITIONERS IN THE FIELD. A MAJOR PART OF THE CONFERENCE IS A KEYNOTE ADDRESS ON THE FUTURE DIRECTION OF WASH RESEARCH FROM AN ACTIVE AND PROMINENT MEMBER OF THE FIELD, AS WELL AS PANEL DISCUSSION WITH MEMBERS OF THE WORLD BANK?S WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE GROUP ON THE VARIOUS PROJECTS THAT THE BANK IS WORKING ON TO ADDRESS WASH ACCESS FOR THE WORLD?S MOST VULNERABLE POPULATIONS. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE CONFERENCE IS TO SPUR NEW RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS AMONG NSF-FUNDABLE RESEARCHES AT US INSTITUTIONS THAT RESULT IN PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH ARTICLES, BRIEFS, AND JOINT PROJECTS WITH GOVERNMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS. AN ADDITIONAL GOAL OF THE CONFERENCE IS TO SUPPORT EARLY-CAREER ECONOMISTS BY HAVING GRADUATE STUDENTS FIELD A POSTER SESSION TO BOTH RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM AND ENGAGE FULLY WITH THE ESTABLISHED WASH RESEARCH COMMUNITY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THE 2020 & 2021 GREAT LAKES MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS MEETINGS

RAPID: STORM-RELATED SEDIMENT EXPORT DURING HURRICANES IRMA AND MARIA ALONG THE NORTHWESTERN INSULAR SHELF OF ST. CROIX, US VIRGIN ISLANDS

FY 2013 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP - PML/PL & EL

THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT AN APPROXIMATELY TWO-WEEK MUSICAL TOUR TO JORDAN IN JANUARY 2019 FOR TEN OBERLIN UNDERGRADUATE MUSICIANS AND TWO GROUP LEADER

THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT AN APPROXIMATELY TWO-WEEK MUSICAL TOUR TO JORDAN IN JANUARY 2018 FOR TEN OBERLIN UNDERGRADUATE MUSICIANS AND TWO GROUP LEADER

TO SUPPORT ARTIST TALKS PANEL DISCUSSIONS INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS PERFORMANCES AND RECONSTRUCTIONS OF SEMINAL WORKS AS PART THE CRITICAL MASS: CI @ 50 CONFERENCE.

TO SUPPORT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING FOR THE EXHIBITION RITUAL, RELIGION AND PERFORMANCE AT THE ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM.

FY 2012 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP - BOULDER

FY 2016 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP MML/NCNR-MATSCI

RAPID: DOCUMENTING THE TEMPORAL VARIANCE OF THE ISOTOPIC SIGNATURE OF DETRITAL SEDIMENTS FOLLOWING MASSIVE STOCHASTIC EVENTS USING HURRICANE MARIA AS A CASE STUDY

FY 2014 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (SURF) - PML/PL

FY 2018 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP MML/CHEMBIO

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER SCIENCE CONCEPT INVENTORY FOR CS2

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER SCIENCE CONCEPT INVENTORY FOR CS2