The Trustees Of Grinnell College

TO ASSIST IN COVERING COSTS RELATED TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE DELIVERY OF INSTRUCTION DUE TO CORONAVIRUS AND TO EXPAND SUPPORT FOR OUR STUDENTS WITH FINANCIAL NEEDS ARISING FROM CORONAVIRUS.

PROVIDE EMERGENCY FINANCIAL AID GRANTS TO GRINNELL COLLEGE STUDENTS TO HELP COVER EXPENSES RELATED TO THE DISRUPTION OF CAMPUS OPERATIONS DUE TO CORONAVIRUS.

UNCONVENTIONAL SYNAPTIC MODULATION AT THE VERTEBRATE NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION

FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES OF THE INFLUENCE OF LIGANDS ON THE MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF NOBLE METAL NANOCLUSTERS

CAREER: FOUNDATIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF CONSTRAINT-BASED SYNTHESIS

INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF PH IN PRESYNAPTIC HOMEOSTATIC POTENTIATION AT THE VERTEBRATE NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION - THIS PROJECT CONTINUES THIRTY-TWO YEARS OF RESEARCH WITH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT GRINNELL COLLEGE, WHO PARTICIPATE IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH. MY LABORATORY STUDIES SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION AT THE VERTEBRATE NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION (NMJ). THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON A PHENOMENON CALLED PRESYNAPTIC HOMEOSTATIC POTENTIATION (PHP), WHICH REFERS TO THE INCREASE IN ACETYLCHOLINE (ACH) RELEASE THAT FOLLOWS THE PARTIAL INHIBITION OF POSTSYNAPTIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS (ACHRS). ALTHOUGH THE PHENOMENON IS WELL-KNOWN, THE IDENTITY OR NATURE OF THE FEEDBACK SIGNAL FROM THE MUSCLE TO THE NERVE HAS ELUDED RESEARCHERS FOR OVER 40 YEARS. WE RECENTLY UNCOVERED EVIDENCE THAT PROTONS IN THE SYNAPTIC CLEFT LINK THE INHIBITION OF ACHRS TO THE INCREASE IN ACH RELEASE. SPECIFICALLY, WE FOUND THAT (I) PHP REQUIRES FUNCTIONAL ACID SENSING ION CHANNELS (ASICS), (II) A DECREASE IN EXTRACELLULAR PH INCREASES QUANTAL ACH RELEASE AND PRECLUDES PHP, (III) A STRONG EXTRACELLULAR PH BUFFER PREVENTS PHP, (IV) INHIBITION OF THE PLASMA MEMBRANE CA2+ ATPASE (PMCA), WHICH REMOVES PROTONS FROM THE SYNAPTIC CLEFT, INCREASES NEUROTRANSMITTER RELEASE AND PRECLUDES PHP, AND (V) ASIC CHANNELS ARE PRESENT AT THE MOUSE NMJ. THE PROJECTS DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT PROTONS CONTROL PHP AT THE VERTEBRATE NMJ. OUR FIRST GOAL IS TO MEASURE THE PH IN THE SYNAPTIC CLEFT OF A MOUSE NMJ WHILE THE SYNAPSE IS UNDERGOING PHP. WE PLAN TO INTRODUCE FLUORESCENT PH INDICATORS INTO THE CLEFT USING AAV VIRUSES. IN PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS WE SUCCESSFULLY EXPRESSED PHUSION-EX AND DEMONSTRATED ITS EXPECTED SENSITIVITY TO PH. WE ALSO PLAN TO USE A ‘KISSER” PROBE THAT WILL ALLOW US TO EXAMINE PH IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE PMCA IN THE MUSCLE MEMBRANE AT THE SYNAPSE. OUR SECOND GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISM BY WHICH BLOCK OF ACHRS LOWERS THE PH IN THE CLEFT. OUR THIRD GOAL IS TO CHARACTERIZE THE EFFECT OF EXTERNAL PH IN THE SYNAPTIC CLEFT BY APPLYING ACIDIC BUFFER VIA A MICROPIPETTE AND BY PHOTOLYTICALLY UNCAGING NPE-CAGED-PROTONS WITH A UV LASER. FINALLY, WE WILL EXPLORE PHP WHILE ALLOWING MUSCLE ACTION POTENTIALS TO RELEASE INTERNAL CALCIUM FROM THE SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM. PHP HAS NEVER BEEN INVESTIGATED UNDER THESE PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. COLLECTIVELY, THESE STUDIES WILL EXPAND OUR KNOWLEDGE OF PH IN THE SYNAPTIC CLEFT AT THE MAMMALIAN NMJ, ESPECIALLY WHILE UNDERGOING PHP. SINCE PROTONS ARE INCREASINGLY RECOGNIZED AS SIGNALING MOLECULES AT A VARIETY OF SYNAPSES, WHAT WE LEARN AT THE NMJ ABOUT GAIN ADJUSTMENTS EFFECTED BY POSTSYNAPTIC DETECTION OF NEUROTRANSMITTER EFFICACY COULD REPRESENT A SIMPLE AND WIDESPREAD MECHANISM FOR MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION ACROSS SYNAPSES THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEMS. IN ADDITION TO ITS SCIENTIFIC MERIT, THIS GRANT WILL DIRECTLY SUPPORT AT LEAST 12 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN CONSEQUENTIAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCES. MOST OF THESE STUDENTS, IF NOT ALL, WILL MATRICULATE IN A PH.D. PROGRAM IN A BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE OR MEDICAL SCHOOL.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A LASER SCANNING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE FOR USE IN RESEARCH AND TEACHING IN THE BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS AT GRINNELL COLLEGE -AN AWARD IS MADE TO GRINNELL COLLEGE TO PURCHASE A POINT-SCANNING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE SYSTEM. GRINNELL COLLEGE HAS BEEN AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT AND LEADER IN EFFORTS TO IMPROVE SCIENCE PEDAGOGY BY INCORPORATING ACTIVE LEARNING TECHNIQUES INTO THE CLASSROOM, IMPROVING ACCESS TO SCIENCE FOR WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, AND INTEGRATING RESEARCH EXPERIENCES THROUGHOUT THE CURRICULUM. THIS INSTRUMENT WILL SUPPORT THESE EFFORTS BY PROVIDING NEW RESEARCH POSSIBILITIES FOR FACULTY AND THEIR STUDENTS, BOTH IN THE RESEARCH LAB AND IN EXISTING LABORATORY COURSES. BEYOND THIS, THE INVESTIGATORS WILL CREATE AND TEACH A NEW COURSE DEDICATED TO MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THEY WILL INCORPORATE THE PROPOSED INSTRUMENT INTO AN EXISTING PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR INMATES AT A NEARBY MEDIUM SECURITY PRISON. FURTHER, THE CO-PIS PROPOSE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WORKSHOP FOR REGIONAL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES, TO BE HOSTED AT GRINNELL, THE AIM OF WHICH IS TO EXCHANGE BEST PRACTICES AND WORK TOGETHER TO DESIGN EXPERIMENTS USING FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY AND/OR CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN A VARIETY OF SETTINGS. THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT A RANGE OF RESEARCH AND TEACHING/TRAINING ACTIVITIES IN BIOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY, AND PHYSICS INCLUDING: (1) STUDYING SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY AT THE NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION (NMJ); (2) DETECTING MICROTUBULE FORMATION BELOW THE DIFFRACTION LIMIT OF LIGHT; (3) CHARACTERIZING NEUROVASCULAR PATTERNING AND GUIDANCE IN THE DEVELOPING VERTEBRATE HEART; (4) DECIPHERING THE GENETIC CONTROL OF CA2+ LEVELS IN CELL MIGRATION; (5) CHARACTERIZING THE SPATIOTEMPORAL ACTIVITY OF VARIOUS PROTEINS IN REGULATING MITOTIC SPINDLE FUNCTION; AND (6) DETECTING ALLOSTERIC CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS. THIS AWARD WILL ENABLE GRINNELL COLLEGE FACULTY AND STUDENTS TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS THAT ARE BEYOND THEIR CURRENT CAPABILITY. THE RESULTS WILL BE DISSEMINATED IN PUBLICATIONS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS AND IN PRESENTATIONS AT SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

CAREER: FOLLOWING THE FLOW OF GAS THROUGH DWARF SATELLITES

RUI: CONFLICTING SELECTION PRESSURES WITHIN MATE CHOICE OF JEWELWING DAMSELFLIES -ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AFTER DARWIN DESCRIBED THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES AS THE CONSUMMATE MYSTERY, BIOLOGISTS ARE STILL SEEKING TO UNRAVEL FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS OF SPECIATION, INCLUDING HOW MATE CHOICE EVOLVES. THE PROCESS OF CHOOSING A MATE IS CENTRAL TO SPECIES IDENTITIES, BUT IT CAN INVOLVE TWO STEPS THAT MAY CONFLICT: IDENTIFYING WHICH POTENTIAL MATE IS THE SAME SPECIES AND SELECTING WHICH ONE IS MOST ATTRACTIVE. THE CHOICE MIGHT BE DIFFERENT FOR THOSE TWO PROCESSES, AND THE CHOSEN MATE MIGHT END UP BEING A DIFFERENT SPECIES, PARTICULARLY IF A NEARBY, CLOSELY-RELATED SPECIES IS BRIGHTER, FLASHIER, LOUDER, OR OTHERWISE MORE APPEALING. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, SPECIES BOUNDARIES CAN BREAK DOWN AND TWO SPECIES CAN BECOME ONE. ALTERNATIVELY, NATURAL SELECTION TO MAINTAIN SPECIES BOUNDARIES MAY ACT AGAINST SELECTION FOR THE MOST ATTRACTIVE MATE. A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING SPECIATION AND BIODIVERSITY, THEREFORE, IS TO EXPLORE HOW CONFLICTING DECISIONS IN MATE CHOICE ARE RESOLVED. THIS PROJECT WILL EXAMINE SELECTION ON DAMSELFLY WING PIGMENTATION, A TRAIT USED WHEN CHOOSING MATES. OVERALL, THIS PROJECT WILL TRAIN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN FIELD ECOLOGY AND IN PUBLIC OUTREACH THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ART EXHIBIT THAT WILL EXPLORE COMPLEXITY AND DIVERSITY OF FORM IN NATURE. THIS PROJECT LEVERAGES A NATURAL EXPERIMENT INVOLVING TWO JEWELWING DAMSELFLY SPECIES, CALOPTERYX AEQUABILIS AND C. MACULATA, WHOSE GEOGRAPHIC RANGES OVERLAP. WING PIGMENTATION VARIES WITHIN AND BETWEEN SPECIES. WHERE THE SPECIES LIVE SEPARATELY, THEY LOOK VERY SIMILAR, BUT WHERE THEY COEXIST THEIR WING PIGMENTATION IS QUITE DIFFERENT. THIS PATTERN SUGGESTS THAT CONFLICTING SELECTION IS ACTING ON WING PIGMENTATION. THE PI WILL USE A WING-TRANSPLANT TECHNIQUE TO SWITCH WINGS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS FROM DIFFERENT POPULATIONS AND SPECIES AND MEASURE MATE CHOICE IN PAIRED CHOICE TRIALS ACROSS THE SPECIES RANGES. ADDITIONALLY, THE PI WILL MEASURE THE TRAITS CORRELATED WITH MATING SUCCESS IN NATURE BY MARKING DAMSELFLIES WITH FLOURESCENT POWDER THAT TRANSFERS BETWEEN MATES. THESE APPROACHES WILL PINPOINT THE TRAITS UNDER SELECTION AND THE DIRECTION OF SELECTION BY SPECIES RECOGNITION VERSUS SEXUAL SELECTION. BY STUDYING BOTH STEPS OF MATE CHOICE ALONG A GRADIENT OF SPECIES OVERLAP, THIS RESEARCH WILL REVEAL WHERE AND HOW CONFLICTING CHOICES MAY BE RESOLVED. THE PI HYPOTHESIZES THAT SEXUAL DIMORPHISM, OR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEXES, MAY RESOLVE THE CONFLICT: FEMALES ARE UNDER STRONGER SPECIES RECOGNITION SELECTION AND MALES ARE UNDER STRONGER SEXUAL SELECTION, SO A SINGLE TRAIT UNDER SELECTION DURING MATE CHOICE MAY EVOLVE READILY IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. 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.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF MASS SPECTROMETRY INSTRUMENTATION FOR CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY RESEARCH

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EPIIC: CREATE: CREATING RESEARCH ENTERPRISES ADAPTED FOR THE TEACHING ENVIRONMENT -CREATING RESEARCH ENTERPRISES ADAPTED FOR THE TEACHING ENVIRONMENT (CREATE) IS A COHORT OF FOUR TEACHING-FOCUSED INSTITUTIONS THAT SERVE UNDERGRADUATE AND/OR NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENTS. LIKE MANY EMERGING RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS (ERIS), CREATE COHORT MEMBERS HAVE FACED COMMON CHALLENGES TO INTERACTING WITH REGIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEMS THAT INCLUDE A LACK OF COORDINATION AMONG THE OFFICES ON EACH CAMPUS THAT FACILITATE EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS, POOR UNDERSTANDING AMONG POTENTIAL PARTNERS OF THE INSTITUTIONS? CAPABILITIES, AND A LACK OF INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AROUND ISSUES RELATED TO USE-INSPIRED RESEARCH. IN THIS PROJECT, THE CREATE COHORT WILL WORK COLLABORATIVELY TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, HELPING EACH INSTITUTION BUILD AND SUSTAIN CAPACITY TO ENGAGE WITH ITS REGIONAL INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM. THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL PURSUE THE FOLLOWING GOALS: IDENTIFYING EACH CREATE COHORT INSTITUTION?S PLACE IN ITS REGIONAL INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM BY ASSESSING ITS CURRENT POSITIONS, BETTER UNDERSTANDING ITS POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH, AND ADAPTING BEST PRACTICES FROM PEER AND REGIONAL INSTITUTIONS; DEVELOPING A STRATEGY TO EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE A BROAD NETWORK OF EXTERNAL PARTNERS BY CREATING A CLEAR ENTRY POINT OR ?FRONT DOOR? AND DEFINING PATHWAYS TO HELP LAUNCH, SUSTAIN, AND COORDINATE EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS. THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO BUILD INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE AND CULTURE TO SUPPORT USE-INSPIRED RESEARCH AND TECH-TRANSFER INITIATIVES BY MITIGATING BARRIERS, CREATING SUPPORT STRUCTURES, AND STRENGTHENING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR FACULTY MEMBERS TO INCORPORATE INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS INTO THEIR RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND MENTORSHIP OF STUDENTS. THE CREATE COHORT WILL ALSO DISSEMINATE ITS FINDINGS THROUGH NATIONAL NETWORKS TO SHARE POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND BEST PRACTICES THAT ARE RIGHT-SIZED FOR TEACHING INSTITUTIONS, EXTENDING THE IMPACT OF THE 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF 400 MHZ NMR SPECTROMETER FOR CHEMISTRY RESEARCH -THIS AWARD IS JOINTLY SUPPORTED BY THE MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION AND THE CHEMISTRY RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAMS, AND THE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH. GRINNELL COLLEGE IS ACQUIRING AN UPGRADED CONSOLE FOR A 400 MHZ NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) SPECTROMETER WITH A DIFFUSION PROBE TO SUPPORT THE RESEARCH OF PROFESSOR ANDREW MOBLEY AND COLLEAGUES ERICK LEGGANS, LESLIE LYONS, MOLLY MACINNES, AND STEPHEN SIECK. THIS INSTRUMENT FACILITATES RESEARCH IN THE AREAS OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY, NATURAL PRODUCTS, AND MATERIAL SCIENCE. IN GENERAL, NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) SPECTROSCOPY IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TOOLS AVAILABLE TO CHEMISTS FOR THE ELUCIDATION OF THE STRUCTURE OF MOLECULES. IT IS USED TO IDENTIFY UNKNOWN SUBSTANCES, TO CHARACTERIZE SPECIFIC ARRANGEMENTS OF ATOMS WITHIN MOLECULES, AND TO STUDY THE DYNAMICS OF INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MOLECULES IN SOLUTION OR IN THE SOLID STATE. ACCESS TO STATE-OF-THE-ART NMR SPECTROMETERS IS ESSENTIAL TO CHEMISTS WHO ARE CARRYING OUT FRONTIER RESEARCH. THIS INSTRUMENT ENHANCES THE EDUCATIONAL, RESEARCH, AND TEACHING EFFORTS OF STUDENTS AT ALL LEVELS IN MANY DEPARTMENTS AT GRINNELL COLLEGE AS WELL AS PROVIDES ACCESSIBILITY FOR USE AT NEARBY INSTITUTIONS. THE INSTRUMENT ALSO ENABLES THE RESEARCH GROUPS TO WORK ACTIVELY TO RECRUIT STUDENTS FROM A DIVERSE BACKGROUND AND BROADEN THE REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIZED GROUPS IN THE SCIENCES. THE AWARD OF THE NMR SPECTROMETER IS AIMED AT ENHANCING THE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AT ALL LEVELS, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS SUCH AS ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY, NATURAL PRODUCTS, AND MATERIAL SCIENCE. THE INSTRUMENT IMPACTS RESEARCH FOCUSED ON ADVANCING THE UNDERSTANDING OF HETEROBIMETALLIC COMPLEXES AND ION TRANSPORT IN ELECTROLYTES AND GRAPHITIC NETWORKS. SPECIFICALLY, THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE USED IN A WIDE SPECTRUM OF PROJECTS SUCH AS: 1) HETERONUCLEAR NOE AND NMR-RELAXATION STUDIES OF SN HYDRIDE COMPLEXES OF W AND PT, 2) DETAILED VARIABLE TEMPERATURE STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF THE CONFORMATIONAL BEHAVIOR OF THE NATURAL PRODUCT LUGDUNIN, 3) STRUCTURAL DETERMINATION OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN SOLVENT AND METAL IONS IN ELECTROLYTES FOR LI-ION AND NA BATTERIES, 4) SELF-DIFFUSION STUDIES OF LI, NA, AND LN IONS IN GRAPHITIC SUSPENSIONS, AND 5) J-COUPLING STUDIES TO DETERMINE THE CONFIGURATION AND SOLUTION STATE CONFORMATION OF NOVEL CHALCONES. THE RESEARCH PROJECTS TO BE ENABLED BY THE 400MHZ NMR SPECTROMETER COULD LEAD TO IMPACTS IN THE FIELDS SUCH AS ENERGY STORAGE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY. 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.

ALLOSTERIC POTENTIATION OF NEURONAL NICOTINIC RECEPTORS

HAITIAN ART DIGITAL CROSSROADS [THE HAITIAN ARTS DIGITAL CROSSROADS (HADC) PROJECT IS A COLLABORATION LED BY GRINNELL COLLEGE LIBRARIES WITH THE WATERLOO CENTER FOR THE ARTS. HADC WILL BUILD A DIGITAL PLATFORM WITH AN OPEN ACCESS DATABASE OF HAITIAN ART FROM AT LEAST FOUR PROMINENT COLLECTIONS. SPECIFICALLY, WE SEEK NEH FUNDING TO DIGITIZE THE COLLECTIONS OF AN ART CENTER AND VODOU TEMPLE IN HAITI, AS WELL AS A PROMINENT COLLECTION AT A PUBLIC LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE IN NEW JERSEY. WE AIM TO SHOW THE VALUE OF SECURING CULTURAL HERITAGE AND SUPPORTING ENDANGERED SPACES BY CREATING ACCESSIBLE DATABASES AND DIGITAL RESOURCES. OUR DIGITIZATION PROCESS AND EXPANDED METADATA SCHEMA PROVIDE A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR HAITIAN ART, CONSIDERING CULTURAL NUANCES, ARTISTIC PRACTICES AND MATERIALS, A KREYOL LINGUISTICS, AND THE HAITIAN ART MARKET. AS A MODEL FOR CONSIDERING ARTISTIC PRODUCTION ACROSS THE AFRICAN DIASPORA, HADC PROVIDES AN ORIGINAL PLATFORM FOR EXPANDING NARRATIVES OF HAITIAN ART.]

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN ICP-MS SUPPORTING INTERDISCIPLINARY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN BIOGEOCHEMISTRY, MATERIALS SCIENCE, ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, AND BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN STATISTICS USING TECHNOLOGY: MAKING DATA BASED DECISIONS

CONFERENCE: NAIRR PILOT EXPANSION: FA2: CAPACITY AND COMMUNITY FOR 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS -GRINNELL COLLEGE IN COLLABORATION WITH THE COMPUTING RESEARCH ASSOCIATION, SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, AND ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WILL ENGAGE FACULTY FROM FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS TO INCREASE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) EDUCATION CAPACITY AND UTILIZE SHARED RESOURCES IN THE NATIONAL AI RESEARCH RESOURCE (NAIRR) PILOT. EXPANDING ACCESS TO AI EDUCATION IS CRITICAL TO PREPARING A NEXT-GENERATION WORKFORCE. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES CHALLENGES IN EXPANDING AI EDUCATION BY FOSTERING A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE AND SUPPORTING FACULTY AT THESE INSTITUTIONS THROUGH A SERIES OF VIRTUAL ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS AND AN IN-PERSON WORKSHOP. AS PART OF A BROADER NATIONAL EFFORT SPANNING DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, THIS INITIATIVE SEEKS TO EXPAND THE NAIRR PILOT COMMUNITY BY EQUIPPING EDUCATORS WITH THE TOOLS AND KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO BRING AI LEARNING EXPERIENCES INTO CLASSROOMS NATIONWIDE. THE PROJECT HAS FOUR PRIMARY GOALS: (1) FACILITATE INCREASED INSTRUCTIONAL CAPACITY AND DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE AMONG FACULTY AT FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS WHO ARE IMPLEMENTING AI COURSES OR MODULES INTO UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULA; (2) ESTABLISH A SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF BEST PRACTICES FOR AI EDUCATION RELEVANT TO FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS; (3) IMPROVE FACULTY CONFIDENCE AT 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS IN USING NAIRR PILOT RESOURCES FOR AI INSTRUCTION; AND (4) DEVELOP STRATEGIES FOR INTEGRATING AI CONTENT INTO UNDERGRADUATE COURSES, PARTICULARLY WHERE COMPUTATIONAL RESOURCES ARE LIMITED. THE VIRTUAL ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS WILL BRING EDUCATORS TOGETHER IN SMALL GROUPS TO IDENTIFY CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS TO INCREASING AI EDUCATION CAPACITY AND EFFECTIVELY UTILIZING NAIRR PILOT RESOURCES. INSIGHTS GATHERED FROM THESE DISCUSSIONS WILL SHAPE THE AGENDA FOR AN IN-PERSON WORKSHOP, WHERE PARTICIPANTS WILL FURTHER EXPLORE THESE CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND AVAILABLE RESOURCES. THE WORKSHOP WILL CULMINATE IN A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REPORT OUTLINING BEST PRACTICES, EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEVERAGING NAIRR PILOT RESOURCES IN AI EDUCATION. BY COMBINING VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON ENGAGEMENT, THE PROJECT FOSTERS COLLABORATION, ENHANCES ACCESSIBILITY, AND SUPPORTS FACULTY IN EXPANDING AI EDUCATION AT FOUR-YEAR 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

ALLOSTERIC MODULATION OF NEURONAL NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS

MCA: DEVELOPING A PALEORECORD OF HG IN LONG-LIVED MOLLUSKS FROM THE GULF OF MAINE -MERCURY (HG) CONTAMINATION IS A SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM THAT AFFECTS ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN HEALTH, WITH MOST OF HUMAN EXPOSURE COMING FROM MARINE FISH CONSUMPTION. THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURAL CLIMATE VARIABILITY ON THE MOVEMENT AND BIOACCUMULATION OF HG IN MARINE ECOSYSTEMS IS NOT FULLY UNDERSTOOD. SUCH UNDERSTANDING IS VITAL TO SETTING TARGETS AND ASSESSING THE PROGRESS OF POLICY EFFORTS TO LIMIT HG CONTAMINATION OF MARINE ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN EXPOSURE. THIS RESEARCH SEEKS TO DEVELOP AN APPROXIMATELY 1000-YEAR RECORD OF HG PRESERVED IN CLAM SHELLS COLLECTED FROM THE GULF OF MAINE, ONE OF THE MOST RAPIDLY WARMING REGIONS OF THE WORLD?S OCEANS. LIKE TREE RINGS, CLAM SHELLS POSSESS LAYERS THAT CAN BE PRECISELY DATED AND HAVE POTENTIAL TO PRESERVE HIGHLY RESOLVED SIGNALS OF PAST VARIATION IN HG CONCENTRATIONS AND ACCUMULATION BY BIOTA. IMPORTANTLY, THIS HG RECORD CAN BE PAIRED WITH OTHER KINDS OF CLIMATE PROXY INFORMATION PRESERVED IN THE CLAM SHELLS, GIVING DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT HOW MARINE HG IN THIS ORGANISM CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO A CHANGING CLIMATE. THIS RECORD WILL PROVIDE AN ESPECIALLY USEFUL DATASET FOR CALIBRATING AND IMPROVING MODELS FOR PREDICTING THE EFFECTS OF POLICY AND CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE RECOVERY OF MARINE ECOSYSTEMS FROM CENTURIES OF HG POLLUTION. OTHER BROADER IMPACTS INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW REGIONAL SCIENTIFIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHERS AT A PREDOMINANTLY UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION (GRINNELL COLLEGE) AND A LARGE PUBLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY (IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY) AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH. SAMPLES OF THE MOLLUSK ARCTICA ISLANDICA WILL BE COLLECTED FROM COASTAL LOCATIONS IN THE GULF OF MAINE AND SHELL HG CONCENTRATIONS COMPARED TO WATER, SEDIMENT, AND BIOTA CONCENTRATIONS OF TOTAL HG AND METHYLMERCURY (MEHG). THESE COMPARISONS WILL PERMIT THE RESEARCHERS TO EVALUATE WHETHER SHELL HG IS A ROBUST PROXY OF ENVIRONMENTAL HG AND MEHG BIOACCUMULATION AND TO ASSESS REPRODUCIBILITY OF COEVAL SHELL SAMPLES. A MASTER CHRONOLOGY OF HG IN GULF OF MAINE WILL THEN BE CONSTRUCTED BASED ON MEASURING SHELL HG AT HIGH-RESOLUTION FOR AN EXISTING CROSS-DATED A. ISLANDICA SHELL ARCHIVE SPANNING THE LAST MILLENNIUM, A PERIOD WHICH SPANS SIGNIFICANT CLIMATIC AND OCEAN CIRCULATION CHANGES AND LARGE INCREASES IN HG EMISSIONS FROM LOCAL AND GLOBAL SOURCES. THIS RECORD CAN BE DIRECTLY COMPARED TO EXISTING AND NOVEL PALEOCLIMATE PROXY RECORDS, INCLUDING EXISTING OXYGEN STABLE ISOTOPE RECORDS AND NEWLY MEASURED TRACE-ELEMENT RECORDS (BA AND MN). RESULTS OF THIS WORK SHOULD PERMIT DETERMINATION OF THE SENSITIVITY OF HG BIOACCUMULATION TO NATURAL CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND EVALUATION OF COUPLED BIOGEOCHEMICAL-CLIMATE MODELS USED FOR PREDICTING TRAJECTORY OF FUTURE HG IN MARINE BIOTA UNDER VARIOUS CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE DIVISION OF EARTH SCIENCES GEOBIOLOGY AND LOW-TEMPERATURE GEOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM, THE DIVISION OF OCEAN SCIENCES MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS PROGRAM 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.

LEAPS-MPS: ELECTROCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ION ADSORPTION AT SOLID-LIQUID INTERFACES -IN THIS PROJECT, FUNDED BY THE MPS-LEAPS (LAUNCHING EARLY-CAREER ACADEMIC PATHWAYS) PROGRAM AND MANAGED BY THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, PROFESSOR MOLLY M. MACINNES AND HER STUDENTS AT GRINNELL COLLEGE WILL PERFORM STUDIES FOCUSED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS TO UNDERSTAND DISSOLVED METAL ION INTERACTIONS WITH SOLID SURFACES. METAL IONS CONSTITUTE A GROUP OF POLLUTANTS THAT ARE OF GREAT CONCERN WHEN THEY ENTER NATURAL BODIES OF WATER. UNDERSTANDING THE INTERACTION OF THESE DISSOLVED POLLUTANTS WITH SOLID SURFACES NOT ONLY INFORMS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR TRANSPORT AND FATE WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT BUT ALSO AIDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SORBENT MATERIALS FOR REMOVAL OF THESE IONS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT. THE SOLID SURFACES OF GREATEST INTEREST ARE OXIDES, INCLUDING SILICON OXIDE (SAND) AND METAL OXIDES. CURRENT METHODS FOR PROBING REACTIONS AT OXIDE SURFACES INCLUDE METHODS THAT ARE EXPENSIVE, DIFFICULT, OR MUST BE DONE IN HIGH VACUUM ENVIRONMENTS. PROFESSOR MACINNES AND HER STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE THE USEFULNESS AND SIMPLICITY OF ELECTROCHEMICAL TECHNIQUES FOR PROBING SURFACE REACTIONS OF METAL IONS ON OXIDE MATERIALS IN SITU. ULTIMATELY, THIS RESEARCH COULD OPEN THE DOOR TO USING ELECTROCHEMICAL MEASUREMENTS AS A WAY TO PROBE THE INTERACTIONS OF A WIDE VARIETY OF IONS AND MOLECULES AT SOLID SURFACES. THIS RESEARCH WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING A PROGRAM CALLED MARKET SCIENCE WHERE STUDENTS ENGAGE WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THEIR RESEARCH. TRAINING WILL BE DEVELOPED TO TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT SCIENCE COMMUNICATION, TREATING COMMUNICATION WITH A PUBLIC AUDIENCE AS A TWO-WAY CONVERSATION AND A WAY TO LEARN ABOUT THE COMMUNITY. PROFESSOR MACINNES AND HER STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING CONDUCTIVE METAL OXIDES (FTO, ITO, AND AZO) AS ELECTRODES FOR MONITORING THE ADSORPTION AND REDOX REACTIONS OF AQUEOUS LANTHANIDE AND ACTINIDE IONS ON THESE METAL OXIDE SURFACES. OTHER SURFACE-SENSITIVE TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY AND LASER ABLATION ICP-MS WILL SUPPLEMENT THE ELECTROCHEMICAL EXPERIMENTS. FURTHER, PROFESSOR MACINNES AND HER STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE THE POSSIBILITY OF USING ELECTROCHEMISTRY TO PROBE SURFACE REACTIONS ON NON-CONDUCTIVE MATERIALS. THIS WILL BE DONE BY USING ULTRA-THIN FILMS OF SILICA GROWN ON METAL ELECTRODES AS WELL AS THE NATIVE OXIDE LAYERS ON METAL ELECTRODES. ELECTRONS CAN TUNNEL THROUGH FILMS THINNER THAN ABOUT 5 NM, ALLOWING THESE NON-CONDUCTIVE OXIDES TO ACT AS CONDUCTIVE MATERIALS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER FOR X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AT GRINNELL COLLEGE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: EVOLUTION OF COLOR VARIATION IN HAWAIIAN DAMSELFLIES: CAUSAL LINKS FOR AN ECOLOGICAL SELECTION HYPOTHESIS

III: SMALL: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: ADAPTIVE INTEGRATION OF TEXTUAL AND GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION FOR MINING MASSIVE MAP COLLECTIONS

PLAYING GAMES WITH A PURPOSE: A NEW APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING STATISTICS

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

RUI: LARGE-SCALE ALGORITHM ANALYSIS AND GPU IMPLEMENTATIONS FOR COMPRESSED SENSING AND MATRIX COMPLETION

EAGER: SEMI-AUTOMATED TYPE-DIRECTED PROGRAMMING

INTERGOVERNMENTAL MOBILITY ASSIGNMENT

RUI: ROLE OF RUBISCO ACTIVASE GENE REGULATION IN ACCLIMATION OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS TO HEAT STRESS

ALLOSTERIC MODULATION IN NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS -WITH SUPPORT FROM THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE PROCESSES PROGRAM IN THE CHEMISTRY DIVISIO, DR. MARK LEVANDOSKI OF GRINNELL COLLEGE WILL INVESTIGATE HOW NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS RESPOND TO NEUROTRANSMITTERS, CHEMICAL SIGNALS THAT CONTROL HOW CELLS COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER THROUGHOUT THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. THESE RECEPTORS CHANGE THEIR SHAPES TO CONTROL THE PASSAGE OF CHARGED PARTICLES INTO MUSCLE CELLS AND NEURONS. THIS PROJECT WILL USE HIGH LEVEL COMPUTATIONAL METHODS TO STUDY HOW THESE SHAPE CHANGES ARE AFFECTED BY ACETYLCHOLINE, A NEUROTRANSMITTER FOUND NATURALLY IN THE BODY, OR NICOTINE, ONE THAT COMES FROM USE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS. THE PROJECT PROVIDES RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND MENTORING TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND, AS A RESULT, IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE ACCESS TO THE SCIENCES FOR STUDENTS TRADITIONALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS) FIELDS, IMPROVE STEM EDUCATION, AND CONTRIBUTE TO A MORE DIVERSE, GLOBAL STEM WORKFORCE. NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS PLAY IMPORTANT ROLES IN HIGHER ORDER BRAIN FUNCTIONS SUCH AS MEMORY, ATTENTION AND MOTOR CONTROL. THESE RECEPTORS HAVE BEEN INTENSELY STUDIED, MAKING THEM FOUNDATIONAL EXEMPLARS OF A VERY LARGE FAMILY OF LIGAND-GATED ION CHANNELS. DR. LEVANDOSKI?S RESEARCH HAS FOCUSED FOR TWO DECADES ON THE ACTIONS OF SMALL MOLECULES THAT MODULATE THE RECEPTOR STATE TRANSITIONS WITHOUT ACTIVATING THE SYSTEM THEMSELVES, COMPOUNDS THAT WORK LIKE MOLECULAR RHEOSTATS. THIS PROJECT WILL APPLY MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS TO ELUCIDATE LOCAL STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS IN THE RECEPTOR BINDING SITES AND HOW MODEL ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS EFFECT GLOBAL CHANGES THAT TRANSFORM MODULATOR BINDING INTO CHANNEL GATING. THE RESULTS FROM THESE SIMULATIONS WILL ALLOW MOLECULAR INTERPRETATION OF THE LARGE BODY OF FUNCTIONAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY DATA FROM THE PI?S LAB AND OTHERS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF HOW A FULL-LENGTH, HETEROMERIC NICOTINIC RECEPTOR INTERACTS WITH ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY CHEMISTRY OF LIFE PROCESSES PROGRAM 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.

RUI: EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS FOR COMPRESSED SENSING AND MATRIX COMPLETION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: TRANSFORMING UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY EDUCATION USING A CONTEXT RICH PEDAGOGY TO TEACH KINETICS, QUANTUM MECHANICS, A

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FMITF: TRACK III: INTEGRATING FORMAL METHODS INTO THE FOUNDATIONAL UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM -MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED. HOWEVER, IT IS WELL-KNOWN AMONG EDUCATORS AND EDUCATION RESEARCHERS THAT UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTER SCIENTISTS OFTEN DO NOT APPRECIATE THE RELEVANCE OF MATHEMATICS TO THEIR DISCIPLINE. THIS DISCONNECT ADVERSELY AFFECTS STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY AS THEY PROGRESS FROM CONCRETE, PRACTICAL INTRODUCTORY COURSES CENTERED ON PROGRAMMING TO THEORETICAL UPPER-LEVEL COURSES ROOTED IN ABSTRACT MATHEMATICS. RESEARCHERS HAVE OBSERVED THAT STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN THE CLASSROOM AND RETENTION WITHIN THE MAJOR FALTER WHEN THESE CONNECTIONS ARE NOT ESTABLISHED. THIS PROJECT'S IMPACT IS TO ADDRESS THESE CONCERNS BY DEVELOPING PEDAGOGY THAT (A) UNITES THE MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS AND PRACTICE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT ALL UNDERGRADUATES CAN APPRECIATE AND DIRECTLY APPLY IN THEIR FUTURE ENDEAVORS AND (B) IS ADOPTABLE BY AS MANY INSTITUTIONS AS POSSIBLE, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH LIMITED ROOM TO EXPAND THEIR CURRICULUM. TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS, THE INVESTIGATORS DEVELOP, DEPLOY, AND EVALUATE NEW PEDAGOGY THAT INTEGRATES FORMAL METHODS TECHNIQUES WITHIN THE EXISTING UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTER SCIENCE CURRICULUM. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PEDAGOGY INTRODUCES PROGRAM REASONING, AN ACTIVITY ALL COMPUTER SCIENTISTS PERFORM, AS THE PRIMARY VEHICLE FOR STUDYING THE MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF COMPUTING IN THE CONTEXTS OF INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING, DISCRETE MATHEMATICS, AND ALGORITHMS COURSES. SUCH PEDAGOGY BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR ALL UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTER SCIENTISTS AND MAKES RELEVANT FORMAL METHODS FOR A NEW GENERATION OF PROGRAMMERS. ADDITIONALLY, THE PROJECT PROMOTES THE RELEVANCE OF FORMAL METHODS TO UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATORS, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THIS PEDAGOGY, THROUGH A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS AT THE REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS. 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: THE CURRICULUM MAPPING TOOL FOR SOCIOLOGY: DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, ASSESSMENT, AND DISSEMINATION

MRI: ACQUISTITION OF AN INTEGRATED GAS EXCHANGE AND FLUORESCENCE INSTRUMENT FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY PHYSIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RACE, IMMIGRATION, AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE AMERICAS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY-GENETIC LIMITS TO RANGE EXPANSION

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN INFRARED (IR) FLUORESCENCE IMAGER

MRI: ACQUISITION OF A QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR SYSTEM FOR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

MAYA TESTIMONIES IN THE VISUAL HISTORY ARCHIVE: TRANSCRIBING, TRANSLATING, AND ACCESSING SURVIVOR LIFE HISTORIES [THIS PROJECT WILL MAKE FIRST PERSON MAYA SURVIVOR TESTIMONIES AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND DISSEMINATION BY CREATING TRANSCRIPTIONS AND TRANSLATIONS OF A SET OF ORAL HISTORIES HELD WITH CONSENT BY THE INSTITUTE FOR VISUAL HISTORY AND EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SHOAH FOUNDATION. DURING THE GRANT PERIOD, THE TEAM WILL PRODUCE WRITTEN TRANSCRIPTS IN MAYA WAR SURVIVORS' ORIGINAL SPOKEN LANGUAGES (THE MAYAN LANGUAGE KAQCHIKEL AND SPANISH) FOR APPROXIMATELY 10 PERCENT OF THE COLLECTION AND WILL TRANSLATE A SUBSET OF THESE TRANSCRIPTS INTO ENGLISH. THIS WILL PROVIDE FREE PUBLIC ACCESS TO THESE HISTORIES, ALLOWING THEM TO BE CATALOGUED AND USED IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION. THIS PROJECT PROVIDES A CONCRETE MODEL FOR SURVIVOR TESTIMONY FROM DIFFERENT LINGUISTIC COMMUNITIES IN THIS ARCHIVE TO BECOME USEABLE AND ACCESSIBLE IN FUTURE WORK. THE NEW TRANSCRIPTIONS AND TRANSLATIONS WILL BE SHARED ELECTRONICALLY THROUGH MULTIPLE PATHWAYS IN THE PUBLIC ARCHIVE.]

HAITIAN ART: A DIGITAL CROSSROADS

JUPITER-LIKE ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRIES HAVE LONG BEEN MODELED IN THERMOCHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM (TE) (FEGLEY AND LODDERS 1994, LODDERS AND FEGLEY 2002, VIS

CAREER: MODELING OF SUPER-EARTH ATMOSPHERES - LOOKING TOWARD THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE AND BEYOND

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH - LTREB RUI RENEWAL: EVOLUTIONARY DEMOGRAPHY - THE CONTRIBUTION OF ADAPTATION AND ENVIRONMENT TO POPULATION DYNAMICS, RANGE SIZE, AND NICHE WIDTH

THE VIRTUAL VIKING LONGSHIP PROJECT: A STUDY IN THE FUTURE OF LIBERAL ARTS TEACHING AND RESEARCH [THIS PROJECT EXPLORES AND TESTS STRATEGIES FOR INTEGRATING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LEARNING AND LABOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LONG-TERM DIGITAL HUMANITIES (DH) RESEARCH PROJECTS. COMBINING THE STRENGTHS OF TWO LEADING LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES WITH THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY AFFORDANCES OF VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) TECHNOLOGIES, THE PROJECT AIMS TO CREATE AN IMMERSIVE VR EXPERIENCE FOR VISUALIZING THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ROLES OF A VIKING AGE LONGSHIP BY FORMING A DH COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY AND PRACTICE THAT CULTIVATES DEEP COMPETENCIES IN SPATIAL COMPUTING WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION. STUDENT CO-AUTHORED OUTCOMES WILL INCLUDE: (1) AN OPEN-SOURCE MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT (MVP) VR EXPERIENCE MADE IN CONSULTATION WITH MUSEUM PARTNERS IN THE US AND EUROPE; (2) EXPERIENCE DESIGN DOCUMENT OUTLINING FUTURE DEVELOPMENT; (3) PRESENTATIONS ON OUR FINDINGS AT MAJOR DH AND HISTORY CONFERENCES; AND (4) OPEN-ACCESS ARTICLE DETAILING THE PROJECT'S STRATEGIES AND RECOMMENDED BEST PRACTICES.]

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH - LTREB: EVOLUTIONARY DEMOGRAPHY - THE CONTRIBUTION OF ADAPTATION AND ENVIRONMENT TO POPULATION DYNAMICS, RANGE SIZE, AND NIC

RAPID: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: QUARANTINED NETWORKS AND THE SPREAD OF COVID-19

TO SUPPORT (UN)SEEN WORK: TRADITIONS AND TRANSITIONS, A NEW WORK BY VISUAL ARTIST JANE GILMOR.

ORGANIZATIONAL: GRINNELL SCIENCE PROJECT

FY 2017 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP EL

RUI: LINKING ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND IMMUNOLOGY TO SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION IN HELMINTH TRANSMISSION -PARASITES ARE OFTEN SPREAD UNEVENLY ACROSS SPACE, WHERE SOME HOST POPULATIONS HAVE FEW PARASITES AND OTHERS ARE HEAVILY INFECTED. THIS PATTERN IS COMMON, BUT STILL POORLY UNDERSTOOD AND POSES A CONSIDERABLE BARRIER TO ACCURATELY PREDICTING AND MANAGING DISEASES. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR PARASITES THAT HAVE COMPLEX LIFE CYCLES OR MOVE BETWEEN DIFFERENT HOST SPECIES. THIS INCLUDES MANY PARASITIC WORMS (HELMINTHS), WHICH INFECT OVER TWO BILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE AND CAUSE SERIOUS DISEASE IN LIVESTOCK, YET HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY UNDERSTUDIED. THIS PROJECT CONNECTS EMPIRICAL DATA WITH MATHEMATICAL MODELS TO UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT HOW BEHAVIOR, IMMUNOLOGY, AND ECOLOGY WITHIN EACH HOST SPECIES SHAPES PARASITE TRANSMISSION ACROSS SPACE AND THROUGH TIME. THIS RESEARCH FOCUSES ON A WELL-STUDIED TAPEWORM SYSTEM WHICH INFECTS FISH-EATING BIRDS (LOONS), COPEPODS, AND THREESPINE STICKLEBACK FISH IN FRESHWATER LAKES. BY INTEGRATING FIELD STUDIES, LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS, GENETIC STUDIES, AND MATHEMATICAL MODELS ACROSS ALL THREE HOSTS AND THE PARASITE ITSELF, THIS PROJECT PROVIDES A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF THE TRANSMISSION OF A COMPLEX-LIFE CYCLE PARASITE AND BUILDS A MODELING TOOLKIT THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO OTHER PARASITES. TO SHARE THIS WORK, THE INVESTIGATORS HAVE DEVELOPED AN ART-SCIENCE COLLABORATION INVOLVING INDIGENOUS ARTISTS AND A SCIENCE JOURNALISM STUDENT TO PRODUCE A TRAVELING EXHIBITION FOCUSED ON THIS PROJECT. RESEARCH IS ALSO BEING INCORPORATED INTO THE CLASSROOM THROUGH A COURSE-BASED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, AN INTERDISCIPLINARY UNDERGRADUATE COURSE FOCUSED ON THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ART AND SCIENCE, A HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER SCIENCE PROGRAM, AND IS BEING MADE BROADLY AVAILABLE THROUGH PUBLISHED LESSON PLANS. PARASITE TRANSMISSION IS SHAPED BY A COMPLEX INTERPLAY OF ECOLOGICAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND IMMUNOLOGICAL FACTORS, YET OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THESE FACTORS INTERACT AND THEIR RELATIVE IMPACTS ON DISEASE PREVALENCE ACROSS SCALES REMAINS FRAGMENTED. THE PROJECT DEVELOPS A GENERAL FRAMEWORK, INFORMED BY EMPIRICAL DATA, FOR UNDERSTANDING AND PREDICTING HOW THESE DIFFERENT PROCESSES OPERATE WITHIN MULTIPLE HOSTS AND SHAPE PARASITE TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION ACROSS SPACE AND TIME. THIS WORK ADDRESSES FOUR MAIN QUESTIONS: (1) WHAT ARE THE RELATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OF PARASITE EXPOSURE (A DOSE-RESPONSE) VERSUS IMMUNITY ON TRANSMISSION DYNAMICS? (2) HOW SENSITIVE ARE EXPOSURE AND IMMUNITY TO ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATION, NAMELY RESOURCES AND HOST POPULATION STRUCTURE? (3) TO WHAT EXTENT IS PARASITE ABUNDANCE DRIVEN BY LOCAL FACTORS OR LANDSCAPE-LEVEL PATTERNS OF PARASITE DISPERSAL? (4) IS THE UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF PARASITES DRIVEN MORE BY TRAITS OF THE FIRST, SECOND, OR TERTIARY HOST? USING THE MODEL TAPEWORM SYSTEM, S. SOLIDUS, THIS RESEARCH DEVELOPS AND APPLIES CUTTING-EDGE STATISTICAL AND MATHEMATICAL APPROACHES AND A GLOBAL SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS TO LARGE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL DATASETS SPANNING MULTIPLE LEVELS OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION. THIS PROJECT BUILDS ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE WELL-STUDIED THREESPINE STICKLEBACK HOST AND FILLING IN IMPORTANT MISSING INFORMATION FOR THE OTHER TWO HOSTS IN THIS SYSTEM (LOONS AND COPEPODS). THIS RESEARCH PRODUCES A GENERAL, YET MECHANISTIC, MODELING FRAMEWORK TO BETTER UNDERSTAND TRANSMISSION IN THIS SYSTEM, AS WELL AS INFORM WORK WITH OTHER COMPLEX LIFE CYCLE PARASITES. THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY THE DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY, DIVISION OF INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL SYSTEMS, AND DIVISION OF MATHEMATICAL 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.