UNC Awarded More than $650,000 in National Grants

Multiyear national grants recently awarded to University of Northern Colorado faculty researchers total more than $650,000 combined. Funding for the three separate projects will support: researching factors in recruiting and retaining women in geosciences degree programs to help increase the number of women graduating; acquiring geophysics instruments to conduct research and training and provide educational opportunities in the fields of Archaeology, Earth Science, Biology and Physics; and providing an overseas seminar to study the history and philosophy of peaceful revolutions that led to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe more than 20 years ago. An overview of each award: National Science Foundation Project Title: “Collaborative Research: Recruitment and Retention of Women in Geosciences: An Investigation of Individual and Environmental Factors” Funding amount: $431,555 (Aug. 15, 2012-July 31, 2015) Funding agency: National Science Foundation (Research on Gender in Science and Engineering, NSF 10-516) Principal Investigator: Julie Sexton, Mathematics and Science Teaching Institute, and co-principal investigator Kevin Pugh, Educational Psychology, in collaboration with Purdue University. From the Project Summary: To fill a gap in research, the group will study the characteristics of university geoscience programs with above-average and below-average graduation of women in the programs. The goal is to help contribute to the knowledge needed to increase the proportion of women earning undergraduate geoscience degrees from U.S. universities. More info: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=1136233 Project Title: Acquisition of a system of geophysics instruments for archaeological geophysics research and training” Funding Amount: $110,321 (August 15, 2012-July 31, 2015) Funding Agency: National Science Foundation (Major Research Instrumentation) Principal Investigator: Andrew Creekmore, Anthropology; with other UNC faculty: Robert Brunswig (emeritus), Steve Mackessy (Biological Sciences), Cynthia Galovich (Physics) and Byron Straw (Earth Sciences). From the Project Summary: These instruments include a magnetometer, resistivity meter, conductivity meter, ground-penetrating radar, and sensor attachment for an existing magnetic susceptibility meter. Each of these measures different properties of the Earth and form an integrated research system for state-of-the-art applications. The instruments will support the following new and ongoing research: studies of Colorado prehistoric and historic Native American populations; trading forts of the 1800s along the Colorado Front Range; the African-American settlement of Dearfield; rattlesnake hibernation dens; climate history and change through the study of rock glaciers and moraines; and development of a grant-funded archaeological and geophysics test site. The funding also will support opportunities for students to be involved through research and training. More info: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=1229061 Of note: UNC’s Jeremy Smith was awarded a NSF Major Research Instrumentation Grant a year ago: http://www.unco.edu/news/releases.aspx?id=3156 National Endowment for the Humanities Project Title: “East-Central Europe, 1989: The History and Philosophy of the Peaceful Revolutions” Funding Amount: $109,084 (Oct. 1, 2012-September 30, 2013) Funding Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities (Seminars for School Teachers Program) Principal Investigator: Christiane Olivo, Political Science & International Affairs From the Project Summary: The grant will support a four-week seminar, modeled after Olivo’s 2009 seminar, in Berlin, Germany; and Prague, Czech Republic, where three questions about the fall of communism more than 20 years ago will be examined: 1) What role did democratic opposition play in the fall of communism? 2) What were philosophical ideas developed by dissidents in the civil societies of these communist countries? And, what is the ongoing specific significance of these political philosophies? Disclaimer: Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities