Tag: Grant

Psychology professor receives NSF award to research eyewitness identification errors

Dr. Nancy Steblay, Professor of Psychology, has been awarded funding from the National Science Foundation for the project, “Collaborative Research. RUI: Understanding and Predicting Eyewitness Identification Errors: Studies Using a Unique Set of Materials from Actual Lineups.” (NSF ID: SES -1420135). Total funding for the project is $397,600. The research will be conducted over the next three years in collaboration with Dr. Gary Wells at Iowa State University. Augsburg College will receive $134,219 in support of faculty-student research.

To better understand eyewitness identification errors, the research team will conduct a series of laboratory experiments using eyewitness data sets and lineup audio files from 855 real police investigations. Continue reading “Psychology professor receives NSF award to research eyewitness identification errors”

Dr. Engebretson awarded NSF funding for collaborative space physics research

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Dr. Mark Engebretson, Professor Emeritus of Physics, and his team $396,635 over three years to support the project, “Collaborative Research:  Studies of ULF Waves Associated with Solar Wind Coupling to the Magnetosphere and Ionosphere.” (NSF ID: PLR-1341493)

In collaboration with Dr. Marc Lessard at the University of New Hampshire, Dr. Engebretson will continue to operate and analyze data from four ground-based induction magnetometers located in Antarctica (including South Pole Station) and two in the Arctic. The stations in this project are key links in arrays of ground-based ionospheric and magnetospheric observatories in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. These observatories, together with both low-altitude and high-altitude NASA satellites, provide the data with which Engebretson, Lessard, and members of their team work to characterize and understand the physical processes occurring in Earth’s space environment.

The study of the Earth’s space environment has become increasingly important to our technologically–driven society.   Continue reading “Dr. Engebretson awarded NSF funding for collaborative space physics research”

Chemistry Professor to collaborate on Department of Energy Grant

Dr. David Hanson, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, is collaborating with Dr. Jeffrey Pierce at Colorado State University to develop computer models that will improve the representation of growth rates of newly formed atmospheric particulate matter. This research, “Collaborative Project: Contributions of Organic Compounds to the Growth of Freshly Nucleated Atmospheric Nanoparticles” is made possible by a $485,434 grant through the Department of Energy (Award # DE-SC0011780). Continue reading “Chemistry Professor to collaborate on Department of Energy Grant”

Augsburg Awarded $150,000 Career Ready Internship Grant

Augsburg College recently received a $150,000 Career Ready Internship grant from Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation.  Internships provide students with valuable workplace skills and networking opportunities that often lead to job offers after graduation. Grant funds will create up to 38 new paid internships for the 2014-2015 academic year ensuring more Augsburg students can participate in paid experiences that allow them to graduate with a competitive edge.

This project will be led Keith Munson, Rebekah Dupont, and Elaine Eschenbacher, who will collaborate to identify and build lasting partnerships with local businesses and nonprofits to develop new paid internships for students who receive financial aid. Continue reading “Augsburg Awarded $150,000 Career Ready Internship Grant”

Chemistry Professor Receives Grant for i-NMR Software

Dr. Michael Wentzel, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, recently received an Implementation Grant from the Chemistry Collaborations Workshop and Communities of Scholars Program (cCWCS). This $1,000 matching grant will allow Dr. Wentzel to purchase i-NMR software for interactive spectroscopic analysis of organic compounds. This software will provide students in organic chemistry with a more active and realistic experience with data and an increased understanding of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).
If you’d like to learn more about this project, please contact Dr. Wentzel at wentzelm@augsburg.edu.

Engebretson and MACCS team receive $425,919 grant from National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation has awarded a new three-year $425,919 research grant (NSF AGS-1264146) to Augsburg College’s Physics Department for continued operation of the Magnetometer Array for Cusp and Cleft Studies (MACCS), a longitudinally-extended array of 8 magnetometers located in Arctic Canada, and for space science research based on MACCS data. Continue reading “Engebretson and MACCS team receive $425,919 grant from National Science Foundation”

History Department receives $82,486 for Historyapolis Project

Dr. Michael Lansing, Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department, and Dr. Kirsten Delegard, Scholar-in-Residence, were awarded $82,486 from the Minnesota Historical Society through the State of Minnesota’s Historical and Cultural Heritage Fund for their Historyapolis Project. This is the first time that an academic department of history has received funding from this program for such a project.  Continue reading “History Department receives $82,486 for Historyapolis Project”

Mathematics Professor to Collaborate on NSF Grant

Congratulations to Dr. John Zobitz, Associate Professor of Mathematics, who will be participating as a Fellow in “Engaging Mathematics,” a NSF TUES funded project led by Wm. David Burns of SENCER (NSF ID: 1322883).

The Engaging Mathematics project will develop curricula that connects learning in mathematics courses to real and relevant local, regional, national and global issues and thus greatly improve students’ retention of the specific mathematics concepts and skills, along with their understanding of the role of mathematical modeling and quantitative literacy in everyday life. Dr. Zobitz will work in partnership with colleagues at two and four year colleges and universities locally and nationally to develop learning experiences across the mathematics curriculum.

To learn more about this project, please contact Dr. Zobitz at zobitz@augsburg.edu.

Editor’s Note: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1322883. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Biology and Mathematics Professors Receive NSF Grant to Purchase Instruments for Plant Ecophysiology Research

Dr. Ann Impullitti, Assistant Professor of Biology, received a $122,684 Major Research Instrumentation Grant from NSF’s Division of Biological Infrastructure, and a $52,400 from the LiCor Environmental Education Fund (LEEF).

The funds will be used to purchase a suite of instruments for plant ecophysiology research.  Dr. Impullitti and her Co-Principal Investigators, Dr. John Zobitz, Associate Professor of Mathematics, and Dr. Dean Malvick, University of Minnesota, will use the instrumentation to investigate the physiology of economically important plants infected by fungi and study mathematical modeling of ecophysiological processes. Research activities will explore: 1) the physiology and productivity of economically important plants colonized by pathogens that do not cause symptoms of disease; 2) the functional role of endophytes in plants; 3) the impact of sublethal infections by soil-borne pathogens of roots on plant productivity; and 4) the measurement of leaf-level physiological processes to parameterize ecosystem models of carbon cycling.

The instruments will be used for faculty research and undergraduate research in plant biology, environmental science, and mathematics.  Students interested in research will have opportunities to be involved in quantitative data analysis in biology and mathematics, and research in a field and/or lab. The instrument will also improve collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects with faculty at the University of Minnesota.  Results from these collaborations will improve our understanding of plant-fungal interactions, and will be applied to improving soybean yield and productivity, an important model plant due to its economic importance and growth throughout the U.S.


Editor’s Note: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DBI-1337582. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Chemistry Professor Receives NSF Grant for Nucleation Research

Dr. David Hanson, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, was awarded $386,163 from NSF’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences. The three year project, “Nucleation studies with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and Nitrogenous Bases,” will test models for nucleation rates that can be incorporated into global climate models. Continue reading “Chemistry Professor Receives NSF Grant for Nucleation Research”