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Welcome to the archive of Kansas NSF EPSCoR (KNE) news and announcements blog. Stay up-to-date with all the happenings, discoveries, events and funding opportunities associated with KNE by visiting https://nsfepscor.ku.edu./
Showing posts with label Announcements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Announcements. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Kansas NSF EPSCoR has a New Website

ANNOUNCING THE NEW
KANSAS NSF EPSCoR WEBSITE


 
Kansas NSF EPSCoR unveiled a new website for 2020 and is now posting announcements, funding opportunities, and news stories to that site. The web address did not change, but the site has been updated and become more efficient.

To find the most current information about Kansas NSF EPSCoR and the MAPS project go to the new site at:

https://nsfepscor.ku.edu

Access to prior stories can still be found here as well as in the archives section on the about page of the new website.





You may still reach us at 785-864-3096
Kansas NSF EPSCoR
University of Kansas
2021 Constant Ave
Lawrence, KS 66047

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Registration is now open for the 2020 MAPS Research Symposium




Kansas NSF EPSCoR will be hosting its Annual MAPS Research Symposium on Monday, March 2, 2020, at the KU Adams Alumni Center (1266 Oread Ave., Lawrence, KS).

There will be a welcome reception the evening before (Sunday, March 1) at the Oread Hotel (1200 Oread Ave., Lawrence, KS)

March 1-2, 2020 
MAPS Symposium 
Agenda and Presentations


Registration is closed
to register

There is no fee to attend but registration is required. 

***To register your poster and submit your abstract 

for the Poster Session

go to:  http://s.12ab.pw/l/cf8


There will be a welcome reception the evening before (Sunday, March 1) at the Oread Hotel.

Reservations for overnight participants
 may be made at the Oread Hotel 1200 Oread Ave, 
Lawrence, KS 66044

To make reservations call (785) 843-1200 and tell the reservation service you are with the 

Kansas NSF EPSCoR 2020 Symposium to get the discounted rate. 


Participants who choose to stay overnight are responsible for all of their travel and hotel costs.


To guarantee a room reservation, call on or before January 31, 2020.


Deadline to register is Friday, February 21, 2020

Program and other logistical details are TBA. Revisit this page for up-to-date information. Contact Doug Byers at dbyers@ku.edu or 785-864-3227 with questions.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Announcing the 2020-2021 Kansas NSF EPSCoR Track-4 Recipients

     The NSF EPSCoR Research Fellows Awards (RII Track-4) are designed for early career, non-tenured faculty with the purpose of enhancing the fellow's research capacity through site visits and collaborations with premier private, government or academic research centers across the nation. Through these partnerships, the NSF EPSCoR Research Fellows learn new techniques using specialized equipment and facilities. These fellowship experiences are expected to potentially transform the fellow’s research career path beyond the award period as well as enhance the research capacity of their institutions. Kansas NSF EPSCoR congratulates 2020-2021 Track-4 Fellows,  Dr.  Gisuk Hwang, an Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Wichita State University, and Dr. Hongyu Wu, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Kansas State University.
Dr. Gisuk Hwang
Wichita State University
    Dr. Gisuk Hwang, titled his proposed project Tailored Flow Boiling Mechanisms Using 3D Printed Multifunctional Wick Structures. The following excerpt is taken from his NSF EPSCoR RII Track-4 Award Abstract #1929187 and explains his research: “Efficient and sustainable electrical power generation is critical to the U.S. energy supply/security and economy, and it is dominated by thermo-electric systems as the 83% of the electricity in 2018 has been generated from fossil fuels and nuclear energy. The efficiency of the electrical power production is bottle-necked by the performance of a steam generator, i.e., flow boiler, which is caused by local premature water dry out from excessive unwanted vapor blankets. To address this challenge, the proposed research will a multifunctional wick structure is proposed for effective liquid-vapor separation, to simultaneously advance current technical limits on heat transfer coefficient and maximum heat transfer rate per given surface area without creating a significant hydraulic pressure drop. A key success of the proposed research requires an advanced manufacturing approach for the proposed multifunctional wick structure with complex geometries. The PI will conduct the research working with a collaborator at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL) using a state-of-the-art metallic 3D printer with a high resolution at Nano-Engineering Research Core Facility (NERCF). Also, this fellowship will greatly strengthen the collaboration between the WSU and UNL. The obtained new knowledge will be implemented into the education plans, which will empower the future engineering workforce.”

Dr. Hongyu Wu
Kansas State University
    Dr. Hongyu Wu, Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering at Kansas State University titled his proposed project Robust Matrix Completion State Estimation in Low-Observability Distribution Systems under False Data Injection Attacks. The following excerpt, taken from his Award Abstract #1929147, provides a brief explanation of his research: "The operational landscape at electric distribution grids is undergoing a radical transformation. Notably, the impact of distributed renewable energy sources and the impetus to improve cybersecurity are challenging the status quo and calling for innovative techniques to enhance situational awareness in the distribution grid. With the support of an EPSCoR Research Fellowship, the PI and a Ph.D. student will receive training on new techniques, including a novel state estimation approach and a next-generation cyber-physical system simulation platform, at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The PI and the student will closely collaborate with NREL researchers by focusing on how to acquire better state estimation in low-observability distribution grids under cyber data attacks. This fellowship will provide an excellent opportunity for a Ph.D. student and an underrepresented undergraduate to gain valuable experience and develop new skill sets. The PI will bring the new techniques back to the home institution, i.e., Kansas State University (KSU), and introduce them to other investigators in related fields. This fellowship will foster a strong partnership between KSU and NREL, and help the state of Kansas better meet its renewable energy goals."

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Kansas NSF EPSCoR is currently developing a New Web Site


....  In the meantime, please call or email us if you have questions or need updated information.

nsfepscor@ku.edu

785-864-3096

Friday, September 6, 2019

Kansas NSF EPSCoR New Funding Opportunity for Early Career Faculty

     Kansas NSF EPSCoR is announcing a new funding opportunity for First Awards in the area of microbiome research. The First Award program helps early-career faculty become competitive for funding from the research directorates at the National Science Foundation by 1) encouraging early-career faculty to submit proposals to the NSF (or other federal funding agency) as soon as possible after their first faculty appointment, and 2) by accelerating the pace of their research and the quality of their subsequent proposals.

    Eligible to apply is any individual tenure track faculty member who is currently untenured
at the assistant professor rank at Kansas State University, University of Kansas, Wichita
State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State
University or Washburn University and who:

  • is within the first three years of his/her faculty appointment,1
  • has not previously received a First Award or similar funding from another EPSCoR or EPSCoR‐like (Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, COBRE) program in Kansas, and is not currently nor has previously been a lead Principal Investigator of a research grant funded by a federal agency.

First Awards are intended to be single‐investigator awards to support the PI’s research program at their institution.

Download the Request for Proposal Information at: 

Submission Deadlines:

  • White Papers due by 5:00 pm Wednesday, 9/25/2019
Download the First Award
Letter of Intent Information Form 

  • Final Proposals are due by 5:00 pm Monday, 11/25/2019



Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for First Awards is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

MAPS Researcher Receives Three New NSF Awards

     

Dr. Jesse Nippert

      Dr. Jesse Nippert, Professor of Biology at Kansas State University (KSU) and research team member working with the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS), has received three new National Science Foundations (NSF) Awards to study the impacts of global change on grassland ecosystems. The first award is a three-year grant funded by NSF Hydrological Sciences and is titled Digging deeper: Do deeper roots enhance deeper water and carbon fluxes and alter the trajectory of chemical weathering in woody-encroached grasslands? The goal of this research is to study "how deeper roots associated with woody plant encroachment enhances transport of water and carbon to greater depths, increases the water residence time in the subsurface, and enhances the potential for weathering at depth." The second award is also a three-year award supported by NSF-Macrosystems Biology and NEON-Enabled Science program and is titled Collaborative Research: MRA: A lineage-based framework to advance grassland macroecology and Earth System Modeling. This project seeks to advance the "predictability of grassy ecosystem responses to global change by measuring many grass species traits. The new data will be incorporated into new modeling approaches. The project will enhance understanding of grass ecology, with many applications in agriculture and natural resource management."  The third award comes from the Population and Community Ecology Cluster within the NSF-Division of Environmental Biology  This three-year award is titled Collaborative Research: Rainfall variability and the axes of tree-grass niche differentiation. The scope of this project is to study the savanna biome and combine experimental, observational and modeling approaches to "(1) identify the rainfall regimes that favor trees over grasses, (2) identify the functional traits and tradeoffs that differentiate savanna trees and grasses, and (3) develop and test a mechanistic model of tree and grass dynamics as a function of rainfall."  In addition, the project will examine"functional differences (e.g., drought tolerance, water use efficiency and functional rooting depth) between six tree and six grass species using a greenhouse, growth chamber and field experiments." The first two projects will use the experimental infrastructure of the Konza Prairie Biological Station and the third project's fieldwork will take place in Limpopo Province of South Africa.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

New Funding Opportunity for EPSCoR States - DEPSCoR: Defense Established Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research




The Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) is a pilot program that aims to:

  1. Increase the number of researchers capable of performing Science and Engineering (S&E) research responsive to the needs of the Department of Defense (DoD); 
  2. Improve the capabilities of institutes of higher education (IHEs) in eligible EPSCoR states and territories to develop, plan, and execute science and engineering (S&E) research that is relevant to the mission of the DoD and competitive under the peer-review systems used for awarding Federal research assistance; and 
  3. Increase the probability of long-term growth in the competitively awarded financial assistance that IHE in eligible states/territories receive from the Federal Government for S&E research. The program is sponsored and managed by the Basic Research Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD [R&E]), awarded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and administered through the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

Approximately $3.6 million in total funding will be made available for this program to fund approximately six (6) awards of up to $600,000 (total cost) each. Each award will be funded up to $200,000 (total cost) per year for three (3) years in the form of a grant. Subjected to funding availability. 

Eligibility

   This program aims to create basic research collaborations between a pair of researchers, namely:

  1. Applicant (Principal investigator, Mentee), a non-previously DoD-funded, full-time faculty member with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to conduct the proposed research as the principal investigator and 
  2. Collaborator (co-Principal Investigator, Mentor), an investigator who was previously funded by DoD within the last seven years. Though this is a collaboration between Applicant and Collaborator, Applicant’s Institution of Higher Education (IHE) will submit the proposal. 
  3. Applicant and Collaborator, both must hold a tenured or tenure-track position with your IHE, or your proposal must include a letter from your IHE stating that you will be considered for a tenured or tenure-track position if you currently hold a short- term appointment.

Application Criteria:

  • Proposed research should describe cutting-edge efforts on basic scientific problems. White papers deemed to be applied research, as opposed to basic research, will not advance to the proposal stage of the competition.
  • You should show strength in as many of the evaluation and selection areas as practicable to demonstrate maximum competitiveness

Registration and submission Deadlines:

  • Applicants must register with Sam.gov by no later than 11:59 PM EST on October 18, 2019
  • White Paper and Supporting Documents must be submitted by no later than 11:59 PM EST on October 25, 2019
For more information go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html/ and search for DEPSCoR


For General Inquiries and Questions, contact: 
Ms. Lisa Pizarro
Grants Officer
Email: Lisa.Pizarro.1@us.af.mil


The program objectives for DEPSCoR are described in the program statue:
  Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title II, §219[e][3], Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1331 




Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Registration is open for the 2019 EPSCoR National Conference in Columbia South Carolina October 27-30, 2019


NSF EPSCoR National Conference organizers have opened registration for the 26th NSF EPSCoR Conference to be held in Columbia, SC, from October 27-30, 2019.

To register, go to:  https://nsfepscor2019.org/register/

The theme of the conference is Science and partnerships across disciplinary boundaries. Undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, RII Track-2 PIs, RII Track-4 PIs, and others engaged in EPSCoR projects are invited to give a poster presentation related to this theme. One RII Track-1 PI from each jurisdiction is invited to submit an abstract to present a three-minute lightning talk. A few RII Track-2 PIs will also be selected from the submitted abstracts to present a lightning talk. 

There is no limit on the number of poster presentations that may be submitted from each jurisdiction, but presenters are limited to one presentation each.

Submit your abstract at:  https://nsfepscor2019.org/abstracts.  


Important Dates for 26th NSF EPSCoR National Conference
         

    • June 1             Early Registration opens
    • July 1             Call for Abstracts
    • July 16             Regular Registration begins
    • September 20     Final day to register
    • October 27     Welcome Reception
    • October 28-29     26th NSF EPSCoR National Conference
    • October 30     PD/PA/EOD meeting


Conference Contacts

Overview: Dr. Prakash Nagarkatti, prakash@mailbox.sc.edu

Program: Dr. Lauren Clark, ClarkLL@mailbox.sc.edu



Monday, June 17, 2019

Kansas NSF EPSCoR Announces Spring 2019 MAPS Research, Education and Innovation Awards

     The Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 Microbiomes of Plant, Aquatic and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) has awarded seven Research and Education Innovation (REI) Awards for the spring of 2019. REI Awards are specifically for small projects that will either allow for networking and planning or allow for the immediate pursuit of larger projects that are developing new transformational concepts. Faculty from the University of Kansas (KU), Kansas State University (KSU), Wichita State University (WSU), Fort Hayes State University (FHSU) and Washburn University (Washburn) are all encouraged to submit proposals. This funding is awarded to both research and education projects, given their close relationship, and selections are made in the same spirit as and share goals with NSF EAGER (Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research) awards for high risk/high gain research ideas. This year, the MAPS REI selection committee chose seven REI proposals to fund. Project summaries and the broader impacts of the investigations provided by the investigators of the awarded projects are included below.

A Potential, Unappreciated Mechanism Governing Transformation of Soil Organic C into CO2 by the Soil Microbiome
Dr. Sharon Billings and Dr. Pam Sullivan

Dr. Sharon A. Billings,
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Kansas Biological Survey
University of Kansas,

Dr. Pamela L. Sullivan,
Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science
University of Kansas

Project Summary:
     Understanding how changing environmental conditions influence microbially‐mediated transformations of soil organic C to CO2 is critical for predicting atmospheric CO2 concentrations1. Microbial generation of CO2 occurs after the soil microbiome (bacteria and fungi) take up assimilable compounds often derived from larger soil organic matter (SOM) molecules. Microbes must allocate some assimilated C to CO2, providing a feedback to Earth’s climate. The breakdown of SOM molecules is catalyzed by enzymes exuded by the soil microbiome (exo‐enzymes) for that purpose. These processes are well‐studied. We propose to explore a potential, unappreciated mechanism driving the ability of exoenzymes to encounter SOM molecules for breakdown – soil pH and its variation due to climate change. If validated, this idea can transform current perceptions of the drivers of SOM persistence vs. loss as CO2.


Connections Among Aquatic Microbiome and Water Quality Degradation 

Dr. Joe Brewer and Dr. Terry Loecke
Dr. Joseph P. Brewer II
Environmental Studies Program
University of Kansas

Dr. Terry Loecke
Kansas Biological Survey
Environmental Studies Program
University of Kansas

Project Summary:
     This is a pilot study to develop collaborative partnerships aimed at constructing a multi-institution (likely multi-state) research proposal to explore the connection among aquatic microbiomes and riverine water quality. Initially, we will focus on watersheds within tribal lands in Kansas and Iowa with contrasting water quality impairments and water quality threats. Specifically, we intend to start networking with the Meskwaki Nation, tribes in the Kansas River watershed, and Kansas State University. Our vision for this initial phrase is confront current cause-and-effect models of the connections between aquatic microbiomes and water quality with available data. This process will highlight the gaps in our understanding, thus allowing us to focus our proposal on the most relevant questions and hypotheses. Concurrently, the MAPS component of the current Kansas EPSCoR grant has begun monitoring water quality and aquatic microbiomes in the Kansas River watershed. The opportunity to leverage the microbiome findings of the MAPS project sets the stage to potentially transform water quality monitoring programs into a more holistic chemical and ecological science.

Towards Integrated Groundwater and Surface Water Modeling for Predicting Aquatic Microbiomes

Dr. Amy Hansen, Dr. Andrea Brookfield and Dr. Pam Sullivan
Dr. Amy Hansen
Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering
University of Kansas

Dr. Andrea Brookfield
Geography and Atmospheric Science
University of Kansas

Dr. Pamela Sullivan
Geography and Atmospheric Science Department
University of Kansas

Project Summary:
     Our ability to predict how aquatic microbiomes will respond to projected scenarios of environmental change is dependent on being able to accurately model the dynamic coupling of groundwater and surface water and the subsequent effects on the chemical, physical and biological in-stream environment (Sullivan et al., 2018a). While a variety of surface and subsurface water quality models exist, these have not yet been adequately linked due to system complexity and computational requirements (e.g., Cho et al., 2016; Oliver et al., 2016; Bao et al., 2017). This REI project seeks to create a transformative approach to groundwater-surface water modeling by forming a team of experts to generate a modeling framework and develop a collaborative multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional proposal for submission to NSF.

Connecting Stream Microbiomes to In-stream Energetics and Nutrient Processing across the Precipitation and Land Use Gradient

Dr. Amy Burgin and Dr. Lydia Zeglin

Dr. Amy Burgin

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies
Kansas Biological Survey

Dr. Lydia Zeglin
Biology
Kansas State University

Project Summary:
     Understanding river nitrogen (N) removal is of fundamental importance to ecosystem science given the critical role rivers play in mediating nutrient delivery to coastal waters.1-3 Downstream export of N to larger rivers is controlled by the relationship between N supply and demand.4,5 Stream N supply is influenced by hydrology (e.g., the precipitation gradient in KS) and land use.3,6 In-stream demand for N is determined by the stream microbiome – the microbial community that processes N via assimilation (uptake of N for biological growth) and denitrification (an energy-generating process used by some bacteria which converts nitrate to gaseous N2).7-10 Studies of stream N processing often focus on either the supply of N to streams or the demand for N within the stream, but rarely combine measurements of whole stream N processing rates with detailed analysis of the stream microbiome. Furthermore, it is even more rare to link stream N-process rates and microbiome composition to stream metabolism, the integrated rate of all energy producing and demanding biotic activities within a system.11 Integrating coupled energy nutrient cycling with an understanding of changes to the stream microbiome represents an important research frontier for understanding how streams control nutrient inputs to costal ecosystems.11 This research explores the connections between stream microbiomes, N processing rates, and stream metabolism. We ask: How does stream intermittency (represented by the precipitation gradient across KS) and land use affect the N supply vs. microbiome demand for N? We will address this question using a combination of new data and experiments, as detailed below, together with data currently being collected by the KS-ESPCOR Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant and Soil systems (MAPS) project. MAPS activities currently include measuring stream metabolism and stream microbiome characterization, but do not measure in stream N processing. We seek to supplement this strong foundation by: 1) deploying a nitrate sensor (from Burgin’s lab) to pair with the MAPS-funded metabolism sensors to measure coupled energy-nutrient cycling, 2) conducting whole-stream N uptake and denitrification experiments to quantify microbiome-driven in-stream processes, and 3) relating the microbiome process measurements to the characterization of microbiome community composition. We will perform this work at the 12 MAPS core streams that will span a range of land use and precipitation (thus, a range of N supply to the microbiome). Including measurements of N demand via in situ microbiome activity will provide a critical link between the composition and integrated functionality stream microbiomes. Beyond establishing this empirical link, our larger goal is to share this cutting-edge data at a symposium with stream researchers in neighboring states and generate regional engagement on an NSF Macrosystems proposal (solicitation 19-538).

Increasing Aquatic Ecology Expertise in Kansas

Dr. Greg Housman
Dr. Greg R. Houseman
Biology & Field Station Director Biological Sciences
Wichita State University

Project Summary: 
     The purpose of the proposed initiative is to facilitate a new faculty hire with expertise in aquatic ecology at Wichita State University.  Wichita State is a Kansas Regents Research University that has shown remarkable increases in research capability over the past few years.  For example, funded research has increased from 50 to 100 million dollars per year over the past decade.  A similar trend is evident within the Department of Biological Sciences that currently has 11 awards totaling nearly 9 million dollars across the twelve research faculty.  Likewise, the WSU Field Station has experienced a rapid increase in capacity with two externally funded projects (NSF, USDA), an increase sites from 489 to over 5100 acres, and investment of over 1.1 million dollars in facilities and equipment over the past decade.  Several of the Field Station sites include important aquatic resources (springs, streams, rivers, and impoundments) in the southern part of Kansas.  However, the Department of Biological Sciences has no faculty with sufficient expertise to study aquatic systems or contribute to the broader examination of aquatic resources in Kansas.  Consequently, WSU would like to create a new faculty line to address aquatic ecology (broadly defined) to increase the momentum of the Field Station and within the Biology Department.  This objective fits well with the innovative goal of the MAPS project to link plant, soil, and aquatic microbiomes.  Specifically the new aquatic ecologist would address the MAPS thrust of aquatic systems and contribute to Goal 1.1. of the MAPS project:
“Characterize the structure and biogeochemical processes of the aquatic (stream and reservoir) microbiome resulting from variation in hydrologic connectivity, nutrient loading, and land use across the Kansas precipitation gradient” The focus of the aquatic ecologist will likely focus on understanding aquatic systems in Kansas and fostering linkages across plant, soil, and microbial dimensions.  It is expected that this new position would begin in August of 2019.

Expanded Kansas Ecosystems for Elementary Students
Dr. Peggy Schultz

Dr. Peggy Schultz
Environmental Studies Program
Kansas Biological Survey
University of Kansas

Project Summary:
     The Kansas Ecosystems for Elementary Students program (KEES) began a year ago, funded by EPSCoR MAPS, with the goal of developing hands on experimentally driven activities focused on Kansas ecosystems that support Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for elementary grades. We are currently visiting 13 third grade classrooms in Lawrence and Topeka. We will be visiting each classroom 5 times through this academic year. Our program was quite popular in its first year, and we were invited to return this year. Rosemary Blum interviewed one of the teachers whose class has been participating in the program this year and she said “I love that the program is engaging for students. It brings in resources that we do not have access to as a public school, and opens the eyes of our students to things they normally would not be able to experience.” We believe that by engaging students in this way we are enhancing students’ interest in science and facilitating students understanding of concepts that will support their academic success.  To expand the program, additional funding is needed for infrastructure to support planning of programs, organization and coordination of visits with teachers and instructors from KU and K-State, and hiring and training of more facilitators to serve as travelling prairie ambassadors to multiple schools. Given the importance of students developing an appreciation and understanding of science early in their academic life we would like to expand the program to reach more classrooms in Lawrence and Topeka.
     The first lesson of the year focused on the Prairie Biome, where students learned about the characteristics of the prairie ecosystem and were able to see bird and mammal skins from the Kansas grassland and dissect Barred Owl pellets. The second lesson focused on why and how plants disperse their seeds. Students saw how native plants disperse their seeds by wind, water, gravity, explosions and using animals, they then were able to design, build and test their own seed dispersers. We will be continuing to work with the students this spring. We will be demonstrating how energy moves through ecosystems, dissecting soils and testing the rate that water travels through different kinds of soils. We will also be illustrating the services that ecosystems provide us, for example students will be observing and testing models of how water flows with gravity to form rivers, streams and how damming waterways provide stable water supplies. We plan to develop more lesson that can be taken to classrooms as stand-alone or be combined with the lessons we have already developed.

Microbiome and High-throughput Enzyme Screening for Biodegradation Potential of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances
Dr. Belinda Sturm, Dr. Justin Hutchinson, Dr. Anurada Roy

Dr. Belinda Sturm
Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
University of Kansas

Dr. Justin Hutchison
Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas

Dr. Anuradha Roy
Core Research Labs,
Director High Throughput Sequencing Lab
University of Kansas

Project Summary:
     The objective of this research is to identify novel microbes and enzymes that biodegrade perfluorooctane carboxylic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Bioremediation technologies could significantly reduce the costs of remediating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminated sites, but only a few microorganisms and enzymes have been studied and shown to transform these compounds. In order to advance biodegradation options, the proposed research will combine metagenomic methods with thermal proteome profiling (TPP) methods to develop a broader understanding of the biodegradation potential for PFAS. The soil and groundwater at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (FLK) has been exposed to high concentrations of PFAS for long periods of time due to firefighter training activities and operation of the airfield by the US Army. The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a health advisory for PFAS contamination in drinking water, and FLK has contracted alternative drinking water supplies at a cost of > $1 million annually. This site offers a unique opportunity to assess the impact of PFAS on the aquifer microbiome as a significant PFAS concentration gradient exists in the contaminated groundwater. However, PFAS contamination is widespread in the United States, and the United States House of Representatives launched a bipartisan taskforce for PFAS management on January 30, 2019.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Kansas NSF EPSCoR Announces First Awards for the Spring of 2019

     Kansas NSF EPSCoR helps Kansas build its research capacity and competitiveness in science and technology through the First Award program initiated through the current Kansas NSF
EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS).  MAPS First Awards are intended to help early career faculty become competitive for funding from the research directorates at the National Science Foundation. The awards do this by encouraging early career faculty to submit proposals to the NSF or other federal funding agency as soon as possible after their first faculty appointment, and by accelerating the pace of their research as well as the quality of their subsequent proposals. First Awards are awarded to a single-investigators to support their research program at their institution. Any tenure track faculty member who: 1) is currently nontenured at the assistant professor rank at the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Wichita State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State University or Washburn University; 2) is within the first three years of his/her faculty appointment; 3) has not previously received a First Award or similar funding from another EPSCoR or EPSCoR-like (Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, COBRE) program in Kansas; and 4) is not currently nor has previously been a lead Principal Investigator of a research grant funded by a federal agency. Individual investigators may submit a total project budget of up to $100,000 in direct costs to the MAPS First Award program.  Only projects with research in areas that are related to the current Kansas NSF EPSCoR focus of microbiomes as broadly construed to be in aquatic, plant and/or soil systems were considered.  The following individuals and their research projects were awarded MAPS First Awards in the Spring of 2019:

Preetham Burugupally
Mechanical Engineering
Wichita State University
Trapping and assistedpairing (TAP) microfluidic chip meant to study plant cell-microbe interactions in a microenvironment at the single-cell level

     The research goal of this project is to design and validate a scaled-down version of the Trapping and Assisted Pairing (TAP) chip, a microuidics
tool for conducting plant cell-microbe interaction studies at the single-cell level meant to advance microbiome research. This goal stems from the big picture idea of smart and sustainable agricultural practices to meet
the future global crop production demands in the era of ecosystem degradation and climate change. The TAP will be capable of screening up to 10,000 cell-microbe pairs for symbiotic/parasitic relationships, help plant biologists devise approaches to maximize the symbiotic functions/minimize the parasitic functions, and engineer stress-tolerant plants. The TAP leverages droplet microuidics to efficiently trap 10,000 pairs of droplets |one set of droplets containing individual plant cells and another set of droplets containing individual microbes |and merge the droplet pairs, initiating 10,000 cell-microbe interactions. For maximizing the cell-microbe pairs, it is critical to understand the droplet trapping and merging physics. The project objective is to describe droplet trapping and merging physics in
the traps, and demonstrate the droplet trapping and merging capabilities of TAP. This project will significantly advance knowledge on two fronts. Biology: Advance the understanding of microbiomes. The TAP chip is a cell handling tool designed to advance microbiome research by enabling plant cell-microbe interaction studies at the single-cell level. By integrating a computer controlled x-y stage, automated data acquisition system, real-time image processing, and traditional imaging infrastructure, the TAP will be a live-cell reporter system that can track the progression in cell-microbe interactions for extended periods of time, and thus allow it to answer a wealth of microbiome questions: What genes in cells/microbes turn ON/OFF during interactions? Are there any yet-to-be-discovered cell microbe relationships? Engineering: A fundamental understanding of the influence of trap geometry and fluid properties on droplet trapping and merging. The TAP leverages droplet microuidics to pair individual plant cells and microbes in a droplet. It is very critical to understand droplet trapping and merging physics for maximizing the plant cell-microbe pairs. Through first principles-based parametric studies, design charts and guidelines necessary for the design of traps will be created.


Andres Patrignani
Agronomy
Kansas State University
Upscaling transient microbial activity and soil moisture dynamics

     Soil water and heat dynamics exert a strong control on soil respiration by modulating the rate of microbial activity, substrate availability, and the diffusion rate of carbon dioxide at the soil aggregate level. Thus, a first order up-scaling of soil respiration from the aggregate level to the
watershed level inevitably requires knowledge of the spatial structure of-, and cross-scale interactions between, soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil respiration. The goal of this study is to accurately quantify watershed scale soil respiration applying a simple up-scaling strategy based on the merger of chamber-based soil CO2 efflux observations with modeling predictions. We hypothesize that combining detailed information about the soil spatial variability of the catchment area with accurate soil respiration observations and a parsimonious model will result in more accurate estimates of soil respiration than the use of chamber observations or model predictions alone. A distinct feature of the proposed method is the integration of time-invariant landscape patterns with the soil moisture information from a cosmic-ray neutron detector capable of large-scale non-invasive soil moisture observations. This project will bridge the gap point-level (i.e. small survey chambers) measurements that leave large unmonitored areas between observations ecosystem-level soil respiration products such as those generated by eddy covariance flux towers. The proposed method will provide a framework for integrating ubiquitous soil respiration measurements and existing models of soil respiration to reconcile soil and tower fluxes and to better measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide of terrestrial ecosystems. Up-scaling methods that account for watershed soil spatial heterogeneity are essential to account for potential soil respiration “hot spots” and “hot moments”, better evaluate factors controlling the spatial variability of soil respiration, and assess the representativeness of eddy covariance tower measurements. This is particularly relevant in a global scenario characterized by the widespread deployment of micrometeorological tower sites that use eddy covariance methods (e.g. FLUXNET), the growing market of automated chamber systems, and new hectometer-level, non-invasive soil moisture sensing technologies.

Tom Platt
Biology
Kansas State University
Prevalence and co-occurrence of pathogenic and cheater agrobacteria on healthy and crown gall disease infected sunflowers

     Cheaters threaten the evolutionary persistence of cooperative traits. When cheaters and cooperative individuals co-occur, cheaters have an advantage because they benefit from the costly action of their competitors while themselves avoiding cooperative costs. The investigators will examine the prevalence and degree of co-occurrence of a cooperative pathogen and the avirulent cheaters that exploit it. The generalist pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens infects plant hosts at great cost to itself. Infected plants produce a public good resource that the pathogen and any present cheaters can catabolize. Our work has experimentally demonstrated that the cooperative pathogen is vulnerable to invasion by avirulent, cheating genotypes of agrobacteria that out compete the pathogen in disease environments. However, the degree to which there is opportunity for this to occur in nature is poorly understood. Accordingly, we propose to assess how common cheating genotypes are and the degree to which cooperative and cheater agrobacteria co-occur in natural environments. We will sample agrobacteria from Konza Prairie from the rhizosphere of Helianthus annuus plants. Characterization of the pathogenesis functions, opine catabolism functions, and phylogenetic relationships of this sample of natural agrobacteria strains as well as those from an experimental mesocosm will allow us to determine the degree and distribution of agrobacterial genetic diversity and evaluate the prevalence and diversity of cheater strains. The investigators will also measure the rate and spatial scale of cooperator and cheater dispersal in experimental mesocosms to access how dispersal influences cooperative benefits and the spread of cooperative pathogens and cheaters. The proposed research will provide insight into the ecological dynamics mediating the evolution of cooperation. This proposal bridges concepts and approaches from ecology, evolutionary biology, and genomics to examine how competition and dispersal influence the dynamics of microbial populations. The findings are also relevant to understanding how microbial dynamics influence the spread of a facultative pathogen in both environmental reservoir and infected host environments. These issues are of key importance to understanding the epidemiology of pathogens that can live independent of their hosts. The plant pathogen A. tumefaciens has been a productive study system for determining the mechanisms of microbial interactions but the ecological consequences of these mechanisms are poorly characterized. The investigators have previously leveraged this mechanistic information to identify factors shaping key ecological and evolutionary processes like the fitness costs and benefits of cooperative pathogenesis.
Maggie Wagner
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Kansas

A simplified community to enable manipulative study of maize microbiome function

     Plants live in close association with hundreds to thousands of bacterial and fungal species, both on and inside their roots. This diverse and complex microbial community—the plant microbiome—can profoundly affect the health of the host plant. For this reason, plant microbiomes have great promise as a sustainable tool for protecting both crops and wild plants against environmental challenges. However, the enormous complexity of natural microbiomes has been an obstacle to understanding the principles and mechanisms that determine their composition and function. One powerful approach to overcoming this challenge is experimentation with “synthetic communities” (SynComs), which typically consist of dozens to a few hundred known microbial strains, contained within an otherwise sterile environment. SynComs enable precise manipulation of microbiome composition and analysis of the effects on community function. The goal of this project is to create a SynCom specifically for maize and use it to explore the role of microbe-microbe interactions in root microbiome function under drought conditions. Maize is critically important both as a crop plant and a model system in genetics research. However, the existing maize SynCom contains only seven bacterial species, which limits its value and versatility. The proposed experiments will investigate maize root microbiome assembly from farm and prairie soils across a natural precipitation gradient in Kansas (Objective 1), generate a curated collection of microbes isolated from maize roots growing in these soils (Objective 2), and use the resulting SynCom to test how key organisms influence the rest of the microbiome and function of the whole community, in a water-limited environment (Objective 3). The proposed work would be the most thorough study to date of the maize root microbiome response to drought conditions, as well as the first to investigate the role of legacy effects (land-use and historical precipitation levels) on soil microbiome function. It would also increase the number of microbial strains available for maize SynCom experiments by approximately 30-fold, thus massively improving the microbial functional diversity that can be studied. The effects of SynCom strains on maize phenotype and microbiome structure under water-stressed conditions will be directly tested under reproducible germ-free growth conditions. The expanded SynCom may form the basis of a wide variety of follow-up projects, investigating plant-microbiome interactions at levels ranging from genes to ecosystems.

Funding for the Spring 2019 MAPS First Awards is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.


Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Registration is open for the 2019 MAPS Research Symposium on March 18, 2019 at Kansas State University




The 2019 Kansas NSF EPSCoR Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) Research Symposium will be held Monday, March 18, 2019 from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM at the K-State Alumni Center. The symposium will feature the activities of the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 project, Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems Across Kansas (MAPS) with presentations by the researchers and educators. Also featured will be a keynote speaker (tba), lunch and a poster session detailing some of the most recent research findings. Student attendance and posters are encouraged.

In addition, preceding the symposium will be an opening event Sunday at 4:30 PM, March 17, at JP’s in the K-State Union.

There is no cost to attend, however, registration is required.

Meeting Agenda

Registration is now closed.

Links to all the talks are accessible at 
2019 MAPS Symposium Presentations



Contact Doug Byers at dbyers@ku.edu or 785-864-3227 with questions.

Funding for the symposium is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.


Tuesday, January 22, 2019

The 2019 Kansas NSF EPSCoR MAPS Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute is now accepting applications


Do you teach high school biology or environmental studies?


  • Would you like to interact with ecological researchers, develop curriculum that links current research to Next Generation Science Standards, learn more about Kansas ecosystems, and work with other teachers across the state?



  • Then, apply to attend the

    This year the institute will be held June 17-21, 2019 (arrive evening of June 16 if traveling from out of town) at the Konza Prairie Biological Station, 100 Konza Prairie Lane, Manhattan KS 66502.

    While attending the institute, teachers will participate in a variety of activities from carrying out investigations and learning about current university-level research, to exploring diverse outdoor environments. Early in the week participants will be divided into groups based upon their areas of interest to work with Kansas State University researchers. Groups will spend time developing inquiry-based curriculum for their high school classrooms.

    Teachers attending the summer institute will earn a stipend of $750 for actively participating in the week’s activities and writing curriculum.

    A travel allowance will be provided for all participants and housing will be provided for participants who live more than an hour drive from the Konza Prairie Biological Station.
     

    Ten Teachers will be selected to participate 

    Applications are due April 1, 2019 

    To see how one teacher has used her 2018 institute experience in the classroom click here

    To learn more about what you can expect, go to  2018 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute

    To learn more about the researchers who will be facilitating the small groups for the 2019 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute as well as more about the MAPS researchers go to the People tab on the Kansas NSF EPSCoR MAPS outreach website.

    Involvement in this program could lead to further collaboration through National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers (NSF RET) grants. Future programs will take place at the University of Kansas Field Station in 2020 and 2022 and at the Kansas State Konza Prairie Biological Station in the summer of 2021.

    The summer institute is one of the educational outreach initiatives supported by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) and is under the direction of  Dr. Peggy Schultz, Associate Specialist, Environmental Studies Program at the Kansas Biological Survey (KBS).

    Thursday, January 10, 2019

    The Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) Institute is now accepting applications for paid summer internships


           The HERS Institute is an 8-week paid summer internship program for undergraduate or recent graduate students held in June and July. The institute's underlying mission is to provide the opportunity for students to work with faculty from Native American colleges who are conducting long-term and short-term research relating to key hazardous substance problems on American Indian lands with the intent to disseminate the information through programs and various forms of media to American Indian peoples. The program is also dedicated to preparing tribal college students for science and technical careers and/or graduate school experiences. The program also provides various stages of support for continued research and participation in programs of interest to American Indian/Alaska native communities. The HERS interns' research topics primarily focus on the affects of climate change on indigenous communities.
         Interns spend the first six weeks of the program on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus in classrooms and laboratories learning about climate change and developing individual research projects. Then, the interns spend the following two weeks conducting independent research at Haskell Indian Nations University, The University of Kansas, and/or in the field. HERS interns will also have opportunities to present their work at professional meetings, workshops, and symposia around the country, such as the Society for Advancing Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) or American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).  Selected interns receive a stipend as well as room and board.

        To be considered for the HERS Internship Program, applicants must be undergraduate students or recent graduates in good standing, and eligible for enrollment in a tribal college or university.

    Applicants will be expected to provide the following for consideration:

    • A 400 to 500 word Statement of Purpose including an explanation as to how a HERS internship benefits their professional goals. If relevant, also include a description of previous research experience.
    • A 400 to 500 word Essay describing an important environmental issue affecting Indigenous communities that is of interest to them. 
    • Two Letters of Recommendations: One from an academic reference and one from someone who can speak to the applicant's character.  There is a letters of recommendation request form at the online application site. 
    • A copy of the applicant's most recent college or university his or her transcripts. Official transcripts will be requested at a later time.


    All application materials must be submitted by March 15, 2019

    Check the HERS Institute website for updates or deadline extensions.

    Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for the HERS program is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The award's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.






    Monday, October 15, 2018

    Kansas State University MAPS researchers receive award from Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the Department of Energy


    Dr. Jesse Nippert and Dr. Lydia Zeglin
    KSU
       The Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the Department of Energy has awarded nearly $1 million dollars to two Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) researchers from Kansas State University (KSU). Dr. Jesse Nippert, associate professor of biology at KSU and part of the MAPS plant systems focus team, and Dr. Lydia Zeglin, assistant professor of biology at KSU and part of the MAPS acquatic systems focus team, plan to combine observational, experimental and modeling approaches in an effort to enhance the predictability of ecosystem consequences related to shrub encroachment and drought in the Great Plains region. The title of their project is DE-SC001109037: Using root and soil traits to forecast woody encroachment dynamics in mesic grassland. They will also be working with collaborators Kate McCulloh, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Kevin Wilcox, assistant professor at the University of Wyoming. The team will conduct experiments and collect their data at the Konza Biological Field Station. They will use root and soil traits, taken at various soil depths, which contain microbes, water and a large amount of carbon to forecast the plant encroachment dynamics associated with grasslands that receive moderate amounts of precipitation. The data collected and the results from this project “will define the depth-resolved feedbacks of drought and dominant vegetation on below ground root architecture, soil microbial carbon cycling, and ecosystem carbon balance.”

    For additional information regarding the proposal go to: DE-SC001109037
    Click here for the KSU press release

    Thursday, October 11, 2018

    ANNOUNCING MAPS First Award Funding Opportunity

         Kansas NSF EPSCoR is announcing a funding opportunity for First Awards in the areas related to the current Kansas NSF EPSCoR focus of microbiomes as broadly construed to be in aquatic, plant and/or soil systems. The First Award program helps early career faculty become competitive for funding from the research directorates at the National Science Foundation. 

    The full request for proposals with submission instructions can be downloaded as a PDF at: http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/funding.html

    Submission Deadlines:

         Letters of Intent due by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, October 31, 2018.

         Full proposals due by 5:00 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2018 

    Please note new proposal submission details included in the RFP.

    Eligible to apply is any individual tenure track faculty member who:

    • is currently untenured at the assistant professor rank at Kansas State University, University of Kansas, Wichita State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State University or Washburn University; 
    • is within the first three years of his/her faculty appointment;
    • has not received a previous First Award or similar funding from another EPSCoR or EPSCoR-like (Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, COBRE) program in Kansas; and
    • is not currently be nor previously been a lead Principal Investigator of a research grant funded by a federal agency.

    In addition, one of the following conditions must apply:

    • The Principal Investigator has a pending proposal or is planning to submit a proposal to the NSF (or other federal funding agency) for the proposed research submitted to this program.  If in the planning stages, the proposed research must be submitted to a federal funding agency by July 31, 2020. 
    • The Principal Investigator has had the proposed research declined by the NSF (or other federal funding agency) and has a plan to re-submit the proposed research by July 31, 2020. 

    Only projects with research in areas that are related to the current Kansas NSF EPSCoR focus of microbiomes as broadly construed to be in aquatic, plant and/or soil systems are eligible for First Awards.

    Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for the MAPS first awards is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The award's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.