Climate and Energy: Education Outreach Activities Summer 2014

Engaging a broad spectrum of the education continuum in Kansas on the importance of STEM research (particularly climate and energy) is one of KNE's goals. To advance this goal KNE provided funding for Education and Diversity Grants that take a wide range of approaches, many of which involve summer workshops and symposia for students and teachers in the state. A description these events are below.

July 7-9, 2014 - ESU Summer Scholars Program (Emporia State University, Emporia, KS) run by Elizabeth Yanik, Professor of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Economics.

The Emporia State Summer Scholar program is a three day summer program targeted toward Hispanic middle school students. This program will extend the STEM outreach work already underway at ESU. The focus of this program will be mathematical modeling where students will work in teams learning how to use functions on a graphing calculator. The will then be asked to create simple mathematical models to analyze various situations. Such a model could be used for studying the effects of global climate change on Kansas agriculture. One example might be to select variables such as moisture level, temperature, and rainfalls and relate these to differences in crop yields. Each team will make a presentation of their modeling efforts and summarize their conclusions at the end of the program.

The objectives of the program as a whole are to: increase Hispanic youth’s interest in science and mathematics, foster awareness of career opportunities in mathematics and science-related fields, and provide Hispanic youth with an opportunity to meet and form personal contacts with professionals working in mathematics and science-related careers.

Summer of 2014 - Increasing Energy Education in Grades 5-12 for Rural School Teachers (Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS) run by Paul Adams, Anschutz Endowed Professor of Teacher Education.

Energy education is critical to the economic future of the United States. Knowledgeable teachers are essential to provide this education. While opportunities exist for teachers to become knowledgeable in this area, underrepresented groups such as those in geographically underserved locales have few opportunities to participate in professional development programs. The project addresses this lack by offering a professional development model that will improve STEM education by enhancing teachers’ knowledge of energy. This is being accomplished over a two-year period as the teachers participate in learning that blends virtual and face-to-face experiences. 

For more information about any of these programs please visit http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/EducationDiversity2012.html or contact Doug Byers at dbyers@ku.edu.

Student's Research SOARS to New Level

Summertime is often a busy time for students preparing for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. When properly leveraged, opportunities are abound for students to develop research skills and projects that will advance them to the next level. This is exactly what Eugene Cody has done.

Cody, an undergraduate American Indian Studies major at Haskell Indian Nations University (and enrolled member in the Hopi tribe), was recruited to participate in the summer of 2013 Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) Institute. During this time he developed a research project examining the air quality associated with the burning of coal in the homes of the native Hopi people in northern Arizona and to identify solutions to the resulting problems (air quality, climate change, water use, and human health).

As a follow-on to his research project Cody and his cohort of HERS interns took a one-week field trip to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado where they conducted experiments in air quality testing. They followed up the research by presenting their findings to the NCAR community.


At the conclusion of the trip, Cody was invited to apply as a protégé to the Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) program conducted through NCAR. "My time at NCAR was very fulfilling and I applied" he explained.

Cody was accepted as to the 2014 SOARS summer program and will spend ten weeks conducting original research at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) or at laboratories of other SOARS sponsors. By the end of the summer, protégés will prepare scientific papers and present their research at a colloquium. To help protégés succeed academically and professionally, SOARS offers each protégé up to five mentors: a research mentor, a writing mentor, a computing mentor, a coach, and a peer mentor. Research shows that this comprehensive, multi-dimensional mentoring is a key contributor to the continued success of SOARS protégés.

Cody's upcoming SOARS internship will take his air quality research to the next level. He will be working with the Institute for Mathematics Applied to Geosciences (IMAGe) at NCAR where his project will consist of using atmospheric inverse modeling to apply to carbon flux estimation problems.

Kansas NSF EPSCoR would like to congratulate Mr. Cody for the success he has leveraged from his opportunity at the HERS Institute.

Kansas Geographer Receives Fellowship to Co-author Book

Kansas University geography associate professor, Jay Johnson, is the recipient of a 2014 Collaborative Research Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). The fellowship promotes collaborative research in the humanities and social sciences and will result in him co-authoring a book with fellow geographer, Soren Larsen, associate professor at the University of Missouri.

Focusing on place-based struggles in British Columbia, New Zealand, and Kansas, the book will explore how the ongoing tensions between Indigenous groups and non-Indigenous communities and governments are transforming the places and politics of settler states in the twenty-first century.

Dr. Johnson is also the co-director of the Kansas NSF EPSCoR-funded Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) summer internship program that provides research experiences to up to 15 tribal college undergraduate students each summer.

For more information visit http://geography.ku.edu/dr-jay-johnson-receives-acls-2014-collaborative-research-fellowship.

To learn more about the HERS summer internship program please go to http://www.hersinstitute.org/.

NSF CAREER Award Follows on KNE Funding

Xin Fu, an assistant professor in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Kansas was honored this spring with an NSF Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. In 2012, Fu received a Kansas NSF EPSCoR (KNE) First Award to support her research in energy efficient computing. Following on this funding, she will use her new NSF award, titled New Foundations for Next-Generation Reliable Throughput Architecture Design, to aid in bolstering the effectiveness of computing for the demands of new technologies.

For more information on Dr. Fu's award please visit http://news.ku.edu/grant-could-aid-effort-bolster-computer-performance.

To learn more about KNE's First Award Program and other recipients, please visit http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/first-awards-yr3.html.

New DOE EPSCoR Funding Opportunity for Kansas

The Department of Energy Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DOE EPSCoR) has issued a funding opportunity announcement for Implementation Grants for energy-related research.  The State of Kansas has the opportunity to submit one proposal to this program. Please see the solicitation below for details on how to submit.

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Colleagues:

The State of Kansas has an opportunity to submit a single proposal to the Department of Energy EPSCoR program.

The Department of Energy has just announced a new Implementation Grant opportunity under the DoE EPSCoR program. The State of Kansas has the opportunity to submit one [1] proposal to this program for energy-related research. Please see the program announcement: http://science.energy.gov/~/media/grants/pdf/foas/2014/SC_FOA_0001087.pdf

Please see the following deadlines:

1. Letters of intent to be the Kansas submission due to the interim DoE EPSCoR Director by March 10, 2014. The LOI must address all aspects necessary for the LOI requested by the Department of Energy, and should be sent to: Guikema@ksu.edu 

2. The EPSCoR review team will evaluate the LOIs and select the proposal to go forward. The PIs will be notified as soon as possible following submission.

3. A letter of intent is due from the successful PI to DoE by March 22, 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.

4. A full proposal is due in Washington, with institutional commitments and signatures, at 11:59 a.m. Eastern time on April 15, 2014.

5. A successful submission MUST specify both the application to the Kansas Strategic Technology Plan [KANSAS B.E.S.T. for Innovation -- http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/pdf/KansasBEST_DesignDraft_10-28-12_HR.pdf] and the DoE strategic priorities [see the web sites referenced in the RFP].

6. Institutional registrations on Grants.gov and SAMS are REQUIRED, and these take about 45 days to accomplish. Work with your sponsored research office.

Best wishes –

James A. Guikema, Ph.D.
Interim Director, Kansas Department of Energy EPSCoR Program
Associate Vice President
Kansas State University

102 Fairchild Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506

785 – 532 - 6195

KNE First Awardee Finds Success

Kansas NSF EPSCoR First Awardee, Wai-Lun Chan, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at The University of Kansas, scored big with his work in renewable energy research. Chan was granted a First Award for his project Coherent Transport and Localization Dynamics of Excitons in Molecular Aggregates in 2013. In less than one year he has received NSF's prestigious CAREER award for this work in improving the efficiency of next-generation solar cells.

For more information on Chan's award please visit http://news.ku.edu/renewable-energy-research-education-project-receives-nsf-grant.

To learn more about KNE's First Award Program and other recipients, please visit http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/first-awards-yr4.html.

Funding Opportunity for 2014 First Awards Announced

Kansas NSF EPSCoR has released a request for proposals (RFP) for 2014 First Awards.  This opportunity is for early-career faculty in the areas of climate or energy research at the Regents universities in the state.


Download the RFP to see the full eligibility requirements and details for submission at http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/funding.html.