Science research roundup: November and December 2019

Researchers from Arts & Sciences recently received awards from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and other organizations.

A consortium led by Arts & Sciences researchers will investigate the life cycle of water and other volatiles on the surface of the Moon as one of NASA’s eight new Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institutes. The five-year cooperative agreement is valued at more than $7 million. The Interdisciplinary Consortium for Evaluating Volatile Origins (ICE Five-O) team includes principal investigator Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, research associate professor of physics, as well as co-investigators Brad Jolliff, Scott Rudolph Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ryan Ogliore, assistant professor of physics; and Alian Wang, research professor of Earth and planetary sciences. Read more from The Source.

Barbara Schaal, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences and the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology, has joined the board of directors of the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation.

Joseph Jez, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and chair of the Department of Biology, received a $143,750 award from Conagen for protein structural analysis of natural product biosynthesis enzymes.

Soumendra Lahiri, Stanley A. Sawyer Professor of Mathematics, received a $92,406 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Higher Order Asymptotics for Some Nonstandard Problems in Time Series and in High Dimensions.”

Patrick Hill, associate professor of psychological & brain sciences, received an $82,580 contract with Jackson National Life Co. for a project titled “Reciprocal Relationships Between Purposefulness and Successful Financial Planning.”

Clara P. McLeod, Earth and planetary sciences librarian, received the 2019 Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award of the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) at the society’s annual meeting September 24 in Phoenix. The honor recognizes significant contributions to the field of geoscience information.

Katlin Bentley, a graduate student in the Emotion and Relationships Lab working with Tammy English, associate professor of psychological & brain sciences, won the 2019-2020 Mamie Phipps Clark Diversity Research Grant through Psi Chi for a proposal titled “The Effects of Monitoring Expression and Outgroup Familiarity on Judgments of Other-Race Interaction Partners.”

Three faculty members from Arts & Sciences were honored with 2019 Excellence in Teaching awards from Emerson Electric Co: Brian Carpenter, professor of psychological and brain sciences; Mairin Hynes, senior lecturer in physics; and Beth Martin, senior lecturer in environmental studies.

Did we miss something? Contact Shawn Ballardcommunications specialist in Arts & Sciences.