Science Research Roundup: October 2018

This month, Arts & Sciences researchers were awarded grants from organizations including NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Himadri Pakrasi, the Myron and Sonya Glassberg/Albert and Blanche Greensfelder Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology, received a $1.5 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop Anabaena 33047 — a photosynthetic, fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria — as a versatile production platform that can be used by the bioenergy research community. The cyanobacterium's fast growth rate and lack of nitrogen demand mean it should significantly improve the cost outlook for the production of biofuel and nitrogen-containing petrochemical replacement products. This research is supported and administered by Washington University’s International Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (InCEES), of which Pakrasi serves as director. 

James Buckley, a professor in the Department of Physics, received a three-year, $962,000 grant from NASA to support the development of a novel imaging calorimeter for gamma ray and cosmic ray studies. Buckley also received $93,000 from the National Science Foundation and the Barnard College MRI Consortium for a project related to the development of a wide field-of-view camera for the Schwarzschild-Couder gamma ray telescope. 

Did we miss something? Let us know.

For assistance with proposal writing, editing, coordination, and other related projects, please contact 
Crystal Gammon, grants and science writer in Arts & Sciences.