The Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton received $154,871 in supplemental support for expansion of their five-year continuing grant, “Collaborative Research: On the Cutting Edge: A Community Resource Transforming Geoscience Education.” The project will implement a nationwide observational program of geosciences classrooms and a qualitative interview/survey study to understand barriers to adoption of research-based teaching methods.

In September 2012, Associate Professor of Geology Sarah Titus received a supplement to her National Science Foundation CAREER five-year research project to undertake field work at three unique locations where oceanic “transform faults” are exposed above sea level: New Caledonia (in the south Pacific), Cyprus, and Iceland. This “Career-Life Balance Initiative” supplement of $25,174 will support time for mathematician Josh Davis and consultant Jolante van Wijk to work on aspects of dynamic modeling.

In August 2013 the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton received notice of funding for assisting various collaborators in conducting evaluation, offering workshops, or disseminating content or results by hosting teaching modules and pedagogical strategies online:

 - Contract from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), for work on “Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) development and integration of CLEAN”

- Subaward from Northern Illinois University, for an NSF DUE TUES project “WILSIM2- the Next Generation Landform Simulator”

 - Subaward from University of Texas-Austin, for an NSF GeoEd project “Collaborative Research: Diversity and Innovation for Geosciences in Texas (DIG TEXAS) - An Alliance for Earth Science Literacy”

 - Contract with St. Olaf College, for an NSF DUE TUES project “Collaborative Research: CS in Parallel: Scaling an Incremental Modular Approach to Injecting Parallel Computing Throughout CS Curricula”

 - Subaward from Rice University, for an NSF DUE TUES project “Bringing NSF MARGINS/ GeoPRISMS Continental Margins Research into the Undergraduate Curriculum”

 - Contract with St. Norbert College, for an NSF DUE TUES project “Transforming Geoscience Preparation for K-8 Pre-Service Teachers: Including Testing the Significance of an Intensive Field-based Experience”

Christopher Calderone, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, transfers from Macalester College a Research Corporation Multi-Investigator Cottrell College Science Award that supports his collaborative research with Rebecca Hoye (Macalester) “Combining Organic Synthesis and Biochemistry to Study Siderophore Biosynthesis in Fungi.” This award funds a Carleton undergraduate researcher and supplies needed in summer 2013.

Daniel Groll, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, has received an ACM (Associated Colleges of the Midwest)-University of Chicago Faculty Development Grant. This award supports a week-long trip to the University of Chicago in November 2012 to attend workshops, to discuss and continue his research for a paper on conscientious objection in medicine, and to attend a conference at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Learn more about Daniel.

Julie Neiworth, Professor of Psychology and Director of Neuroscience, has been awarded an Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) grant of $344,204 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her research “Revisiting Challenged Findings to Determine Social and Cognitive Abilities.” Neiworth will test a nonhuman primate model, tamarins, on several aspects of cognition contested in psychology due to the retraction or correction of work from former Harvard psychologist Marc Hauser. The topics include recognition of human speech, theory of mind, and social learning. For more, see her research web page.

Christopher Calderone, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, transfers from Macalester his research support from The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation for the project “Investigations of Non-Ribosomal Peptides: Provision and Incorporation of Nonproteinogenic Monomers.”

Professor Calderone continues what was started with Faculty Start up Award funds in support of his research focusing on the enzymology of natural product biosynthesis (such as antibiotics, anticancer agents, and other therapeutics).  By increasing understanding of these pathways, Calderone’s research will allow the engineering of modified products with desired properties.

From fall 2011 through late spring 2012 the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton has been assisting various collaborators in conducting evaluative processes and in hosting teaching modules and pedagogical strategies online:

- Subaward from Grinnell and Iowa State University, for an NSF LSAMP project “IINspire LSAMP-An Alliance Modeling How to Broaden Participation in Changing Midwest Demographics.”

- Subaward from The City University of New York (CUNY), for an NSF TUES grant “Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education (NICHE): A Project of CUNY Quantitative Reasoning (QR) Alliance.”  

- Contract from TERC (Technical Education Research Centers) via an NSF NSDL grant to NSDL.org, to aid “Repositioning NSDL for the Next Generation of Digital Learning.”

- Contract from Broad-based Knowledge, for the NSF NSDL-funded workshop project “TR-NSDL Reflections: Supplemental Request for Pathways to Progress Revisted.” 

- Contract from Bowdoin College for an NSF TUES “Support of 'Quantitative Literacy and Reasoning Assessment' (QLRA) project.”

- Contract from Glendale Community College, to conduct an NSF TUES-funded workshop in summer 2012 “Supporting community college faculty across the STEM disciplines.”

Gao Hong Dice, Lecturer in Chinese Musical Instruments, is the winner of a prestigious 2012-2013 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Performing Musicians, administered by MacPahil Center for Music, which allows her to continue development and performance of her musical skills on the pipa. Hong is the only musician in any genre to be awarded four McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians. For more of Gao’s activities, see her home page.

Sabrice Guerrier, HHMI/CFD Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology, has been awarded a 2012 Visiting Professors Award from the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) Minorities Affairs Committee. This award supports Professor Guerrier’s research during the summer with a host scientist at the University of Chicago, continued research at Carleton, and attendance at the ASCB Annual Meeting in December 2012.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Daniel Groll, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, a Summer Stipend for his project “Autonomy and Loyalty.” Over two months of fall 2012, Professor Groll will work on a paper about the relationship between autonomy and loyalty and conceptions of the good life, and work with colleagues at the University of Chicago and Georgetown University, where he will serve as a visiting scholar in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. For more on Daniel’s work, visit his Web Site.

Nelson Christensen, Professor of Physics, was awarded a $185,530 grant from the National Science Foundation to do Laser Interferometric Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) astronomy research. His three-year project “RUI: Parameter Estimation, Data Analysis, and Detector Characterization for LIGO” continues the international collaborative analyses of data in search of gravitational wave signals, including signals from massive black hole systems and supernova produced signals. As many as six undergraduate researchers will apply novel statistical strategies to parameter estimation and data analysis, and identify detector disturbances for Advanced LIGO. See more of Nelson’s work at his web page.