2021 Faculty Research Fund Awards announced

The Faculty Research Fund program aims to support faculty in establishing or maintaining high-quality research programs and other creative achievements. Competitions are held annually and funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School through a review and nomination process by the Faculty Research Fund Committee.

Regular Faculty Research Awards

Assists members of the faculty in establishing or maintaining high-quality research programs that will extend the limits of existing knowledge and lead to a tangible final product (e.g., performance, showing, publication, grant proposal, etc.)

1. Alicia Cruz-Uribe, Assistant Professor, Mineralogy and Petrology
   “Development and application of in situ Rb-Sr dating of micas”
2. Anne Knowles, Professor, History
   “An Atlas of the Holocaust”
3. Sampath Gunukula, Research Associate, Forest Bioproducts Research Institute
   “Conversion of a Mix of Plastic Waste and Cardboard to Edible Macronutrients”
4. Margaret Killinger, Professor, Honors
   “Joanna Paul: The Otago Years, 1977-1983”

Summer Research Awards

Provides $8,000 awards for faculty summer salaries for a minimum of 1.5 months of research effort.

1. Suzanne Pellegrini, Assistant Professor of Veterinary Science
   “Potential infection risk to livestock and humans posed by wild mammals who are migrating north because of climate change.”
2. Michael Haedicke, Associate Professor, Sociology
   “Constructing and Contesting Climate Adaptation Plans in Southern Louisiana”
3. Kathryn Swacha, Assistant Professor, English
   “The Coping with COVID Project: Examining Everyday Negotiations of Public Health”
4. Sheila Edalatpour, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
   “Harnessing the Coldness of the Universe as a Renewable Energy Source”
5. Yongjiang Zhang, Assistant Professor, Plant Physiology
   “A bright or dim future for wild blueberries: Disentangling the positive and negative impacts of climate warming”
6. Katherine Glover, Research Associate, Climate Change Institute
   “20,000 years of wildfire, climate and vegetation interactions in Southern California”

Scholarly Equipment and Materials

The Scholarly Materials and Equipment Award assists faculty in establishing or maintaining high-quality research programs by providing items of equipment and library collections.

1. Seth Campbell, Assistant Professor, Glaciology
   “Airborne Earth Systems Lab: The Development of a New Multi-Platform and Multi-Sensor Array for UMaine Earth Science Research”
2. Shawn Fraver, Associate Professor, Forest Ecology
   “Toward a Better Understanding of the Forest Carbon Cycle: Request for Funds to Purchase a Portable CO2 Gas Analyzer”
3. Lauren Ross, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
   “Coastal Resource Management Solutions with Land-Sea Connection Diagnostics”
4. Emily Haigh, Associate Professor, Psychology
   “Mobile Peripheral Physiological Recording: Out of the lab and into the wild.”