Collaborative research grants back for fourth year
The Office of Research and Economic Development at Mississippi State is again investing in innovative mini-grants for faculty at the land-grant institution.
In its fourth year, the cross-college grant program brings together researchers from around campus and across disciplines to foster collaboration, according to the university administrator overseeing the initiative.
“We are pleased that we are able to support this program for another year, and provide additional resources to faculty that help them move their work forward,” said Drew Hamilton, associate vice president for research and professor of computer science and engineering.
A $2,000 grant to each of the 41 teams will support the initiation of proposals, as well as help enhance multi-disciplinary collaboration of existing projects. Eight of them support year-two funding.
“Collaborative initiatives are a priority for us,” said David Shaw, MSU’s vice president for research and economic development.
“Mississippi State excels at building diverse teams to solve real-world, multi-dimensional problems, and we believe that the cross-college grant program is an important part of that success,” he said.
Of note, all of the university’s eight colleges are represented among grant recipients, along with the MSU-Meridian campus.
Participating teams, listed alphabetically by principal investigator, are:
--Patrice Anderson, art, “Mending the Gap, Building the Pipeline: Increasing Female Representation in Tech;”
--Richard Baird, entomology and plant pathology, “Increasing Food Safety Through Aflatoxin Contaminated Food Stuffs;”
--Matthew Berg, physics and astronomy, “New Concepts to Improve Bio-Composite Performance;”
--Joanne Beriswill, instructional systems, “Science Education Games Group Initiative;”
--Cindy Bethel, computer science and engineering, “Year 2: Robotic Systems Working Group;”
--Richard Brown, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, “The Impact of Red Imported Fire Ant Activity on Decompositional Communities and Post-Mortem Bone Integrity;”
--Jamie Cirlot-New, counseling and educational psychology, Social Skills Acquisition for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Animated Video Modeling;”
--Marge Crowe, Meridian Division of Education, “Interdisciplinary Collaboration to Promote Wellness Through the Health Sciences;”
--Joshua Daspit, management information systems, “The Influence of Rural City Policies on Economic Development: Investigating the Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Family and Non-Family Firms;”
--Sandra Eksioglu, industrial and systems engineering, “Year 2: Energy Institute Working Group;”
--Jean Feugang, animal and dairy science, “Enhancing Imaging in Animal Reproduction Using Nanotechnology;”
--Nicholas Fitzkee, chemistry, “Biophysical and Biochemical Characterization of Molecular Host-Pathogen Interactions;”
--Matthew Freeman, agricultural economics, “Fisherman and Marine Governances;”
--Jerome Goddard; biochemistry, molecular biology, entomology and plant pathology; “Mosquito Vectors of Avian Malaria in Mississippi;”
--Rita Green, human sciences, “Predatory Lending and Alternative Lending Products and Agencies That Target Seniors;”
--Stacy Haynes, sociology, “Prison Health Research Group: Mental and Physical Health Among Incarcerated Women in Mississippi;”
--Brian Henry, plant and soil sciences, “Using Historical Weather Data to Optimize Food Security and Quantify Climate Volatility for Corn Planting Dates in the Southeast;”
--Kristina Hood, psychology, “Romeo and Juliet Effect;”
--Cheryl Justice, counseling and educational psychology, “Applied Behavioral Analysis in the Classroom Setting;”
--Attila Karsi, CVM basic sciences, “Year 2: Catfish Health;”
--Tom Leathem, building construction science, “Construct 101: Tradecraft and Management United in Construction Education;”
--Juyoung Jill Lee, human sciences, “International Competitiveness of the U.S. Cotton Industry,”
--Xiaopeng Li, civil and environmental engineering, “Big Data Analysis in Transportation and Sociology;”
--Hyeona Lim, Center for Computational Sciences, “Year 2: Cross-disciplinary Undergraduate Research and Education Group;” and math and statistics, “Year 2: Image Processing in Bio-inspired Materials Design;”
--Hugh Medal, industrial and systems engineering, “Mitigating the Effects of Wildfires by Efficiently Allocating Fuels Treatment Resources;”
--Qingmin Meng, geosciences, “Modeling and Visualization of Uncertain Spatial Information in Disease and Health Datasets;”
--Nan Niu, computer science and engineering, “Interdisciplinary Research on Software Developers’ Social Information Foraging, Learning and Co-creation;”
--Jamie O’Mally, National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, “Broadening the Participation of College Students with Blindness in Engineering;”
--Rodney Pearson, management information systems, “Development of Web App Tools for Forest and Pasture Management;”
--Kathleen Ragsdale, sociology and Social Science Research Center, “Year 2: eBaby Research Group: Enhanced Early Infant Feeding and Care Among Teen/Young Mothers;”
--Scott Rush, wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture, “Year 2: Framework for Prioritizing Tidal Marsh Conservation for the Northern Gulf of Mexico;”
--LaShan Simpson, agricultural and biological engineering, “Domestic Laying Hens as a Physiological Model for Calcium Homeostasis;”
--Lori Staton, human sciences, “Year 2: Experiential Learning Garden: A Comprehensive Preschool Obesity Prevention Program;”
--Leslie Stawderman, industrial and systems engineering, “Transportation Safety;”
--Scott Thompson, mechanical engineering, “Thermoelectricity Generation via Pulsating Ferrofluid;”
--Chuji Wang, physics and astronomy, “Development of Noninvasive Skin Cancer Biomarkers Using Animal Tissues as Surrogates;”
--Merrill Warkentin, management information systems, “Cybersecurity Threat Management Optimization;”
--Chien Yu, instructional systems, “M-Learning for Underrepresented Students in Science and Engineering;”
--Staci Zavattaro, public administration, “Examining the Influence of Social Media on Family Firm Performance;”
--Song Zhang, computer science and engineering, “MRI-based Analysis Tool for Axonal Injury: From Axons to Fiber Tracts.”
Jim Laird | Public Affairs
