2008-2009 Awards
Peter Fields has received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
“Generally, my research interests are in how organisms survive in extreme environments,” Fields says. What makes Geukensia(white mussel) scientifically significant is how it manages to thrive in one of the harshest environments on Earth—the intertidal zone. Inhabiting this area, which ranges from the lowest low tide to the highest high tide, the species must adapt to being both submerged and exposed. more>
Kate Plass, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Franklin & Marshall College, has received a two-year, $50,000 grant from an American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.
The flow of electrons creates electricity. Finding a way to make the flow more efficient, Kate Plass suggested, could help improve solar cell technology.
“If we can see how these molecules are arranged on a microscopic level, we can better understand how to improve the flow of electricity in the polymers that make up solar cells,” Plass said. more >
Franklin & Marshall Professor Andrew de Wet has received a $25,000 grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation to support undergraduate research.
For more than two decades, the Keck Geology Consortium has provided undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct research in places as remote as Mongolia and the Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.
The Keck Geology Consortium received a $25,000 grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation to support undergraduate research.
The grant will supplement funding provided by the 18 consortium member institutions and the National Science Foundation. more >
Franklin & Marshall Professor Fred Owens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the Texas Transportation Institute has received a two-year, $700,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to study how to design smarter and safer roadway.
He has teamed with engineers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the Texas Transportation Institute to study drivers' perception and behavior on the road and to give better advice to the people who design America's highways and roads. more >
Franklin & Marshall College, Niagara University and Rhodes College have received a $280,712 grant from the Teagle Foundation.
Susan Dicklitch, Associate Dean of The College and Director of The Ware Institute for Civic Engagement, said that what she and her colleagues at Niagara and Rhodes are asking is what impact do courses that get students out of the classroom and onto the streets have on lifelong learning.
Based in New York, the Teagle Foundation promotes education that engages students in active learning and encourages students to explore questions of deep social and personal significance. The grant is for three years. more >
Franklin & Marshall College Assistant Professor of English Katie Ford has been awarded a 2008 Lannan Fellowship.
Ford is the author of two collections of poetry, Deposition, written in 2002, and Colosseum, published this year. Colosseum is an emotional journey through Ford’s years in New Orleans before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. The book was just selected as one of the five best poetry collections of 2008 by Publishers Weekly.
Kate Plass receives Cottrell College Science Award
Kate Plass, assistant professor of chemistry, has received a two year Cottrell College Science Award of $45,000 from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement.
The title of the project is "Synthesis and Photoelectrochemical Characterization of Earth-Abundant Semiconductors for Solar Energy Conversion" and focuses on the photo-electrochemical characterization of the small semiconductor particles that her student, Dennis Malamut ‘09, has been synthesizing. This project complements one funded by the Dreyfus Award, which Plass received earlier this year.
Katherine Plass is recipient of the 2008 Camille and Henry Dreyfus Faculty Start-up Awards Program
Kate Plass, assistant professor of chemistry, was awarded $30,000 from The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation to get started with her research on solar power.
The Dreyfus Foundation Award supports the research of new tenure-track faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions with the five-year grant that Plass plans to use for equipment and to pay students to work as research assistants. Professor Plass is the first F&M faculty member to receive this prestigious award. more >
Michael Anderson receives an NSF Award for $105,508 under the Robust Intelligence Program
This group of researchers has developed a technique to allow computing devices to recognize and correct their own mistakes. The application of the work in this particular grant is for an intelligent Mars rover. This will enable the rover to be given commands from Earth, but also be able to make autonomous, appropriate alterations to those plans in the event that something changes or goes wrong. Professor Anderson’s role in this project will be to build and host the Mars rovers. more >
