Alaska NSF EPSCoR: Overview

Transcription

1 Alaska NSF EPSCoR: Overview Alaska NSF EPSCoR has been funded since 2001 and is in the first year of its fifth Track-1 project, entitled Fire and Ice: Navigating Variability in Boreal Wildfire Regimes and Subarctic Coastal Ecosystems. This interdisciplinary effort will study changes to fire risk and behavior in Alaska s boreal forest, and changes to physical and chemical conditions impacting ecosystems and organisms in the nearshore Gulf of Alaska. The 5-year ( ) project is supported through $20 million from the National Science Foundation and a $4 million state match and involves researchers across the University of Alaska system. A Boreal Fires team will identify large-scale climate factors impacting fire weather, and use advanced remote sensing to better map and measure fire fuels and active fire behavior. They ll also conduct research into fire management in settled areas, and into the ways fire impacts subsistence resources. UAF and UAS researchers collect nearshore fishes using a beach seine near Juneau, similar to efforts that will take place in the Fire and Ice project. Photo by Maggie Chan. A Coastal Margins team will study how large-scale ocean processes impact the nearshore Gulf of Alaska, and establish how different levels of upstream glaciation can change characteristics of communities of nearshore organisms. They ll determine how organisms physiological responses to physical conditions vary along different levels of glaciation, and study how fishing communities respond to changes in the availability of key marine species. A Diversity, Education and Workforce Development component will involve Alaskans in Fire and Ice activities, including K-12 and university education and outreach programs as well as educational research. Alaska NSF EPSCoR is also partnering with UA Upward Bound to administer a 3-year, $2.1 million award entitled Teaching through Technologies. The nationwide project uses instruction in three novel technologies - unmanned aerial systems, 3-D printers, and codeable digital devices - to excite Upward Bound K-12 students about science, technology, engineering and math fields.

2 Alaska NSF EPSCoR: Impacts Funding: About $50 million in major NSF funding has leveraged about $160 million in funds from other sources. Personnel: Alaska NSF EPSCoR has hired 32 UA faculty members; funded more than 300 graduate students and 250 undergraduates; and provided support to hundreds of UA researchers. Infrastructure: Recent improvements include sensor networks in Berners Bay and the Kenai Peninsula, a new UAF visualization space, and upgrades to UA capabilities for visualization and data access. Institutional Culture: Alaska NSF EPSCoR has raised the profile of UA research, catalyzed support for increased UA interdisciplinary science and outreach, and bolstered research capacity UA-wide. Results: Alaska NSF EPSCoR researchers have authored more than 600 academic publications. Anticipated impacts of the current Fire and Ice award include: 5 UA tenure-track faculty hires and 6 postdoctoral research hires 44 graduate and 45 undergraduate research assistantships More than 50 scientific publications Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educational opportunities for more than 1,500 students and Alaskans New techniques to evaluate fire risk; better methods of processing remote sensing data; improved fire spread models; online fire forecast tools; and outreach products for fire managers UAF student Gwen Quigley operates a drone to study vegetation regeneration after a fire. Photo courtesy Todd Brinkman. Biological, physical and chemical data covering coastal estuaries and the nearshore Gulf of Alaska, and vulnerability assessments that will aid in managing coastal resources

3 Alaska INBRE: Overview Alaska INBRE (IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence) has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since An application to renew the program was submitted to the NIH in 2018 and a decision is pending. Alaska INBRE supports students, faculty, and researchers to expand Alaska s capacity to conduct biomedical and health research appropriate and relevant to the state. Alaska INBRE also grows and diversifies the pipeline of students seeking college degrees in STEM and careers in biomedical research or health-related professions. It focuses on the interface of health and disease as impacted by environment and behavior, an aspect of the global One Health initiative. Alaska INBRE s research network includes the research-intensive University of Alaska Fairbanks; two primarily undergraduate institutions, the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Southeast (Juneau); and two Alaska Native-led health organizations, the Southcentral Foundation and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. INBRE undergraduate research assistant Rachael Kramp conducts research using an anaerobic chamber. Top NIH-Funded Alaska INBRE Research Areas Suicide and Addiction Prevention Tick-borne Pathogens Hibernation Genomics Environmental Contaminants Exposure Prevention Cardiac and Metabolic Health INBRE Awards in Alaska Microbiome Biology Rural Alaska Health Disparities Cancer Immunotherapy Epilepsy Infectious Agents and Sockeye Salmon Program Institution Years IDeA funding Alaska Biomedical Research UA $8,751,487 Infrastructure Network (BRIN) Alaska IDeA Network of Bio- UA $53,054,019 Medical Research Excellence (INBRE) Total $61,805,506

4 Research: Highly competitive pilot grants and research assistantships for researchers, faculty, and students, resulting in over 100 scholarly publications Collaborations among faculty and students across the University of Alaska system and other health research entities within the state Support for research facilities throughout Alaska for study into electrophysiology, cell culture, flow cytometry, next-generation nucleic acid sequencing, and confocal microscopy Bioinformatics and biostatistics support to assist with experimental design, genomic sequencing and analysis, programming, and networking with national NIH center Education: Alaska INBRE: Impacts Expanded curricula in biomedical and health areas across the UA system Students from the village of Nenana presented digital media storytelling projects as part of INBRE-funded researcher Inna Rivkin s project, Intergenerational Dialogue Exchange and Action to Facilitate Youth Wellness. Student research opportunities to support the pipeline toward biomedical and health careers Increased knowledge about Alaska-specific health concerns Increased access to bioinformatics resources and expertise in genomics and large data sets across the University of Alaska system and partner institutions Workforce and Professional Development: Travel support for researchers, faculty, postdocs, and students to attend, present, and collaborate at professional conferences and training opportunities Support for faculty-mentor relationships to foster collaboration and promote translational research opportunities Expanded number and diversity of Alaskan researchers with the goal of securing additional NIH and NSF grants to support sustainable biomedical and basic research careers in Alaska Sponsorship of research-focused academic seminars, meetings, and workshops for UA faculty, staff, and students

5 Alaska NASA EPSCoR: Overview and Impacts Overview: The goal of Alaska NASA EPSCoR is to develop an Alaskan academic research enterprise directed toward longterm, self-sustaining, nationally competitive capabilities in NASA-related research and technology. The program was recently renewed for three years ( ). Priorities are earth system science, technology for space and extreme environments, and aeronautics research, which align with both the 2014 NASA Strategic Plan and the Alaska Science and Technology Plan. Sujai Banerji, a PhD student in the UAF Department of Chemistry, uses a NASA Pandora instrument for remote sensing of atmospheric composition. Funding is distributed through three mechanisms. Research Development Seed Grants support projects in areas of strategic importance to NASA and Alaska, and are principally aimed at multi-institution and/or academicindustry collaborations. Travel Grants to attend NASA EPSCoR Technical Interchange Meetings facilitate new partnerships with NASA researchers. Cooperative Agreement Research Awards fund research in areas of high priority to NASA, including the International Space Station and a Rapid Response solicitation to support university/industry collaborations. Impacts: Current seed grants fund a range of research including developing unmanned aerial system payloads for multi-spectral mapping of fires and volcanoes; validating satellite measurements to improve understanding of biosphere-atmosphere exchange; design of adjustable heat transfer walls for space and earth applications; and research into space weather by estimating hydrogen density near the subsolar magnetopause. Alaska NASA EPSCoR currently administers two Cooperative Agreement awards, on the topics of: techniques to monitor overexposure to radiation by measuring DNA damage; and processes for producing polymer nanocomposite coatings to protect spacecraft, aircraft, and ships from degradation in highly saline environments.