Research funding grants announced

Several New College faculty have recently secured awards to further their research, the Office of Research Programs and Services has announced. The awards include:

• Dr. Jayne Gardiner, assistant professor of biology and director of Pritzker Marine Biology Research Center, secured a grant from the Mote Scientific Foundation. The award, “River Refuge – Are Sharks, Rays, and Fish from Sarasota Bay Avoiding Red Tide by Hiding Out in the Manatee River?”, will contribute to Dr. Gardiner’s research on shark habitat usage. Through this project, Dr. Gardiner will collaborate with Havenworth Coastal Conservation to examine how the devastating red tide bloom has impacted sharks, rays, and bony fish in the Sarasota Bay ecosystem.
• Dr. Sandra Gilchrist, Professor of biology and marine science, obtained another year of funding from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP) for her Teacher Workshops Program. Teachers from the Sarasota and Manatee counties will engage in full-day programming of activities that connect impacts of humans on the environment and the impact of the environment on humans. Dr. Gilchrist will expose the teachers to resources from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Institutes of Health Oceans and Human Health Initiative, VIMS Bridge Ocean Education Teacher Resource Center and PBS Learning Media, among others. Teachers will leave the workshops with resources to incorporate hands on activities and experiments into their curricula, enhancing the learning experience of middle and high school students at both counties.

Two proposals have also been submitted for external funding:

• Dr. Steven Shipman, associate professor of physical chemistry and Leonard Florsheim Chair, in a collaboration with Emory University, submitted to the National Science Foundation a proposal on Broadband Microwave-Millimeterwave Double Resonance Spectroscopy. If funded, select New College students will have the opportunity to work with Dr. Shipman and fellow Emory researcher at an Emory lab during the summer.
• Dr. Susan Marks, professor of religion and Judaic studies and Klingenstein Chair, has submitted to the Katz Fellowship Center her proposal on Examining the Bayit in the Beit Midrash. If approved, Dr. Marks will receive a fellowship during her assigned research leave to investigate who supports the beit midrash, and why.