UCA faculty recently won grants totaling over $450,000. These include:
Principal Investigator Dr. J. D. Swanson, Assistant Professor in Biology, along with his Co-PIs Dr. Lance Bridges, Assistant Professor in Chemistry, Dr. Brent Hill, Assistant Professor in Biology, Dr. Melissa Kelley, Assistant Professor in Chemistry, Dr. Kari Naylor, Assistant Professor in Biology, Dr. Ben Rowley, Assistant Professor in Biology, and Dr. David Starkey, Assistant Professor in Biology, all with the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics at the University of Central Arkansas, have been awarded a grant for $46,902 by the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) with funds from the National Institutes of Health. The project, Enhancing Cell Imaging Capabilities in the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics, funded the purchase of new equipment to expand the abilities of faculty and students to conduct more intricate and innovative projects, enhance the variety of experiments, and increase opportunities for students in the classroom and the research environment.Dr. Umadevi Garimella, Director of the Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education (ACMSE) at the University of Central Arkansas, has been awarded a grant for $110,842 by the Arkansas Department of Education. Her project, Science Lead Teacher Institute, provides funds to improve the end of course Biology scores in selected school districts by providing content intensive professional development to thirty middle and high school science teachers. Partners in this project are Arch Ford Educational Service Cooperative and the following school districts: Atkins, Conway, North Little Rock, Pulaski Co. Special, Russellville and South Conway County.
Dr. Umadevi Garimella, Director of the Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education (ACMSE) at the University of Central Arkansas, has been awarded a grant for $18,080 by the Arkansas Department of Education. Her project, Smart Start Mathematics, provides funds to host a two-day seminar, Assessing Impact: Evaluating Professional Development. This seminar will help individuals who are planning to submit professional development grant proposals. The main objective is to guide participants in the development of strong evaluation plans, as well as create a proposal that clearly defines the programs goals and objectives, shows a logical theory of change, has a likelihood of producing desired results, and has an evaluation component with greater integrity and value.
Dr. Umadevi Garimella, Director of the Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education (ACMSE) at the University of Central Arkansas, has been awarded a grant for $26,877 by NASA through the National Space Grant Foundation. Her project, Astronomy Lunar Exploration, provides funds to develop a new university-based course for K-12 teachers of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Dr. Debra Burris, Assistant Professor of Physics, will partner with ACMSE in developing and teaching a course entitled Astronomy: A Lunar Exploration for pre-service and in-service teachers. This grant will also fund twenty students to take the new course.
Drs. Tina Mankey and Cathy Acre, Assistant Professors with the Occupational Therapy Department at the University of Central Arkansas, have been awarded a grant for $21,549 by the Arkansas Governors Developmental Disabilities Council. Their project, Ready Set Go! Application of an Occupational Therapy Model to Community Transition, is providing adolescents with disabilities in Faulkner County with a summer experience that will explore options for adult community living. This grant is funding the development of a benchmark program for adolescents with disabilities preparing for transition to the community. Key outcomes of the program are 1) improve the preparation of students and their families for the transition into adulthood; 2) allow the students to set future goals and priorities based on their individual abilities; and 3) to expose the students to choose activities that will increase their occupational performance in various contexts. The long-term objective for this program is to improve each students overall well-being and occupational performance as an adult. This grant is providing occupational therapy students at the UCA with opportunities to learn about the emerging practice, and give them the experience of collaborating with community agencies in planning and organizing occupational therapy activities for the participants.
Dr. Conrad Shumaker, Professor of English and Director of General Education at the University of Central Arkansas, along with his Co-PIs Drs. Charles Bane, Assistant Professor of English, Alison Hall, Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Tim Thornes, Assistant Professor of Writing, were awarded a grant for $1,500 by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The project, Unity and Diversity: Hopi Culture in a Changing America, brought Hopi poet and artist, Ramson Lomatewama, to UCA and Conway to speak at the UCA English Departments Graduate Conference, visit classes, and give a public talk at the Faulkner County Public Library. UCA Students had a unique opportunity to hear and interact with a person who lives in the traditional Hopi way and practices the art forms that belong to that culture. They gained a sense of the diversity of approaches to life offered by American Indian traditions and peoples, and they learned about living American Indian cultures. The public presentation emphasized UCA’s commitment to education about diversity on and off campus.
Dr. Ginny Adams, Assistant Professor of Biology, along with her Co-PIs, Drs. Reid Adams and Sally Entrekin, Assistant Professors of Biology, at the University of Central Arkansas, have been awarded a grant for $10,000 from the USDA Forest Service. The project, Effect of Addition of Woody Debris to Headwater Streams in the Ozarks, addresses the vital need to understand the diversity and function of headwater streams in the Ozarks to protect these unique resources in the future. The project will provide data that will be utilized in management and restoration of aquatic habitats and will also benefit UCA students by allowing them the opportunity to work in conjunction with UCA professors and Forest Service biologists. The work will be conducted on Forest Service lands in Arkansas to answer unique biological questions that will help further the understanding of headwater streams in the Ozarks, and will help strengthen the relationship between UCA and the natural resource agencies.
Dr. Brooks Pearson, Assistant Professor of Geography, received $2,000 from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Arkansas Department of Heritage to begin development of a prototype of a comprehensive digital database of extant antebellum public domain maps of Arkansas with supporting K-12 teacher resources. Dr. Pearson will work with Dr. Wendy Richter, director of the Arkansas History Commission and Kevin Jones of Jones Consults web design firm, to develop the prototype. After the project is fully funded and complete, UCA students and faculty, as well as students and faculty throughout Arkansas, will have access to high-quality historical maps of Arkansas.
Dr. Umadevi Garimella, Director of the Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education (ACMSE) at the University of Central Arkansas, has been awarded a grant for $104,034 by the Arkansas Department of Education with funds from the U.S. Department of Education. Her project, Math Science Partnership-Science Lead Teacher Institute, will provide funds to improve the end of course (EOC) Biology scores in selected school districts by providing content intensive professional development to 30 middle school science teachers.
Principal Investigator Dr. Ginny Adams, Assistant Professor in Biology and Co-PIs Dr. Reid Adams, Assistant Professor in Biology and Dr. Sally Entrekin, Assistant Professor in Chemistry, all with the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Central Arkansas, have been awarded a grant for $10,000 by the USDA Forest Services. The project, which will include students, Richard Walker ,Evan Soper, Kasey Nix and Phuong Nguyen, will be working closely with the Forest Service biologists to research of headwater streams in the Ozarks and will provide data that will be utilized in management and restoration of aquatic habitats. This grant will benefit UCA students by allowing them the opportunity to work in conjunction with not only professors and UCA but also Forest Service biologists which helps strengthen the relationship between UCA and our natural resource agencies.
Dr. Barbara Clancy, Associate Professor of Biology, with the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Central Arkansas, has been awarded a grant for $106,383 by the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) with funds from the National Institutes of Health. The project, Effect of Adverse Perinatal Experiences on Cortical Organization, will map the distribution and connectivity patterns of surviving subplate cells in rat brains at three maturational points- early adulthood, late adulthood and old age. Data obtained in this study could prove useful in understanding some human pathologies because similar neurons in human brains are altered during normal aging, and they also undergo striking changes in dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Research will also be conducted by students, Amanda James, Adam Kilgore, Lalita Oonthonpan, Kristi Erbach, Lilia Lee, Stacy Baldwin and Devin Longacre.
