Archives for March 2020

SMCM Student Dillon Waters Awarded Funds from Cove Point National Heritage to Support St. Mary’s Project

March 30, 2020

Dillon Waters, senior biology major, was recently awarded funds ($1,020) from Cove Point National Heritage to support his St. Mary’s Project titled, “Comparison of Traditional Freshwater Sampling Methods versus eDNA Water Sampling to Assess Aquatic Biodiversity in Maryland Streams.”

Dillon’s St. Mary’s Project under the mentorship of Sean Hitchman, visiting assistant professor in biology, will research more efficient ways to monitor changes in aquatic biodiversity. Conservative estimates indicate that freshwater environments provide habitat for at least 126,000 plant and animal species. Unfortunately, freshwater ecosystems are experiencing declines in biodiversity. Continuous monitoring of species composition in freshwater habitats is essential for proper conservation practices. While there are many traditional freshwater monitoring methods for biodiversity they tend to vary in efficiency, are time consuming, and costly. Dillion will specifically investigate and compare a more efficient method of aquatic biodiversity monitoring, environmental DNA (eDNA) collection. Comparison of a more efficient method will assist with future conservation efforts.

SMCM Hosts Third Annual Research Excellence Workshop on January 17, 2020

March 16, 2020

Provost Michael Wick Provides Opening Remarks at the 2020 REW

St. Mary’s College of Maryland held the third annual Research Excellence Workshop (REW) on January 17^th, 2020 in Daugherty-Palmer-Commons. The REW provides broad research development opportunities (beyond grants), and institutional support for and recognition of faculty research, scholarship and creative activities. The specific goals of the 2020 REW workshop were to: present and discuss internal support for research at SMCM, present relevant funding and research opportunities, formally recognize the efforts of faculty and staff in seeking external funding to support their endeavors, and provide a forum for networking with external guests and colleagues across campus.

The day’s events included:

Panel on Internal Support for Research at SMCM

Part 1 – Provost Michael Wick, Associate Dean Katie Gantz, former and current department chairs Drs. Adriana Brodsky and Aileen Bailey presented ways to support faculty and undergraduate research from a College and departmental perspective.
Part 2 – Drs. Bailey and James Mantell presented an innovative workload model that allows for improved scholarly, creative, and research experiences of students while appropriately compensating faculty mentoring.

Session on External Funding and Networking Opportunities

This was one 2-hour session with three informal, sequential presentations (~30 minutes each) followed by ~30 minutes for questions from the audience.

Fulbright Scholars Program: Dr. Carleen Velez, IIE Fulbright Outreach Specialist, provided an overview of Fulbright programs popular with SMCM faculty, and offered tips for writing successful fellowship applications.
Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)- and National Park Service (NPS)-facilitated research for faculty and students: Mr. Danny Filer, CESU Research Coordinator provided an overview of research and funding opportunities afforded to SMCM through our partnership with the Chesapeake Watershed CESU Network. In addition, Dr. Joshua Torres discussed research collaborations with NPS, specifically opportunities for SMCM undergraduate students to conduct archival research with NPS in the National Capital Region.
MD State Arts Council (MSAC) Funding and SMCM as MSAC Folklife Network Hub: Dr. Chad Buterbaugh, MSAC Director of the MD Traditions program provided an overview of MSAC funding and the MD Traditions Program. He also discussed SMCM’s new role as the southern MD hub for the MD Folklife Network, a new collaboration to which faculty can contribute. To discuss this new initiative with SMCM stakeholders, the executive directors and some board members of the Arts Councils for Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s County were also in attendance.

Clockwise from left: Dr. Gili Freedman, Dr. Shanen Sherrer, and Nick D’Antona ’19 (on behalf of Dr. Troy Townsend) receive 2020 REW Awards

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) Award Presentations and Networking Lunch

In addition to providing networking opportunities with external speakers and campus colleagues, this annual REW lunch celebrates and recognizes all SMCM faculty and staff who submitted proposals for external funding during the previous year, and we present the annual ORSP awards. As the Most Successful Grant Seeker in FY19, Dr. Troy Townsend, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, received the ORSP River Hawk Award; and Dr. Shanen Sherrer, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, and Dr. Gili Freedman, Assistant Professor of Psychology, were recognized as ‘Go-Getters’. To celebrate all grant seeking efforts, we held a drawing where the number of free raffle tickets per individual faculty or staff member was equal to the number of proposals they submitted for external funding in FY19. Dr. Holly Blumner’s ticket was selected from the random drawing, earning her a note of congratulations and $25 gift card to the campus bookstore.

NEH Funding Opportunities and Grant Writing Tips

Jeff Hardwick, Deputy Director of the NEH Division of Public Programs led this 2.5-hour afternoon NEH workshop that introduced popular NEH funding opportunities and tips on how to write a successful NEH grant proposal.

Sincere thanks to all the attendees and congratulations again to our sponsored research awardees! The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs plans to hold annual research-focused workshops in support of faculty and staff scholarship. If you have ideas about future topics of interest or networking partners, please contact Sabine Dillingham at x4192, sldillingham@smcm.edu.

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SMCM Faculty Members Selected for Office of Naval Research 2020 Summer Faculty Research Program

March 2, 2020

Three SMCM faculty members were recently selected to participate in the U.S. Navy’s Summer Faculty Research Program at the nearby Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River). The awarded fellowships will fund Dr. Joshua M Grossman, Professor of Physics and Physics Department Chair, Dr. Charles Adler, Professor of Physics, and Dr. Daniel Chase, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, during research at NAS Pax River in the summer of 2020. The Summer Faculty Research Program is run through the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research and provides science and engineering faculty members from institutions of higher education the opportunity to participate in research of mutual interest to the faculty member and peers at U.S. Navy laboratories for a 10-week period.

Professor Grossman and his students research atoms captured and cooled to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero, using lasers and magnetic fields. Dr. Grossman’s fellowship project is titled: “Second-order quantum correlations for enhanced contrast in an atom interferometer”. This work seeks to increase the precision and utility of extremely sensitive instruments in the presence of phase noise or other interference. The technique will aid in the transition of atom interferometers from the laboratory to the field where they can be applied as necessary. Undergraduate Harry Bauman ’22 will work on the same project as Dr. Grossman during his fellowship, via the Navy’s STEM Student Employment Program.

Professor Adler’s research focuses on atomic physics and atmospheric optics. His summer 2020 research project is titled: “Modeling the scattering of orbital angular momentum beams by particulates and diffuse reflectors”. He plans to develop mathematical and computer models to simulate light scattering of orbital angular momentum beams propagating through water. Understanding this physics will help inform how optical vortices can be used for Naval applications in ocean remote sensing, enhanced communications for command and control, and improved undersea domain awareness.

Dr. Chase’s lab uses synthetic organic chemistry to explore research avenues such as designing fluorescent dyes with useful properties and examining the activation of industrially important small molecules. Dr. Chase’s summer 2020 research project is titled: “Fluorescence detection of mechanical stress”. Among other applications, these stress-responsive fluorescent dyes may help evaluate sustained damage on fixed-wing aircraft, which is a recurring maintenance issue for the Navy. At present, maintenance personnel have difficulty determining whether or not a fixed-wing system has undergone sufficient fatigue to warrant repair or replacement. Adding stress–responsive fluorescent dyes to existing epoxy coatings may allow for on–site maintenance personnel to quickly locate and accurately determine if structural fatigue has reached unacceptable stress thresholds.

The Office of Naval Research Summer Faculty Research Program webpage states that “program participants have an opportunity to establish continuing research relationships with the R&D personnel of the host laboratories which may result in sponsorship of the participant’s research at their home institutions.”