Grant News

Austin Mason, Director of Digital Arts & Humanities and Lecturer in History, has been awarded a Digital Humanities Advancement Grant (HAA-290378-23) from the National Endowment for the Humanities for “The Virtual Viking Longship Project: A Study in the Future of Liberal Arts Teaching and Research,” which he will co-direct with colleagues from Grinnell College.

Sarah Kennedy, Robert A. Oden, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Humanities an Archeology, has been named a co-Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation Senior Archaeology Grant (2050528) for the project “Social Adaptation During Periods of State Collapse.”

Claire Larson, Visiting Instructor in Music and Director of the Carleton Symphony Band, is the recipient of a Legacy Grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) for “Copper Street on College Street: Brass at Carleton.”

Amanda Hund, Visiting Assistant Research Professor in Biology, has received an National Science Foundation grant (#2243076) for “RUI: Linking Ecology, Behavior, and Immunology to Spatio-Temporal Variation in Helminth Transmission.” Initially written for Grinnell College, Prof. Hund has transferred this award to Carleton. The grant supports research that connects empirical data with mathematical models to understand and predict how behavior, immunology, and ecology within host species shapes parasite transmission. The project focuses on the transmission of a tapeworm parasite across copepods, threespine stickleback fish, and common loons. In addition to improving understanding of the transmission of a complex-life cycle parasite, a modeling toolkit will be built that can be applied to other parasites. Research is also being incorporated into the classroom through a course-based undergraduate research experience, an interdisciplinary undergraduate course focused on the connections between art and science, a high school summer science program, and will be made broadly available through published lesson plans. To share this work, the investigators have developed an art-science collaboration involving indigenous artists and a science journalism student to produce a traveling exhibition focused on this project.

Dani Kohen, Professor of Chemistry, is the recipient of a subaward with the University of Minnesota (led by Ilja Siepmann) on a Department of Energy funded project, “Development of Machine Learning and Molecular Simulation Approaches to Accelerate the Discovery of Porous Materials for Energy-Relevant Applications.” This is the first time that Carleton has received grant funding from the Department of Energy. The research team includes Alan Aspuru-Guzik of the University of Toronto, Haoyuan Chem at the University of Texas Rio Grande, and Randall Snurr of Northwestern University, in addition to Siepmann and Kohen. The team aims to develop, improve, and extend computational/theoretical chemistry methods and data-driven science approaches to study porous materials such as zeolites and metal-organic frameworks. These systems are important for adsorption cooling and separations applications. The funding will support both Prof. Kohen’s time and multiple summer research opportunities for Carleton undergraduates, and foster connections between the teams at Carleton and the University of Minnesota

Asuka Sango, John W. Nason Professor of Asian Studies and Religion, is the recipient of a Visiting Faculty Fellowship with the Associated Kyoto Program (AKP). Prof. Sango will teach a fall 2023 course entitled “Sacred Space and Place in Japan” in Kyoto and visit locations included in the AKP fall field trip.

Rou-Jia Sung, Assistant Professor of Biology, is the recipient of an American Association of University Women Research Publication Grant in Engineering, Medicine and Science. During the 2022-23 award year, Prof. Sung’s project “Insights into ly6 protein function: identifying novel interacting partners of odr-2” will identify and study new regulators of cell signaling. Not only will this work represent a significant contribution to our understanding of ly6 function in C. elegans, but insights drawn from this model system will be applicable towards more complex systems across species.

Cecilia Cornejo, Lecturer in cinema and media studies, has been awarded an Artist Residency at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, IL. While in residence, Cecilia will work on Sonic Landscapes of Southern Minnesota, a sound-mapping website and interactive web archive developed in collaboration with London-based Hüseyin Kuşcu of Kakare Interactive. Facilitated by the Artist Communities Alliance and the McKnight Artist Fellowship Program, this award recognizes exceptional achievement while aiming to support important new works.

Rika Anderson, Associate Professor of Biology, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF #2205254) for “Collaborative Research: RUI: Microbes need frenemies: unveiling microbial relationships with protist and viruses that support deep-sea hydrothermal vent food webs.” This project, involving undergraduate researchers, aims to characterize microbial food web interactions across different hydrothermal vent habitats, and improve our understanding of how climate change and other human activities impact the ecosystem.

Dan Maxbauer, Assistant Professor of Geology, has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant (#2208133) for his project “RUI: CAS-Climate: Carbon sequestration through enhanced weathering in agricultural soils with co-benefits to soil quality and crop yield.” Prof. Maxbauer’s three-year field trial tests carbon removal efficiency and co-benefits to crops and soils of annual applications of crushed silicate minerals. This collaboration with local farmers, and involving undergraduate researchers, will provide real-world constraints on enhanced weathering – an exciting carbon dioxide removal technology – and will be shared broadly with scientific and agricultural communities.