Summary of 2021–2022 Awards
25 grants to 15 individual awardees: $1,867,003 total
- $135,250 for 11 arts & literature and humanities grants
- $1,731,753 for 14 science, social science, and math grants
Ryan Terrien, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy
NEID spectrometer operation maintenance and Data Reduction Pipeline (DRP) work
Funder: NASA
Award date: 7/1/21
Award amount: $8,517
Project period: 7/1/21-6/31/22
With a subawardee from the University of Arizona, over the summers of 2021 and 2022, Prof. Terrien will develop and implement software, and conduct tests for the NEID wavelength calibration subsystem, and supporting modules.
Rika Anderson, Professor of Biology
CAREER: Temporal dynamics of microbial and viral function and adaptation in hydrothermal vents
Funder: National Science Foundation (NSF) #2045697
Award date: 8/16/21
Award amount: $614,024
Project period: 1/15/22-12/31/26
CAREER grants are NSF’s most prestigious award to early-career faculty, supporting those with the “potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.” This project will expand knowledge of how microbes and viruses from hydrothermal vents adapt and evolve over time, in hopes of providing insights into the early evolution of life on Earth and into the ways microorganisms respond to anthropogenic disturbances like deep-sea mining and climate change over time. Additionally, Prof. Anderson’s research engages undergraduate partners at all stages of the research process.
Ryan Terrien, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Collaborative Research: Understanding exoplanets orbiting fully convective stars with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder
Funder: National Science Foundation (NSF) AAG #2108569)
Award date: 8/25/21
Award amount: $45,620
Project period: 9/1/21-8/31/24
Prof. Terrien’s research, in collaboration with U California-Irvine, Pennsylvania State U, and U Texas at Austin, contributes to the search for planets around nearby low-mass stars, supports outreach and educational activities that engage with the public’s interest in exoplanet discovery, and funds undergraduate and graduate research from underrepresented minority populations.
Rika Anderson, Professor of Biology
Long term controls on the scope of Earth’s biosphere
Funder: Research Corporation of Science Advancement (RCSA)
Award date: 8/26/21
Award amount: $55,000
Project period: 7/1/21-8/31/22
This RCSA Scialog Signatures of Life in the Universe (SLU) collaborative award funds Prof. Anderson’s work with Noah Planavsky and graduate students at Yale University, and a Carleton educational associate with intent to enhance understanding of the scope of earth’s biosphere and evolution of biosignatures on early Earth-like exoplanets.
Sarah Meerts, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology
Neurobiology of female sexual health
Funder: National Institute of Health (NIH) Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA)
Award date: 9/17/21
Award amount: $395,861
Project period: 9/1/21-8/31/24
Prof. Meerts’ AREA research project employs a novel model of experience-enhanced sexual behavior in female rats to better understand neural and peripheral factors underlying sexual health. Outcomes of the research will inform treatments for female sexual dysfunction. The grant enhances research opportunities for undergraduate researchers, including those from underrepresented populations, and supports an educational associate in each year of the project.
Ryan Terrien, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Linking solar magnetic activity and radial velocity variability with ultra-high resolution laser heterodyne spectroscopy
Funder: NASA
Award date: 9/30/21
Award amount: $98,495
Project period: 10/1/21-9/30/23
Funded through the Extreme Precision Radial Velocity (EPRV) mechanism, and in collaboration with Penn State U and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), this project aims to – through the use of a specialized spectroscopic tool – improve the understanding of magnetic activity-induced radial velocity variations and inform techniques for the mitigation of stellar activity for exoplanet detection.
Gao Hong, Director of the Chinese Music Ensemble and Senior Lecturer in Chinese Musical Instruments
2022 Creative Support for Individuals
Funder: Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB)
Award date: 11/23/21
Award amount: $6,000
Project period: 1/1/22-12/31/22
Gao will compose a pipa concerto that she will premiere with the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis during the orchestra’s seventieth season, and present outreach for Minnesotans young and old.
Ryan Terrien, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy
NEID spectrometer GTO (Guaranteed Time Observations) Survey Program
Funder: NASA, Contract with Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Award date: 1/12/22
Award amount: $100,000
Project period: 1/1/22-12/31/26
Working with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on the NASA-funded NEID precision Doppler spectrometer GTO, Prof. Terrien will support the execution and analysis of the instrument precision and performance – in particular, the wavelength calibration methods – in order to optimize the GTO survey sensitivity. Additionally, he will develop NEID GTO-based projects for, and mentor, research students.
Cecelia Cornejo, Instructor in Cinema and Media Studies
2022 Mid-Career Project Grant, Sonic Landscapes of Southern Minnesota
Funder: Forecast, with funding from McKnight Foundation and the Jerome Foundation
Award date: 1/13/22
Award amount: $10,000
Project period: 1/1/22-11/30/22
Sonic Landscapes of Southern Minnesota is a sound-mapping website and web archive that examines notions of home in collaboration with community members in Northfield and Lanesboro. The site will feature audio testimonies recorded in 2019, more recent testimonies focusing on how notions of home have changed in light of the events of the past two years (recorded virtually via The Wandering House), along with ambient sounds of significance for the residents of each town. A deeply evocative experience located in the virtual public space, Sonic Landscapes will function as an acoustic mosaic, an evolving installation in the virtual space, and a catalyst for transformation at a crucial time of social reckoning.
Cecilia Cornejo, Instructor in Cinema and Media Studies
2022 Creative Support for Individuals
Funder: Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB)
Award date: 1/17/22
Award amount: $6,000
Project period: 3/1/22-2/28/23
Expanding on her ongoing exploration of home and belonging, Cornejo will develop Sonic Landscapes of Rural Minnesota, a sound mapping website built from audio testimonies recorded with community members in Northfield and Lanesboro.
Lizbett Benge, Robert A. Oden, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Humanities in Theater
2022 Creative Support for Individuals
Funder: Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB)
Award date: 1/17/22
Award amount: $6,000
Project period: 3/1/22-2/28/23
This MSAB award supports Prof. Benge in researching histories of sites in Rice County and sharing these via spoken word poetry and site-specific dance.
Alex Knodell, Associate Professor of Classics and Director of Archaeology
RUI: Relationship between Area Size and Population History
Funder: National Science Foundation (NSF) #2150873
Award date: 1/31/22
Award amount: $206,850
Project period: 6/12/22-4/30/24
Over two years, Prof. Knodell and colleagues will carry out archaeological fieldwork and lidar-based remote sensing research in order to understand the history of occupation and use across 30 small, currently uninhabited islands in the Cycladic Archipelago of Greece. The project builds upon and expands Knodell’s previous work with the Small Cycladic Islands Project and will create opportunities for undergraduate researchers to join an international team of scholars. The project will produce a series of interdisciplinary analyses of island landscapes and new insights into human and natural history.
Sarah Kennedy, Robert A. Oden, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Humanities and Archaeology
Out of the Mine and Into the Furnace: the Ongoing Environmental Impacts of Silver Refining in Peru
Funder: Archaeological Institute of America (AIA)
Award date: 2/18/22
Award amount: $4,350
Project period: 6/1/22-5/31/23
This Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment Fund for Archaeological Field Surveys grant supports geophysical surveys at colonial silver refineries in Puno, Peru during the July 2022 fieldwork season, subsequent laboratory analysis of samples by an Australian collaborator, and dissemination of results via journal articles and book manuscript.
Alex Knodell, Associate Professor of Classics and Director of Archaeology
Study and Publication of the Small Cycladic Islands Project
Funder: Loeb Classical Library Foundation
Award date: 2/24/22
Award amount: $40,000
Project period: 7/1/22-6/30/23
This Loeb fellowship supports the Small Cycladic Islands Project. During his 2022-2023 sabbatical, Prof. Knodell will work on the analysis and publication of archaeological fieldwork and lidar-based remote sensing, focused on the history of occupation and use across about 50 small, currently uninhabited islands in the Cycladic Archipelago of Greece. The project will produce a series of multidisciplinary studies of island landscapes and new insights into human and natural history.
Meredith McCoy, Assistant Professor of American Studies and History
Recovering Indigenous Children’s Experiences under Relocation
Funder: Institute for Citizen’s & Scholars (ICS)
Award date: 2/25/22
Award amount: $18,250
Project period: 6/5/22-12/15/22
From June to December 2022, an ICS Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty will support Prof. McCoy’s project that examines the formative period of the 1940s and 1950s when the number of Native families in cities rose significantly. She will conduct oral history interviews and archival research, benefitting from mentorship offered through the fellowship.
Meredith McCoy, Assistant Professor of American Studies and History
Curriculum Inquiry Writing Fellowship and Writers’ Retreat
Funder: Curriculum Inquiry
Award date: 3/11/22
Award amount: $1,000
Project period: 6/1/22-8/30/22
As a June 2022 participant in the Curriculum Inquiry Writing Fellowship and Writers’ Retreat in Toronto, Prof. McCoy’s writing project will explore Native feminist teaching commitments, arguing that a pedagogical focus on contemplation and contribution in the college-level classroom can help students connect and reflect as they learn histories of genocide.
Matt Whited, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Cation-Controlled Catalysis with Pincer-Crown Ether Complexes
Funder: National Science Foundation, ROA w/ U North Carolina
Award date: 3/25/22
Award amount: $43,632
Project period: 3/25/22-8/31/22
A Research Opportunity Award (ROA) supports Prof. Whited’s sabbatical research at University of North Carolina in the laboratory of Prof. Alex Miller, exploring new electrochemical approaches to catalysis and building a repertoire of skills to support his ongoing NSF-funded research with Carleton students.
Meredith McCoy, Assistant Professor of American Studies and History
Indigenous Chicago – a partnership with the Newberry Library
Funder: The Whiting Foundation
Award date: 4/3/22
Award amount: $50,000
Project period: 9/1/22-6/15/23
In collaboration with Newberry Library, Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative, and other members of the Chicago Native community, this 2022-23 Whiting Foundation Public Engagement Fellowship enables Prof. McCoy to investigate the long history of Indigenous Chicago. She will create an exhibit, curricular and digital materials, an oral history project, and public programming.
Dan Hernandez, Professor of Biology
Regenerative Agriculture
Funder: General Mills Foundation, with contract from Freshwater Society
Award date: 4/12/22
Award amount: $55,764
Project period: 4/15/22-5/31/23
Prof. Hernández will visit regional farms to measure soil greenhouse gas fluxes, carbon storage, and nutrient availability for a Life Cycle Assessment of the regenerative poultry production methods of the Regenerative Ag Alliance.
Allison Murphy, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Flourishing with Others: Aristotle on Friendship
Funder: National Endowment for Humanities (NEH)
Award date: 4/30/22
Award amount: $6,000
Project period: 7/1/22-8/31/22
During summer 2022 Prof. Murphy will research and write a journal article on Aristotle’s view of the role of friendship in the good human life as part of a larger project that challenges the dominant scholarly theory and offers a new appraisal of friendship within his larger ethical framework.
Dan Maxbauer, Assistant Professor of Geology
Evaluating potential of enhanced weathering for carbon dioxide removal in the Prairie Creek Wildlife Management Area
Funder: Northfield SHARES Engeseth-Rinde Restoration Fund
Award date: 5/13/22
Award amount: $8,640
Project period: 6/1/22-8/31/22
During 2022, Prof. Maxbauer’s project will include soil sampling, analysis, and monitoring of CO2 flux in hopes of developing carbon offset markets that may benefit land-owners transitioning agricultural land back to more native environments. This work builds on a recent soil survey conducted at the site as part of a Geology Comps project and will add another dataset for the site to be available for future class and Comps projects.
Seth Peabody, Assistant Professor of German
Seeking Shelter in a Dangerous World, Mellon Periclean Faculty Leader (PFL) in the Humanities
Funder: Project Pericles
Award date: 5/13/22
Award amount: $4,000
Project period: 5/15/22-6/30/23
Selection as a PFL will enable Prof. Peabody to teach a course during academic year 2022-23 where undergraduates will collaborate with civic partners. In partnership with Greater Northfield Sustainability Collaborative (GNSC), first-year students will gather input on environmental issues and a sense of “home” from diverse stakeholders in the community, and hone humanistic skills while tackling real-world problems. This Project Pericles initiative is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Eugene M. Lang Foundation.
Meredith McCoy, Assistant Professor of American Studies and History
Moving for the Next Generation: Recovering Indigenous Children’s Experiences Under Federal Relocation
Funder: American Philosophical Society (APS)
Award date: 5/23/22
Award amount: $3,000
Project period: 7/1/22-6/30/23
With this APS Phillips Fund for Native American Research support, Prof. McCoy will examine the formative period of the 1940s and 1950s when the number of Native families in cities rose significantly. The award supports Prof. McCoy’s research costs including compensating community partners who will form a local advisory board.
Amna Khalid, Associate Professor of History; Jeff Snyder, Associate Professor of Educational Studies
Anti-CRT Bills Come to Campus: Documenting and Analyzing Emerging Threats to Free Expression and Academic Freedom from State Legislatures
Funder: University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement
Award date: 5/23/22
Award amount: $25,000
Project period: 7/1/22-6/30/23
Named to the 2022-2023 Class of Fellows of the UC Free Speech Center, Prof. Khalid and Prof. Snyder will examine anti-CRT bills targeting higher education and track how the bills are being implemented and challenged on campuses in different states. They will create a resource guide for campus stakeholders to better understand the impact of these bills on free expression and academic freedom and will produce a set of podcast episodes to explain the significance of these bills to a broader audience.
Helen Minsky, Assistant Professor of Physics
Flaw tolerance in adhesive elastomers
Funder: American Chemical Society
Award date: 6/14/22
Award amount: $55,000
Project period: 9/1/22-8/30/24
An Undergraduate New Investigator (UNI) award supports Prof. Minsky’s systematic study, conducted with undergraduate researchers, to predict adhesive strength of flawed samples to better understand the limits of certain models and form a basis upon which more complex systems can be studied.