Current Projects
REU Site: Airborne Connections: From Emission Source to Impact to Solution
Abstract: Air contaminants affect human health and climate, and a disproportionate fraction of adverse impacts are felt in under-resourced communities. The “Airborne Connections” Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site at Colorado State University provides summer training to address a hazard that affects all Americans and particularly disadvantaged communities: the release of airborne contaminants from energy…
Award Amount: $407,212
PI: Tami Bond, Ph.D.
College/Institution: Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Start Date: 04/01/2022
End Date: 03/31/2025
Source of Funding: NSF
CAREER: The Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the C. Elegans Intestinal Gene Regulatory Network
Abstract: Gene regulatory networks direct development, cell identity, and homeostasis. How some gene regulatory networks change from directing organ development in embryonic stages to supporting organ functions in juvenile and adult stages has not been sufficiently explored. Furthermore, the microbiome’s influence on the biology of organ systems is just beginning to be appreciated. This project…
Award Amount: $542,888.00
PI: Erin Nishimura
College/Institution: College of Natural Sciences
Start Date: 03/01/2022
End Date: 02/28/2027
Source of Funding: NSF
CAREER: The role of seasonal migration in avian diversification
Abstract: The goal of this project is to explore the role of natural selection on the wintering grounds of seasonal migratory birds in maintaining or opposing adaptive divergence. The project takes advantage of the wealth of information available for one of the most widely studied groups of animals. Additionally, the work will provide important information…
Award Amount: 1114243
PI: Kristen Ruegg, Ph.D.
College/Institution: College of Natural Sciences
Start Date: 07/01/2020
End Date: 06/30/2025
Source of Funding: NSF
Collaborative Research: GP-UP: Developing STEM Identity by Engaging URM Undergraduate Students in Research on Air Pollution in Chicago Communities
Abstract: The geoscience learning community will help students from historically excluded communities build their STEM identity through authentic research experience, mentoring, and introduction to geosciences careers. Students will learn about air pollution, gain experience with instrumentation, practice computer programing and data analysis, and communicate scientific results by participating in real research with prosocial impact. This…
Award Amount: 141394
PI: Emily Fischer
College/Institution: Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Start Date: 08/01/2021
End Date: 07/31/2024
Source of Funding: NSF
CAREER: The success of viral endosymbionts within and between host populations
Abstract: This project has three main goals. First, it seeks to better understand how viruses shape the biology and evolution of their hosts beyond the typical view that viruses are entities that make their hosts acutely sick. New evidence has revealed that viruses are just as ubiquitous in all living organisms as are the bacteria…
Award Amount: $894,808.00
PI: Mark Stenglein, Ph.D.
College/Institution: College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Start Date: 05/01/2021
End Date: 04/30/2026
Source of Funding: NSF
ADVANCE Adaptation: CSU STEPS for Gender Equity: Advancing Structures through Evidence-based Practices for Gender Equity
Abstract: Colorado State University will tackle the significant nation-wide problem of inequity among faculty members in Science, Technology, Math and Engineering (STEM) disciplines. Specifically, this project aims to improve equity in recruitment, retention and promotion, with a focus on gender equity that recognizes the other types of cultural, ethnic, physical, and economic backgrounds people have.…
Award Amount: 999,312.00
PI: Ruth Hufbauer
College/Institution: College of Agricultural Sciences
Start Date: 10/15/2021
End Date: 09/30/2024
Source of Funding: NSF
CSU Noyce Phase II: Empowering Scholars and STEM Teachers
Abstract: There is an established need for well-qualified teachers in high-need school districts, which are often located in rural or urban communities, and those with significant populations of English language learners. Over the five-year duration of the project, the Colorado State University (CSU) Noyce Phase 2 Scholarship Program will prepare 24 new secondary science, technology,…
Award Amount: $948,642
PI: Meena Balgopal
College/Institution: College of Natural Sciences
Start Date: 01/01/2016
End Date: 06/30/2022
Source of Funding: NSF
Dual-Degree Medical Scientists Training Program for Veterinarians
Abstract: This new Medical Scientist Training Program application from Colorado State University requests funds to support a DVM-PhD dual-degree program with a 15-year history of translational clinician-scientist training. The program currently recruits two students per year from a pool of approximately 40 applicants and has had a 100% retention rate. Nineteen trainees have graduated; 79%…
Award Amount: $1,631,735
PI: Sue VandeWoude
College/Institution: College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Start Date: 07/01/2020
End Date: 06/30/2025
Source of Funding: NIH
CAREER: Science and Education for Connecting Urban Irrigation Efficiency to Streamflow in Semi-Arid Cities
Semi-arid U.S. cities are growing rapidly in regions where water is scarce. A major challenge for environmental sustainability is to help semi-arid communities thrive by ensuring that cities, agriculture, and the environment are jointly water-secure. One successfully demonstrated option to meet growing water demands with the same water supply is reducing urban water use through…
Award Amount: $286,307
PI: Aditi Bhaskar
College/Institution: Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Start Date: 05/01/2021
End Date: 04/30/2026
Source of Funding: NSF
Rocky Mountain Summer Research Education Experience
The Rocky Mountain Summer Research Education Experience (RMSREE) Program will fill a critical need to increase the STEM knowledge and understanding of Denver area high school teachers, enhancing the STEM content in the K-12 educational agencies in which they teach and ultimately resulting in increased participation and better training of the biomedical sciences research workforce.…
Award Amount: $107,999
PI: Scott Reed
Start Date: 08/01/2020
End Date: 04/30/2025
Source of Funding: NIH
Cultivating Applied Technology Competencies among Diverse Undergraduate Populations: Development and Assessment of Course Materials and Teaching Strategies
The goal of this project is to increase students’ knowledge of how small business is critical to the US fiber, fabric, and related products (FFRP) industry’s global competitiveness. Approximately one-half of all FFRP manufacturing firms in the US are small businesses. It is therefore very likely that graduates with degrees in this area will go…
Award Amount: $466,052
PI: Nancy Hodges
College/Institution: College of Health and Human Sciences
Start Date: 04/01/2020
End Date: 03/31/2023
Source of Funding: USDA
DCL: GOLD-EN EAGER: Cultivating Socially Responsible Atmospheric Scientists through Education, Leadership, and Action (CURATE)
A challenge of note in STEM is that diversity, equity and inclusion is often siloed from many aspects of the scientific process and portions of the atmospheric science scientific community. New approaches and entry points at higher levels of engagement are needed to foster a diverse community of researchers, scholars, and practitioners in the geosciences.…
Award Amount: $150,892.00
PI: Melissa Burt
College/Institution: Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Start Date: 12/01/2020
End Date: 11/30/2022
Source of Funding: NSF
Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Earth System Science at Colorado State University
Fifty undergraduate students (10 per year for five years) will be recruited to participate in a 10-week summer residential research experience in Atmospheric Science Department at Colorado State University. The vision is that graduate students in Earth System Science will reflect the diversity of life experiences and demographic characteristics of the US population. The intended…
Award Amount: $675,000.00
PI: Melissa Burt
College/Institution: Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Start Date: 04/01/2021
End Date: 03/31/2025
Source of Funding: NSF
Enhancing Recruitment and Retention of Undergraduate Mathematics and Computer Science Scholars
This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need. The project will be led by Kutztown University, a mid-sized, regional, comprehensive public university in rural Pennsylvania. Over its five-year duration, the project will fund scholarships…
Award Amount: $999,758.00
PI: Brian Kronenthal
Start Date: 09/15/2020
End Date: 08/31/2025
Source of Funding: NSF
Supporting Teacher Scholars through Education and Professional Development in Place-Based Education
This project aims to serve the national need for high-quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers. Specifically, this project is designed to increase the number of highly effective STEM teachers in high-need K-12 school districts in Colorado. At least 80% of school districts in Colorado serve rural communities and have trouble recruiting and retaining…
Award Amount: $732,201.00
PI: Meena Balgopal
College/Institution: College of Natural Sciences
Start Date: 10/01/2020
End Date: 09/30/2025
Source of Funding: NSF
Collaborative Research: Promoting Geoscience Research, Education, Success, and Equity Through Mentoring
This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate geosciences education. It will do so by scaling up a successful mentoring program in the geosciences. Many of the most urgent challenges facing society are rooted in the geosciences, including issues related to energy, air quality, climate, water availability, food security, and natural disasters.…
Award Amount: $1,231,725.00
PI: Emily Fischer
College/Institution: Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Start Date: 10/01/2020
End Date: 09/30/2025
Source of Funding: NSF
CAREER: From the forest to the stream: Exploring forest land cover controls on dissolved organic matter character and aquatic ecosystem respiration in headwater streams
This project will determine the role of forest harvesting, and specifically clear cutting, in controlling carbon cycling and stream respiration in headwater streams. The results from this project will be used to develop predictive models that guide future research and inform management of forested headwater systems. This project answers the call to “focus on better…
Award Amount: $423,487.00
PI: Tim Covino
College/Institution: Warner College of Natural Resources
Start Date: 05/01/2020
End Date: 04/30/2025
Source of Funding: NSF
CAREER: Multicolor imaging of single mRNA translational heterogeneity in living cells
The goal of this project is to understand how translation of mRNA to protein is orchestrated at the single molecule level in living cells. Through the creation of open-source tools for fluorescence microscopy, long-standing models of gene regulation will be tested by direct visualization, to better understand and ultimately control protein synthesis in both natural…
Award Amount: 131,568
PI: Timothy Stasevich
College/Institution: College of Natural Sciences
Start Date: 07/01/2019
End Date: 06/30/2024
Source of Funding: NSF
Predoctoral Training in Quantitative Cell and Molecular Biology
The Quantitative Cell and Molecular Biology (qCMB) Training Program will provide comprehensive and flexible training in quantitative approaches in order to facilitate transdisciplinary and collaborative research in the broad field of Cell & Molecular Biology. The Program will produce outstanding graduates with the skills to meet the computational and professional demands of modern life science…
Award Amount: $159,031
PI: Carol Wilusz
College/Institution: College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Start Date: 07/01/2019
End Date: 06/20/2024
Source of Funding: NIH
CAREER: Towards a paradigm of molecular-level control of solid-state chemistry
This project will pursue innovative approaches to design and synthesize new materials; the discovery of inorganic solids with novel properties can bring solutions to various societal challenges. A paradigm of materials design would serve to transform the way in which we create and use novel materials. One could predict, and then create, an atomistic structure…
Award Amount: $588,519
PI: Jamie Neilson
College/Institution: College of Natural Sciences
Start Date: 07/01/2017
End Date: 06/30/2022
Source of Funding: NSF
Past Projects
Creating an Inclusive and Respectful Environment for Biomedical Research at Colorado State University
Award Amount: $63,744
Source of Funding: NIH
Start Date: 07/01/2020
End Date: 06/30/2021
RAPID: Collaborative Research: Increased access to infrastructure for distance education in hydrologic science
Award Amount: $20,552.00
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 05/15/2020
End Date: 04/30/2021
Developing the Environmental Literacy Concept Inventory
Award Amount: $299,955
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 10/01/2018
End Date: 09/30/2021
Math Skills and Affective Domain Interventions to Improve Success for Female Students in Geoscience Classes
Award Amount: $287,226
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 10/01/2018
End Date: 09/30/2021
The Challenge of Interdisciplinary Education: Math-Bio
Award Amount: $2,205,400
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 09/15/2010
End Date: 08/31/2015
Implementing Intensive Writing in Civil and Enviornmental Engingeering
Award Amount: $21,400
Source of Funding: CSU
Start Date: 08/01/2016
End Date: 07/31/2017
Conflict and Coevolution in a Plastid-Nuclear Enzyme Complex
Award Amount: $675,926
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 07/15/2017
End Date: 06/30/2021
Preparing the Next Generation of Cross Disciplinary Trained STEM Teachers
Award Amount: $592,634
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 09/01/2015
End Date: 08/31/2018
Improving the Recruitment and Persistence of Women in the Geosciences: Exploring Deliberate Mentoring Approaches Aimed at Undergraduate Students
Award Amount: $1,559,332
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 10/01/2014
End Date: 09/30/2019
Endocannabinoid Regulation of Bone Metabolism in Hibernating Marmots
Award Amount: $455,151
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 03/01/2016
End Date: 08/31/2018
The Cytonuclear Dimension of Allopolyploidy
Award Amount: $1,248,140
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 08/01/2018
End Date: 07/31/2021
Mathematical and Computational Methods for Planning a Sustainable Future
Award Amount: $123,564
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 06/01/2012
End Date: 05/31/2015
IRES Track II: Advanced Study Institute: Field Studies of Convection in Argentina
Award Amount: $154,378
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 08/01/2018
End Date: 07/31/2019
Center for Multi-scale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes
Award Amount: $37,505,835
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 07/01/2006
End Date: 06/30/2017
ADVANCE Partnership: From the Classroom to the Field: Improving the Workplace in the Geosciences
Award Amount: $741,804
Source of Funding: NSF
Start Date: 08/01/2017
End Date: 07/31/2021
