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Nevada Researchers to Receive $2.1 Million NASA Grant
August 3, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Suzanne Ernst
(702) 889-8426
Lisa Zumpft, EPSCoR
(702) 895-0590
Dr. James V. Taranik, NASA EPSCoR
(775) 784-4258
Nevada Researchers to Receive $2.1 Million NASA Grant
LAS VEGAS -- Researchers in the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN) recently received a $2.1 million grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to bolster Nevada's competitiveness in aerospace science and technology research.
Over the next three years, the UCCSN will receive $700,000 annually to fund its Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) 2000 program. Nevada's proposal was selected from among 35 proposals from 19 qualified EPSCoR states.
"Nevada was one of only four states to receive the full limit of funding under this grant," said Dr. James Taranik, a Regents Professor at UNR and the principal investigator for the UCCSN's NASA EPSCoR program. "This grant will help move Nevada to the forefront of aerospace research on NASA projects. Obviously, we're very pleased with this incredible opportunity."
Nevada's proposal was submitted through the Nevada NASA Space Grant College and Fellowship program. This program is designed to help improve opportunities for science, mathematics, engineering and technology education within the UCCSN's eight institutions.
"For the first time in the history of NASA EPSCoR, we are making awards to proposals whose research directly supports NASA's research needs," said Frank Owens, director of NASA's education division. "These awards will continue to contribute to the academic research efforts of the universities and to the state's priorities, while also directly contributing to NASA's mission."
Under the NASA EPSCoR 2000 program, Nevada proposed to build research infrastructure in three research areas: astrobiology, computer vision technologies and environmental change in mountainous areas.
Leading the effort is Taranik, who is not only the state program's principal investigator, but also serves as Nevada's director of the NASA Space Grant Consortium.
Dr. Chris Fritsen of the Desert Research Institute will lead the astrobiology effort and his team of scientists includes faculty from the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Western Nevada Community College. The astrobiology program will be conducted with NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California and NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Dr. George Bebis of UNR's College of Engineering will lead the effort in Computer Vision Technologies for Efficient and Effective Human-Computer interaction in Virtual Environments and his team of scientists will also include faculty from the Department of Computer Science at UNR and from the Department of Computer Science at UNLV. The virtual environments program will be conducted with NASA's Center for Bioinformatics and the Research Institute for Advance Computer Sciences located at NASA's Ames Research Center.
Dr. William Stockwell of DRI, along with UNR faculty, will lead the effort in modeling the effect of mountainous terrain on stratospheric/tropospheric exchange, atmospheric chemistry and deposition, and water quality. The atmospheric and water quality research program will be conducted with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Research Laboratory, National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma.
Continuing funding is expected from NASA for two additional years. The total for this effort will provide Nevada with $2.1 million. The state and the UCCSN will match these funds dollar for dollar to strengthen the project at a value of $4.2 million.
The Nevada Board of Regents is the elected, 11-member governing body for the University and Community College System of Nevada. Comprising two doctoral granting universities, a state college, four comprehensive community colleges and one internationally acclaimed research institute, the UCCSN serves the educational and job training needs of the nation's fastest growing state. As Nevada's only system of higher education, the UCCSN provides educational opportunities to more than 100,000 students.
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