PULLMAN — Eight Washington State University faculty members will share $150,000 awarded through the 2005 WSU Foundation New Faculty Seed Grant Program awards.
The main objective of the program, funded through the WSU Foundation and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, is to help new faculty members launch their research careers. This funding makes it possible for a promising project to make progress, so that when the faculty member applies for major funding from a federal or state agency or private foundation, he or she can be successful.
“As the state’s land-grant, research university, WSU needs to have its faculty involved in cutting-edge scholarly activities,” said James Petersen, WSU vice provost for research. “The New Faculty Seed Grant Program, which is designed to help new faculty initiate their scholarly careers, is an important part of that process. I am proud of the quality of the projects selected for funding and anticipate that this program will help ensure that our students are educated by world-class scholars.”
Faculty members who received awards and their research areas include:
* Marc Beutel, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, “Effects of Plant Type on Removal of Chlorpyrifos and Diazinon in Natural Treatment Systems”
* Matthew Cohen, School of Architecture and Construction Management, “Architectural Proportional Systems in Medieval and Renaissance Florence”
* Melissa Goodman-Elgar, Department of Anthropology, “Cajamarca: People and Landscapes at the Crossroads of Peruvian Prehistory”
* Heidi A. Hamann, Department of Psychology, “The Impact of Genetic Causal Information on Perceptions of Lung Cancer”
* Zhihua Jiang, Department of Animal Sciences, “Development of a Sheep Model for Mapping the Genetic Complexity of Cryptorchidism”
* Naidu A. Rayapati, Department of Plant Pathology, Prosser, “The Development of a Reverse Genetic System for Elucidation of the Etiology of Grapvine Leafroll Disease”
* John M. Ruiz, Department of Psychology, “Personality, Social Vigilance, and Inflammation Markers for Cardiovascular Disease Risk: The SHAPE Study”
* Jessie Trujillo, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, “Oral Dosing of Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis (CAEV) in Neonatal Goats”
The Research and Arts Committee, which reviewed the submissions, received 48 funding proposals. Peer faculty and the WSU Foundation assisted in the review.
George Mount, chair of the Faculty Senate Research and Arts Committee, said, “The program helps ensure that WSU’s new faculty will grow to become outstanding scholars who lead their disciplines, ensuring WSU’s bright future.”
Len Jessup, vice president for university development and president of the WSU Foundation, said, “The foundation is committed to assisting the university’s most promising young scholars in developing their careers through the New Faculty Seed Grant Program. One of the many benefits of this program is that the WSU Foundation is able to showcase the exceptional quality of our faculty and their research to potential donors and others externally. It’s a true win-win for WSU.”
