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IU Bloomington awards Graduate Student Sustainability Research Development Grants

• May 20, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Office of Sustainability has announced the recipients of the Graduate Student Sustainability Research Development Grants for the 2014-15 academic year. Nine graduate students received awards between $1,000 and $7,000 to support innovative, high-quality research on sustainability.

The grant program, jointly sponsored by the University Graduate School, the School of Public Health-Bloomington, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, the Integrated Program in the Environment, the Office of Sustainability, the Graduate Professional Student Organization, and the Consortium for the Study of Religion, Ethics and Society, provides opportunities for graduate students to pursue research related to sustainability.

"Sustainability is a grand challenge that requires integration among multiple disciplines, as demonstrated by the joint support from these diverse sponsors and the wide range of research proposals submitted," Director of Sustainability Bill Brown said. "This seed funding will open up new doors for graduate student research as Indiana University seeks to become an international leader in sustainability research, curriculum and campus operations."

The Graduate Student Sustainability Research Development Grant program is an outgrowth of a pilot initiative developed by then IU Task Force on Sustainability and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs during the 2008-09 the academic year. After recognizing a need for graduate student research funding, the Office of Sustainability shifted the program focus from faculty-student teams to graduate teams or individuals in 2013.

"This grant program offers a unique opportunity for IU's graduate students to develop innovative research programs that address fundamental issues of human-environment interaction," said Michael Hamburger, professor of geological sciences and co-chair of the Campus Sustainability Advisory Board. "This unusual collaboration between the Office of Sustainability and seven academic units has helped catalyze new, interdisciplinary research efforts on the IU Bloomington campus that might not otherwise be possible."

The 2014-15 academic year recipients reflect wide interest in sustainability research across campus, from the School of Public Health to the Department of Geological Sciences to the Department of Communication and Culture. This year’s recipients include:

• Alex Badillo (Department of Anthropology): “Anthropological Investigation of Sustainable Practices on the Zapotec Frontier”
• Erica Bramlet (School of Public and Environmental Affairs): “The Dynamics of Development Pressures and Sustainability in Lake Hovsgol National Park, Mongolia”
• Madeline Chera (Department of Anthropology): “Local Foods for All in South India? Neglected or Underutilized Species (NUS) Promotion and Divergent Food Cultures”
• Kathleen de Onis (Department of Communication and Culture): “The Next Experiment: Liquefied Natural Gas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Mainland”
• Kaeleigh Herstad (Department of Anthropology): “Deconstructing Detroit: An Ethnographic Investigation of Blight Management in the Motor City”
• Eric Knackmuhs (Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies): “Implications of Herd Reduction on Humans and the Forest”
• Sanchayan Nath (School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Department of Political Science): “Leadership & Governance: Sustainable Urban Water-Bodies in India”
• Kelsey Poinsatte-Jones (School of Public and Environmental Affairs): “Mapping Mental Models of Water Supply”
• Qian Zhang (Department of Geological Sciences): “Laboratory and Modeling Studies of Weathering of Coal Combustion Products Used in Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation”

For more information about the grant program, details on how to apply and a look at past recipients, visit the Graduate Student Sustainability Research Development Grant Web page.

Related Links

• IU Bloomington Office of Sustainability