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CINSAM Annual
Report 2001-2002 |
Programs of Distinction
Institution: Northern
Program: Center for Integrative Natural Science and Mathematics
(CINSAM)
Fiscal Year 2001-02
Due Date:
Program description
The Center for Integrative Natural Science and Mathematics (CINSAM) is not a degree-granting program, but rather a program that coordinates activities in research, teaching and outreach across the NKU College of Arts and Sciences’ Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Mathematics & Computer Science, Physics & Geology, and the NKU College of Education.
Established
by
It prepares outstanding
future teachers by promoting integrative science courses and by providing
opportunities for collaboration among education, science, and mathematics
faculty and their students.
CINSAM is involved with
area science and mathematics alliances and provides workshops and courses
led by NKU faculty for elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers as
well as on-campus learning experiences and programs for their students.
CINSAM
scholarships, a broad range of integrative science courses, externships in
business and industry, and research opportunities
help develop students capable of handling complex interdisciplinary problems
in school, in the workforce, and in their own lives.
The
public gains an improved understanding of science and mathematics through
CINSAM-sponsored symposia, guest speakers, faculty lectures, tours, and other
presentations.
CINSAM’s
unique mission is advanced across disciplines; among students, teachers, and
the private and public sectors; and around teaching, learning, and creative
thinking.
The work of CINSAM is carried out by the CINSAM staff along with many faculty members from the departments listed above. The FY 2001 staff of CINSAM consisted of the following:
Full-time: Phil Schmidt – Director; Karen M. Ware - Program Manager; Betty Stephens - Outreach Coordinator; Charles Bowen - Computer Technical Specialist for Sciences; Lee Weiner - Computer Technical Specialist for Computer Science; Megan Klaas - Biology Lab technician.
Part-time: Rebecca Thompson - Secretary for CINSAM; Patricia Ponte - Secretary for Chemistry; Patti Bray – Biological Sciences Secretary.
The CINSAM-related departments had the following numbers of full-time faculty during FY 2001 (Those mentioned by name have positions funded by CINSAM):
Biological Sciences: 18 full-time, including Thomas Sproat and Richard Durtsche;
Chemistry: 12 full-time;
Mathematics & Computer Science: 22 full-time including Andrew Long and James Hauser;
Physics & Geology: 12 full-time including John Rockaway (Director of Geology);
The following recently hired faculty members were supported through CINSAM with startup funds during 2001:
Biological Sciences: Charles Acosta, Richard Durtsche, Thomas Sproat
Chemistry: Enders Dickinson, K C Russell
Physics & Geology: Tammie Gerke, Sharmanthie Fernanado, Scott Nutter
The following faculty members were involved in collaborative research, outreach, and teaching during FY 2001: Anjana Arora, Mark Bardgett, Bradley Bielski, Enders Dickinson, Richard Durtsche, Lynn Ebersole, Sharmanthie Fernanado, Richard Fox, Charles Frank, Tammie Gerke, Larry Giesmann, Jon Hastings, Vernon Hicks, Miriam Kannan, Robert Kempton, Kevin Kirby, Don Krug, Vinay Kumar, Andrew Long, James Luken, Gail Mackin, Maggie McGatha, Diana McGill, Raymond McNeil, Yvonne Meichtry, Gary Newell, James Niewahner, Scott Nutter, Tom Rambo, Raymond Richmond, Denice Robertson, John Rockaway, KC Russell, Phillip Schmidt, Patrick Schultheis, Linda Sheffield, Betty Stephens, Rajeev Swami, Judy Westrick, Steve Wilkinson. Many of these were involved in multiple activities.
The programs in the CINSAM related departments had the following numbers of majors as of fall 2001:
Biological Sciences – 357 undergraduates
Chemistry – 84 undergraduates
Mathematics & CS – 367 undergraduates, 21 graduate students in the MSCS program
Physics &Geology – 85 undergraduates
The numbers of BS graduates in the sciences and mathematics during FY 2001 were
Biological Sciences – 38; Chemistry – 10; Mathematics & Computer Science – 39; Physics & Geology – 7.
The program developed its multidisciplinary focus in teaching, research, and outreach. Teaching activities included an increase in the number of students taught in the Integrated Science course, the introduction of a new Integrated Science course at the graduate level, and work on the development of an interdisciplinary course in mathematical biology.
Enrollments in the two integrated science courses at the undergraduate level increased from 68 (in five sections) in 2000 to 105 (in eight sections) in 2001. In addition to reaching more students and a more diverse student audience, we succeeded in attracting several new faculty to teach the course. This was primarily the result of a summer workshop that attracted 16 faculty members representing most of the CINSAM-related departments.
Dr. Jon Hastings developed a graduate level Integrated Science course during 2001, to be offered in summer 2002. This course was attended by 15 graduate students preparing for a master’s degree in teaching and was very well received.
Drs. Phil Schmidt and Denice Robertson worked during summer 2002 to prepare a course in mathematical biology appropriate for a joint class of undergraduate biology and mathematics majors. This course will first be offered in fall 2003.
CINSAM also worked with faculty from Mathematics & Computer Science, Chemistry, and Physics & Geology to obtain a grant in the University’s technology competition to support the introduction and use of Mathematica in courses from all three departments. Faculty have begun to use this software in their classes and report that it has greatly enhanced students’ abilities to tackle complex problems in science.
CINSAM has coordinated and supported the activity of faculty and their students on projects as diverse as
• “Identification of Novel Genes Involved in Magnesium Homeostasis by DNA Microarray Analysis”
• “Optimizing Drinking Water Treatment using Neural Networks”
• “Optimal Foraging: Models and Field Study of Habitat Choice and Diet Selection”
• “Charged Black Holes in Einstein-Yang-Mills-Dilaton Gravity with a Cosmological Constant”
• “The Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of a Series of Novel Folic Acid Analogues”
• “Interdisciplinary
Undergraduate Research on the
• “A Collaborative Study of Magnesium Deficiency on Brain Seratonin Levels and Patterns of Behavior of Mice”
• “Development of the
Each of these projects involved faculty members and undergraduate students from among the disciplines of biology, mathematics, computer science, physics, geology, and/or chemistry. As can be seen from this list, CINSAM supports research that is collaborative and that involves work in the lab and the field as well as modeling and analysis.
The Center has submitted a number of grant proposals and has received funding of two of them:
· A proposal entitled “Enhancements to Integrated Science Courses” was submitted to the NSF CCLI program in June 2001. This project was not funded.
·
In October 2001, we submitted a collaborative proposal to the NIH as a subcontractor
to the
·
In January 2002 we learned of a federal earmark for the joint project “
· In April 2002 we submitted a proposal to the NSF-MPS program for a project entitled “Proficiency and Beyond for All Middle Grades Mathematics and Science Students and Teachers.” This project was unfunded, but the reviews were such that we plan to resubmit an improved proposal for the next round of funding.
Grants submitted by CINSAM-related
faculty:
R21 Exploratory and Developmental Research Grant
By Dr. Mark Bardgett, NKU Department of Psychology,
Principal Investigator
Submitted to National Institute of Health
Submitted October 1, 2002 PENDING
2003
- 2005 $175,000
“Instrumental Training: Techniques of Ion Trap GC/MS”
Development
By Dr. Enders Dickinson V, NKU Department of Chemistry, Director
Submitted to
“Interactive Web-based Laboratory Preparation and Concept Reinforcement – AIM: Analytical Interactive Modules” [aka voila!: visualization of interactive laboratory activities]
Course Development Grant from
By Dr. Enders Dickinson V, NKU Department of Chemistry,
Director
Submitted to
Spring 2002 $2,022
By Dr. Sharmanthie
Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, Principal
Investigator
Submitted to
2000-2001 $ 12,000
“Activity Based
Learning in Introductory Physics Courses”
By Dr. Sharmanthie Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, director
Submitted to: Office of Information Technology, NKU
January to May 2002: $2,450
“Introducing
studio format to Introductory Physics Courses”
NKU Course Development
Grant
By Dr. Sharmanthie
Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, director
Submitted to
Summer 2002 $1,725.00
“Supergravity in low dimensions”
By Dr. Sharmanthie Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, Principal
Investigator
Submitted to National Science Foundation
Summer 2002 $18,000
By Dr. Gina M. Foletta,
Submitted to
while presenting at NCTM/IPSSM
project
$1000
“River Algal Monitoring Services”
By Dr. Miriam Steinitz-Kannan,
NKU Department of Biological Sciences.
The “Northern
receives
contracts from ORSANCO and other locations. Payment/sample go to pay
Robin Root’s salary
and lab supplies and some undergraduate hourly work.
“Developing and evaluating
a standard method for identification and enumeration of potentially toxic
cyanobacteria”
By Dr. Miriam Steinitz-Kannan, NKU Department of Biological Sciences
and Dr.
Judy Westrick
2001-2003
by Mark Leopold, ERMC, Principal Investigator
Submitted to
2002 $10,000
“Summer Experience for At-Risk
Young Scientists”
by Andrew Long. Mathematics and Computer Science, director
Submitted to Coca-Cola
November 2001; not funded.
By Dr. Yvonne Meichtry, NKU
Funded by
March 2002-November 2003 $41,000
By Dr. Yvonne Meichtry, NKU
Funded by Environmental Protection
Agency through
Eisenhower Grant
By Dr. Yvonne Meichtry, NKU
Funded by
January 2002-September 2003 $57,005
“Kentucky Institute for Middle School Teachers: Water Quality Education for Middle School Science Teachers”
By Dr. Yvonne Meichtry, NKU
Funded by
January, 2001 - August, 2001 $6,000.00
By Dr. Yvonne Meichtry, NKU
Instructional Model Development
Funded by
January 2001-June 2001 $5,000
Submitted to
By Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, director
Submitted
Funded effective
Submitted to National Institutes of Health.
By Dr. Raymond E. Richmond
and Dr. Patrick Schultheis, NKU Department of
Biological Sciences, Dr. Diana McGill, NKU Department of Chemistry, and
Submitted
September 2002-August 2005 $129,000.
“Magnesium Deficiency: A Differential
Gene Expression Study”
Submitted to CUR Summer Research Fellowship
By Dr. Raymond E. Richmond
and Dr, Patrick Schultheis, NKU Department of
Biological Sciences, Dr. Diana McGill, NKU Department of Chemistry, and
Dr. Mark Bardgett, NKU Department of Psychology
Submitted January 2001, awarded April 2001. (submitted by P. Schultheis)
$4000.
Submitted to NIH-Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network
Research Grant
By Dr. Raymond E. Richmond
and Dr, Patrick Schultheis, NKU Department of
Biological Sciences, Dr. Diana McGill, NKU Department of Chemistry, and
Dr. Mark Bardgett, NKU Department of Psychology
(Submitted by M. Bardgett)
Funded: October 2002 thru September 2004 $95,443.
Submitted to National Science Foundation
By Dr. Linda Sheffield,
Submitted April, 2002
Not funded.
“Coordinating Number and Computation Concepts across Grades Four through Nine”
Eisenhower Grant
By Dr. Linda Sheffield and Dr. Maggie McGatha,
Co-directors
Funded by the
2002 – 2003 ($59,997)
Submitted to
by Dr.
Linda Sheffield and Dr. Valeria Amburgey,
Co-principal Investigators
2000 - 2003, $1,118,060.00 (USDoE contribution only)
“Coordinating Probability and Statistics Concepts across Grades Four through Nine”
Eisenhower Grant
By Dr. Linda
Sheffield and Dr. Valeria Amburgey,
Co-directors
Funded by the
2000 – 2001 $57,240
By Dr. Linda Sheffield
and Dr. Valeria Amburgey,
Co-principal Investigators
Submitted to
1999 – 2001
By Dr. Thomas
Sproat, NKU Department of Biological Sciences. Director
Spring, $4,004
Grants submitted by CINSAM-related
students:
“The Effect of Shoot Tip Age on Survival Rates of Cryopreserved Lobelia cardinalis”
Submitted by Angela Thomas (Dr. Larry Giesmann, NKU Department of Biological Sciences, mentor).
Funded by NKU Greaves Summer Fellowship program.
Summer/fall 2002. $,2500 (match of $500 from Department of Biological Sciences)
“Cryopreservation of seeds and tissues
from two threatened species: Aconitum uncinatum
and Echinodorus berteroi”
Submitted by Becky Thompson (Dr. Larry Giesmann, NKU Department of Biological Sciences, mentor).
Funded by
March 2001-March 2002. $1,533.95
(includes a $200 match from NKU Department of Biological Sciences).
Titles of conference papers and articles accepted for
publication:
PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Mark E. Bardgett, NKU Department of Psychology,
M. G. Griffith, J. A. Hopkins, R. F. Foltz, and C. M. Massie,
“Clozapine Reverses Delayed Spatial Alternation
Deficits In Rats With Hippocampal Lesions.”
Neuroreport.
(in preparation)
Dr. Sharmanthie Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, and F. Mansouri, “Twisted Kac-Moody Algebras and the Entropy of the AdS_3 Black Hole, S. hep-th/0010153.” Physics Letter B505 (2001), 206-214).
Dr. Sharmanthie Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, “Rotating Dilation Solutions in 2+1 Dimensions.” General Relativity and Gravitation, Vol 34 (2002) 461-469.
Dr. Sharmanthie Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, and Sean Roberts Gravitational lensing by charged black holes, General Relativity and Gravitation – Vol 34 (2002) 1221-1237.
Dr. Sharmanthie Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, “New Dilation Solutions in 2+1 Dimensions and Solutions with Cylindrical Symmetry in 3+1 Dimensions,” S. Fernando, (pre-print).
Dr. Sharmanthie Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, Sean Roberts and Holly Bolick , “Mechanical Model for a Black Hole” (pre-print).
Dr. Sharmanthie
Fernando, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, Dr. Don Krug, NKU Department
of Mathematics and Computer Science, and Chris Curry, “Geodesics
in Static
Charged Black Holes in 2+1 dimensions (In preparation to submit to General
Relativity and Gravitation).
Dr. Larry Giesmann, NKU Department
of Biological Sciences, and Barry Dalton, NKU Environmental
Resources Management Center, “Status of the plant germplasm
cryopreservation project at
Dr. Miriam Steinitz-Kannan, NKU
Department of Biological
Sciences, Identification
of Algae in Water Supplies. CD. Published by American Water Works
Association, Denver, CO. CD ROM 2001
Dr. Miriam Steinitz-Kannan, NKU Department of Biological Sciences, Dr. Judy Westrick, Dr. Kevin
Kirby NKU Department
of Biological Sciences, “Optimizing
Drinking Water Treatment Using Neural Networks: Proceedings: Water Quality
and Technology Conference, Nov. 11-15, 2001,
Mark Leopold,
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, E. S. Seo, H. S. Ahn, S. Beach, J.J. Beatty, S. Coutu, M.A. DuVernois, O. Ganel, Y. J. Han, H. J. Kim, S. K. Kim, M. H. Lee, L. Lutz, , S. Swordy, and J.Z. Wang, “Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM) Balloon Experiment,” Advances in Space Research, 30(5), 1263-1272, 2002.
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, A.S. Beach, J.J. Beatty, A. Bhattacharyya, C. Bower, S. Coutu, M.A. DuVernois, A.W. Labrador, S. McKee, S.A. Minnick, D. Muller, J. Musser, M. Schubnell, S. Swordy, G. Tarle, and A. Tomasch, “Measurement of the cosmic ray antiproton to proton abundance ratio between 4 and 50 GeV,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 87 271101 (2001).
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, S.W. Barwick, J.J. Beatty, A. Bhattacharyya, C.R. Bower, C.J. Chaput, S. Coutu, G.A. de Nolfo, M.A. DuVernois, D. M. Lowder, S. McKee, D. Muller, J.A. Musser, E. Schneider, S.P. Swordy, G. Tarle, A.D. Tomasch and E. Torbet, “Cosmic ray electrons and positrons from 1-100 GeV: measurements with HEAT and their interpretation,” () Astrophysical Journal. 559, 296-303 (2001).
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, J. Musser, A. S. Beach, J. J. Beatty, A. Bhattacharyya, C. Bower, S. Coutu, M. A. DuVernois, A. Labrador, S. P. McKee, S. A. Minnick, D. Muller, M. Schubnell, S. Swordy, G. Tarle, and A. Tomasch, “The cosmic-ray antiproton to proton ratio from 4.5 to 50 GV,” Proceedings of the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference OG.1.01, Hamburg, August 2001.
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, S. Coutu, A. S. Beach, J. J. Beatty, A. Bhattacharyya, C. R. Bower, M. A. DuVernois, A. W. Labrador, S. P. McKee, S. A. Minnick, D. Muller, J. A. Musser, M. Schubnell, S. P. Swordy, G. Tarle, and A. D. Tomasch, “Positron measurements with the HEAT-pbar instrument,” Proceedings of the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference OG.1.01, Hamburg, August 2001.
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, A. S. Beach, J. J. Beatty, A. Bhattacharyya, C. R. Bower, S. Coutu, M. A. DuVernois, A. W. Labrador, S. P. McKee, S. A. Minnick, D. Muller, J. A. Musser, M. Schubnell, S. P. Swordy, G. Tarle, and A. D. Tomasch, “Detection of cosmic-ray antiprotons with the HEAT-pbar instrument,” Proceedings of the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference OG.1.01, Hamburg, August 2001.
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, M. A. DuVernois, A. S. Beach, J. J. Beatty, A. Bhattacharyya, C. Bower, S. Coutu, A. W. Labrador, S. P. McKee, S. Minnick, D. Muller, J. Musser, M. Schubnell, S. Swordy, G. Tarle, and A. Tomasch, “Splash and reentrant albedo observations of electrons and positrons at a 4.2 GV vertical magnetic cutoff,” Proceedings of the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference SH.3.06, Hamburg, August 2001.
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, M. A. DuVernois, J. J. Beatty, C. Bower, S. Coutu, S. P. McKee, D. Muller, J. Musser, S. Swordy, G. Tarle, and A. Tomasch, “Absolute rigidity spectra of protons and helium from 16 to 250 GV,” Proceedings of the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference OG.1.01, Hamburg, August 2001.
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, Y. J. Han1, H. S. Ahn, O. Ganel1, K. C. Kim, M. H. Lee, E. S. Seo, J. Z.Wang, J.Wu, H. J. Kim, S. K. Kim, I. H. Park, S. Beach, J. J. Beatty, S. Coutu, S. Minnick, M. A. Duvernois, and S. Swordy, “Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM): Study of backscatter effect,” Proceedings of the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference OG.1.05, Hamburg, August 2001.
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, H. S. Ahn, S. Beach, J. J. Beatty, S. Coutu, M. A. DuVernois, O. Ganel, Y. J. Han, H. J. Kim, K. C. Kim, S. K. Kim, M. H. Lee, S. Minnick, I. H. Park, E. S. Seo, S. Swordy, J. Z. Wang, and J. Wu, “Cosmic ray energetics and mass: Expected performance,” Proceedings of the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference OG.1.05, Hamburg, August 2001.
Dr. Scott Nutter, NKU Department of Physics and Geology, O. Ganel, E. S. Seo, H. S. Ahn, R. Alford, S. Beach, J. J. Beatty, M.J. Choi, S. Coutu, M. A. Duvernois, Y. J. Han, H. J. Kim, K. C. Kim, S. K. Kim, M. H. Lee, L. Lutz, S. A. Minnick, I. H. Park, S. Swordy, J.Z. Wang, H. S. Won, and J. Wu, “Cosmic ray energetics and mass: configuration and progress on construction and testing,” Proceedings of the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference OG.1.05, Hamburg, August 2001.
Dr. Linda Sheffield,
Dr.
Valeria Amburgey, NKU College of Education, demonstrated gave
talks on the WebQuest project workshop at the School
Science and Mathematics Association Annual Conference in
Dr. Mark E. Bardgett, NKU Department of
Psychology
and M. S. Griffith, “Clozapine improves spatial
memory deficits produced by hippocampal damage in
rats,” International
Congress On Schizophrenia Research.