Kansas State University

Office of Research Development announces spring Faculty Development Awards and University Small Research Grants

Submitted by Kate Kennedy

Please join the Office of Research Development in congratulating the faculty members who have received spring 2024 Faculty Development Awards and University Small Research Grants.

Eleven Faculty Development Award proposals were awarded funds totaling $33,149.

The spring 2024 Faculty Development Awards awardees are:

• Kevin Bernstein, art, "Wings and Flutters, The CICA Museum, International Solo Exhibition South Korea," $3,500.
• Marcellus Caldas, geography and geospatial sciences, "5th Open Science Meeting "Pathways to Sustainable and Just Land Systems" Global Land Program. Title: The Effects of Wildfires on Farmer's Conservation Land Management Decisions in the Southern Great Plains. Dates: Nov. 4 to 8, 2024. Location: Oaxaca, Mexico," $3,216.
• David Defries, history, "International Medieval Congress, Globalism and Early Medieval Flanders: A Round Table Discussion, 3 July 2024, Leeds, UK," $3,575.
• Maria DePaoli, modern languages, "From the Realm of Fortune to Devil Between the Legs: the Importance of Colloquialism in Paz Alicia Garciadiego's Writing Process." "16th Annual Screenwriting Research Network International Conference. Conversation Beyond the Script. Sept. 11-14. Palacky University. Olomouc, Czech Republic," $2,575.
• Loretta Johnson, biology, "Attendance at International Botanical Congress, TalkTitle Perennial Grass Ecotypes Ecological and Genetic Response to Home and Away Microbial Inocula is Ecotype-specific, July 21-27, Madrid Spain," $1,746.
• Holly Loncarich, management, "Strategic Management Society Annual Meeting, Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 18-22," $2,500.
• Benjamin McCloskey, modern languages, "International Xenophon Society Triennial Conference; 'Xenophon's Personification of Nations; the Lessons of Cyrus' Empire.' Nov. 7-9, Buenos Aires, Argentina," $3,500.
• Alyssa Morris, music, theatre and dance, "World Premiere Performances at the 2024 International Double Reed Convention by Alyssa Morris: Oboist and Composer," $4,146.
• Philip Payne, music, theatre and dance, "36th ISME World Conference in Helsinki, Finland from July 28-Aug. 2," $3,500.
• Madhav Sharma, management, "KIN Summer School 2024 — Trusting and Working with Robots in healthcare: Design considerations for AI enabled robots in healthcare June 30-July 3, Amsterdam, Netherlands," $1,391.
• Shirley Tung, English, "Travel to Oxford, U.K. from Dec. 10, 2024, until Jan. 7, 2025, for three interrelated academic purposes," $3,500

Ten University Small Research Grant proposals will receive funds totaling $39,618.

The spring 2024 awardees are:

• Andie Faber, modern languages, "Analyzing Instructional Materials' Support of Equity and Autonomy in Intermediate Spanish classes in the Great Plains Region," $2,250.
• Julio Henandez Pavon, psychological sciences, "Investigating the Impact of TMS Parameters on Brain Connectivity," $4,500.
• Samuel Ladwig, interior architecture and industrial design, "Top-Stitch: Exploring the Intricacies of Sewing for Upholstery," $4,048.
• Allison Louthan, biology, "Bison Impacts on Plant Communities in a Changing Climate," $4,500.
• Nancy Morrow, art, "Nature Col/ab Seed Funding: Support for Collection Management System, Student Hourly Assistance, Display Cases, 30 Scanner Turntable, Microscope CMOS Camera with Reduction Lens, and Magnifying Lamp," $4,500.
• Craig Parker, music, theatre and dance, "Research at the UCLA Department of Special Collections on 'Igor Stravinsky at the Ojal Music Festival'," $3,602.
• Brian Peterson, horticulture and natural resources, "Backcountry Aircraft Tracking and Noise Impacts at Cimarron National Grassland," $4,500.
• David Pickering, music, theatre and dance, "Posture at the Organ: Gateway to Increased Musical Freedom," $4,048.
• David Rehfeld, applied human sciences, "Enhancing Communication Support for Children with Complex Communication Needs: A Collaborative Training Approach for Paraprofessionals," $4,151.
• Kathrin Schrick, biology, "Diurnal Transcriptional Networks Controlling Seed Oil Biosynthesis at Single-Cell Resolution," $4,500.

Faculty Development Awards and University Small Research Grants are awarded each fall and spring by the Office of the Vice President for Research through the Office of Research Development.

Faculty Development Awards support travel expenses to present research, scholarly or creative work, or a performance at an international meeting or to visit an external funder or sponsor. University Small Research Grants are seed grants to support small research projects, scholarly activity and other creative efforts. Both programs are meant to catalyze a faculty member's RSCAD career success. As such, new faculty and faculty from disciplines with minimal outside support are given priority for both awards, as are trips or projects that enhance awardees' abilities to compete for extramural funding. All proposals are peer-reviewed and discussed in a panel. Unsuccessful applicants are given feedback on how to improve their proposals.

The Faculty Development Award and University Small Research Grant reviewers were Mary Lou Marino, Office of Research Development; Ramasamy Sakthivel, Office of Research Development; Gina Becker, Office of Research Development; Philip Nel, English; Jacqueline Aenlle, media and communications; Nancy Muturi, media and communications; Derek Hillard, modern languages; Natalia Cernicchiaro, diagnostic medicine/pathobiology; Hugh Cassidy, economics; and Jessica Canfield, landscape architecture. The contributions of the reviewers are highly appreciated.