Union is among 14 colleges and universities that have been awarded a grant from the Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program.
Sponsored by the Merck Institute for Science Education (MISE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the awards provide up to $60,000, paid over three years, to support research stipends for undergraduate students and programs that encourage research collaborations between biology and chemistry departments.
“The most exciting advances in science are occurring at the intersection of traditional disciplines spawning new fields of study,” said Joanne Kehlbeck, assistant professor of Chemistry. “This award will promote increased collaboration in the areas of chemical ecology, environmental science, enzymatic physiology and chemical biology, in addition to the more traditional cross-disciplinary projects in biochemistry.”
The proposed projects involve an ecosystem ecologist (Assistant Professor Jeff Corbin), a disease ecologist (Assistant Professor Kathleen LoGiudice), a physiologist (Assistant Professor Scott Kirkton), a cell biologist (Associate Professor Barbara Danowski) and a geneticist (Associate Professor Steve Horton) in the biology department. They would work in collaboration with chemists with training in analytical chemistry (Assistant Professor Laura MacManus-Spencer), organic chemistry (Kehlbeck), physical chemistry (Visiting Associate Professor Sue Kohler) and biochemistry (Associate Professor Kristin Fox).
The Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program is a competitive program that provides up to 15 awards annually. Launched in 2000 as a national competition, the 10-year, $9 million initiative is funded by MISE and administered by AAAS.The program is open to institutions in the United States and Puerto Rico that offer an American Chemical Society-approved program in chemistry and confer 10 or fewer graduate degrees annually in biology and chemistry combined.
In addition to Union, winners include Boise State University, Claflin University, Colorado State University, Francis Marion University, Gustavus Adolphus College, Juniata College, Muhlenberg University, North Carolina A&T University, Northern Michigan University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Roger Williams University, University of the District of Columbia and University of Tulsa.
Established in 1993, MISE works to build capacity in the biomedical sciences through partnerships with education institutions. The AAAS, founded in 1848, is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org).