Difference between revisions of "Keck-phase-1-description"

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==6. Overview:==
 
==6. Overview:==
Provide an overview of this field and the need for this project.
+
There have been repeated calls for multidisciplinary collaborative education and research as well as the incorporation of computational methods within the curriculums of other science disciplines (PITAC 2005, “Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research”, BIO2010). Research and curriculum models that study the fate and transport of metals in the environment require a multidisciplinary approach with a significant emphasis on computational methodology. These studies involve computational methods, field methods, and instrumentation that are accessible to undergraduates and can be incorporated in student-faculty collaborative research as well as course modules across the curriculum. Therefore, this area is an ideal topic for training our students to develop multi-faceted approaches to problem solving.
 
 
The fundamental goal of this proposal is the development of
 
multidisciplinary curriculum modules and research projects that
 
incorporate computational methods to study an environmental problem of
 
local significance. There have been repeated calls for both
 
multidisciplinary collaborative education and research as well as the
 
incorporation of computational methods within the curriculums of other
 
science disciplines. In 2005, PITAC called for funding agencies and
 
educational institutions to “make coordinated fundamental changes to their
 
research and education structures to promote and reward collaborative
 
approaches essential to computational science." Both the “Facilitating
 
Interdisciplinary Research” and BIO2010 reports stress the need to have
 
interrelated science curricula and research. Research and curriculum
 
models that study the fate and transport of metals in the environment
 
require a multidisciplinary approach with a significant emphasis on
 
computational methodology. These studies involve field methods,
 
instrumentation and computational methods that are accessible to
 
undergraduates and can be incorporated both in student-faculty
 
collaborative research as well as course modules across the curriculum.
 
Therefore, this area is an ideal topic for training our students to
 
develop multi-faceted approaches to problem solving.
 
  
 
==7. Relevant Efforts:==
 
==7. Relevant Efforts:==
Describe past and current efforts at your institution that are relevant
+
Earlham science faculty have been involved in multidisciplinary and computational student/faculty research. Additionally many of our science faculty have worked with local environmental issues. Faculty members in biology, geology and chemistry have been engaged in studies that range from atmospheric measurements of mercury and the determination of metal contamination in lake sediments to aquatic ecosystems. Our science curriculum places a strong emphasis on quantitative, analytical and research-based projects. Many of our research projects engage student/faculty teams in multidisciplinary efforts; e.g. computational phylogenetic reconstruction, molecular dynamics simulations, determination of atrazine from agricultural runoff in local water sources and its effect on the physiological development of aquatic species.
to this project.
 
 
 
There has been a long tradition of Earlham science faculty involvement
 
in multidisciplinary and computational student/faculty research.
 
Additionally many of our science faculty have worked with local
 
environmental issues. In the last 20 years, faculty members in biology,
 
geology and chemistry have been engaged in studies ranging from
 
atmospheric measurements of mercury and aquatic ecosystem studies at the
 
college's Dewar Lake Biological Research Station to determination of metal
 
contamination in lake sediments. Across our science curriculum, a strong
 
emphasis is placed on quantitative, analytical and research-based
 
projects. Many of our research projects engage our student/faculty teams
 
in multidisciplinary efforts; currently, our computer science faculty and
 
students work with both biologists and chemists on computational projects.
 
e.g. computational phylogenetic reconstruction and molecular dynamics
 
simulations. For many years, our biology and chemistry departments have
 
collaborated on a variety of research and curriculum projects, e.g.
 
determination of atrazine concentration from agricultural runoff in local
 
water sources and its effect on the physiological development of aquatic
 
species.
 
  
 
==8. Peer Groups:==
 
==8. Peer Groups:==
 
+
The Keck Center for Macromolecular Studies at Trinity University focuses on interdisciplinary faculty and student research, as well as interdisciplinary curricular development.  However, Trinity’s program has a major focus on the integration of biology and chemistry, while our proposed program uses biology, chemistry, geosciences, mathematical, and computational science methods to explore environmental problems. Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania has implemented an Interdisciplinary Watershed Research Laboratory for field-based environmental laboratories. This project is similar in scope to our proposed project, but primarily integrates biology and geography/earth science, while we are proposing to involve more disciplinary perspectives.
Many institutions have recognized the need for innovative approaches to
 
science education at the undergraduate level. Carleton College has
 
established an Interdisciplinary Science and Math Initiative (CISMI) aimed
 
at integrating the physical sciences and mathematics in undergraduate
 
courses and research projects. Our proposed project shares a similar
 
mission to the Carleton program; however, one significant difference in
 
our program is the emphasis on computational science methods throughout
 
the curriculum. In addition, our curriculum modules focus on inquiry in
 
disciplinary-specific courses, especially at the introductory level.
 
Trinity University is also focused on interdisciplinary faculty and
 
student research as well as interdisciplinary curricular development with
 
their recently funded Keck Center for Macromolecular Studies; however,
 
Trinity’s program has a major focus on the integration of biology and
 
chemistry, while our proposed program uses biology, chemistry,
 
geosciences, mathematical, and computational science methods to explore
 
environmental problems. Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania has
 
implemented an Interdisciplinary Watershed Research Laboratory for
 
field-based environmental laboratories. This project is similar in scope
 
to our proposed project, but primarily integrates biology and
 
geography/earth science, while we are proposing to involve more
 
disciplinary perspectives.
 
  
 
==9. Goals and Methodology:==
 
==9. Goals and Methodology:==
State the major goals of the project and summarize the methodologies and
+
The fundamental goal is the development of multidisciplinary curriculum modules and related research program that incorporate computational methods to study an environmental problem of local significanceThis will be accomplished through an extensive study of the fate, transport and toxicity of metals in our local watershed.  We anticipate that the outcome will provide a framework for future multidisciplinary environmental studies at Earlham College and other liberal arts institutions.
time frame to be used in achieving them.
+
Curriculum modules will be incorporated into 6 introductory courses and at least 7 upper level courses in biology, chemistry, computer science, geosciences and mathematics. To illustrate how traditional topics can be introduced in an innovative way using this environmental project as a unifying theme, we propose to incorporate a new environmental chemistry component into our general chemistry class. This unit will introduce students to fate and transport modeling of metals by measuring the distribution coefficient commonly used to estimate the concentration of metal pollutants in aqueous systems. An example of a lab module in an upper-level hydrogeology course will involve a complete hydrogeologic characterization of the research site.  Students will use laboratory sessions to collect samples, determine aquifer properties, and quantitatively determine baseline metals concentrations in the research
 
+
site in a process meant to simulate an actual research investigation. Hydrogeology students will work with students who have an emphasis in chemistry and computational science to develop protocols for performing environmental fate experiments, chemical analyses, and equilibrium speciation modeling.
The major goal of this project will be to firmly entrench a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving in our students, faculty and curriculum.  An additional goal is for students to experience the power of
+
During the academic year, students taking courses that include these modules will be strongly encouraged to participate in a weekly, faculty facilitated seminar in which they will discuss their course experiences.  At the end of each semester, students participating in courses that have these modules will be required to attend and present their group projects at a locally hosted poster session. Initially, the summer research component will involve developing and testing curriculum modules. In summers two and three, students will have the opportunity to conduct more advanced research related to metals in the environment including analyses of metals in a variety of environmental matrices, descriptions and quantifications of food chains and computational modeling of rates of biomagnification of metals at higher trophic levels, performance of whole-soil hydraulic conductivity tests and determination of soil mineral reactivities, and computer modeling of biochemical and groundwater processes.  All students participating in summer research will have two opportunities each week to discuss the multidisciplinary perspectives related to their projects: faculty from all departments will facilitate a weekly seminar and students will discuss their research projects in a student-led seminar.
computational science in modern scientific researchA third goal is an
+
Timeline: In spring 2007, we will purchase and install equipment, and begin initial course module/seminar development.  In the summers of 2007-09, we will pursue course module and seminar development, as well as conduct student/faculty research.  During the subsequent academic years (2007-10), we will implement these course modules and seminars throughout our curriculum.
extensive study of the fate, transport and toxicity of metals in our local
 
watershed.  We anticipate that the process and structure we develop as a
 
result of this proposal will provide a framework for future
 
multidisciplinary environmental studies at Earlham College that may move
 
beyond the study of metals.
 
 
 
Curriculum modules relevant to this proposal will be incorporated into 6
 
introductory courses and at least 7 upper level courses in biology,
 
chemistry, computer science, geosciences and mathematics. To illustrate
 
how traditional topics can be introduced in an innovative way using this
 
environmental project as a unifying theme, we propose to incorporate a new
 
environmental chemistry component into our general chemistry class. This
 
unit will introduce students to fate and transport modeling of metals by
 
measuring the distribution coefficient commonly used to estimate the
 
concentration of metal pollutants in aqueous systems. An example of a lab
 
module in an upper-level hydrogeology course will involve a complete
 
hydrogeologic characterization of the research site.  Students will use
 
laboratory sessions to collect samples, determine aquifer properties, and
 
quantitatively determine baseline metals concentrations in the research
 
site in a process meant to simulate an actual research investigation.  
 
Hydrogeology students will work with students who have an emphasis in
 
chemistry and computational science to develop protocols for performing
 
environmental fate experiments, chemical analyses, and equilibrium
 
speciation modeling.
 
 
 
During the academic year, students taking courses that include these
 
modules will be strongly encouraged to participate in a weekly, faculty
 
facilitated seminar in which they will discuss their course experiences.
 
We anticipate that this will evolve to become a required course for all
 
science majors at Earlham.  At the end of each semester, students
 
participating in courses that have these modules will be required to
 
attend and present their group projects at a locally hosted poster
 
session.
 
 
 
Initially, the summer research component will involve developing and
 
testing curriculum modules. In summers two and three, students will have
 
the opportunity to conduct actual research related to metals in the
 
environment. Avenues of inquiry will include analyses of metals in a
 
variety of environmental matrices, descriptions and quantifications of
 
food chains and computational modeling of rates of biomagnification of
 
metals at higher trophic levels, performance of whole-soil hydraulic
 
conductivity tests and determination of soil mineral reactivities, and
 
computer modeling of biochemical and groundwater processes.  Students
 
participating in summer research will have two opportunities each week
 
during the research experience to discuss the multidisciplinary
 
perspectives related to their projects: faculty from all departments will
 
facilitate a weekly seminar for all students and, in addition, students
 
will meet weekly to discuss their research projects in a student-led
 
seminar.
 
 
 
*Timeline
 
**Spring 2007 - Purchase and installation of equipment, and course module and seminar development
 
**Summer 2007 - Course module and seminar development, student/faculty research
 
**Academic 2007-08 - Initial implementation of course modules and seminars
 
**Summer 2008 - Course module and seminar development, student/faculty research
 
**Academic 2008-09 - Continued implementation of course modules and seminars
 
**Summer 2009 - Course module and seminar development, student/faculty research
 
**Academic 2009-10 - Continued implementation of course modules and seminars
 
  
 
==10. Institutional Resources:==
 
==10. Institutional Resources:==
Describe institutional resources and/or strengths that will be used to
+
Earlham College has an unusually cohesive science faculty who meet in weekly divisional meetings to discuss and share many intra-divisional interests. Their teaching philosophy strongly emphasizes collaborative student-faculty research within courses and co-curricular activities. Science faculty and students gather every fall semester to present their research at the Earlham Annual Research Conference. Their close collaboration has led to the recent awarding of several multidisciplinary grants such as a Merck/AAAS grant for interdisciplinary summer research (2002), HHMI (2000), and an NSF-MRI for a 400-MHz NMR (2002). These successes, as well as the College’s commitment to supporting the faculty’s efforts in securing external funding, have resulted in an impressive list of scientific equipment, unusual for a college of our size. The quality of the teaching and learning experience at Earlham has also been demonstrated in the outcome of science alumni. In 2000, Earlham ranked eighth among 1302 institutions of higher learning in the Biological Sciences category of the Baccalaureate Origins Report.
achieve the goals.
 
 
 
Earlham College has an unusually cohesive science faculty. They come
 
together in weekly divisional meetings to discuss and share many
 
intra-divisional interests. Their teaching philosophy strongly emphasizes
 
collaborative student-faculty research, both within courses and
 
co-curricular activities. Science faculty and students come together every
 
fall semester to present their research at the Earlham Annual Research
 
Conference. Their close collaboration has led to the recent granting of
 
several multidisciplinary awards/grants such as a Merck/AAAS grant for
 
interdisciplinary summer research (2002), HHMI (2000), and an NSF-MRI for
 
a 400-MHz NMR spectrometer (2002). These successes, as well as the
 
College’s commitment to supporting the faculty’s efforts in securing
 
external funding, have resulted in an impressive list of scientific
 
equipment, unusual for a college of our size.
 
 
 
The quality of the teaching and learning experience at Earlham has also
 
been demonstrated in the outcome of science alumni. In 2000, Earlham
 
ranked eighth among 1302 institutions of higher learning in the Biological
 
Sciences category of the Baccalaureate Origins Report.
 
  
 
==11. Impact:==
 
==11. Impact:==
Describe the potential impacts of achieving these goals.
+
The college’s general education requirements will ensure that nearly every one of  Earlham’s 1200 students will take at least one course that contains a multidisciplinary research module with a computational component before they graduate. Science majors will further benefit from taking multiple module-integrated courses and from participating in the summer research opportunities. Because this project will impact the local community, we will hold an annual poster session on-campus for the public in which faculty and students will present their results. We believe this innovative approach of combining classroom scientific inquiry, summer research projects, multidisciplinary discussion, and community participation will give our students and the wider community a unique opportunity to engage in truly modern and authentic collaborative science.
 
 
Approximately half of the graduates in the sciences at Earlham are
 
women, and all the departments serve a considerably larger population of
 
science and non-science students. The college’s general education
 
requirements will ensure that nearly every Earlham student will take at
 
least one of the courses that contain a multidisciplinary research module
 
before they graduate. Science majors will further benefit from taking
 
multiple module-integrated courses and from participating in the summer
 
research opportunities.
 
 
 
An important artifact of this project will be further development of
 
Earlham's Environmental Studies program, which is largely staffed by the
 
same faculty that would be a part of this work.    Because this project
 
will impact the local community, we will hold an annual poster session
 
on-campus for the public in which faculty and students will present their
 
results. We believe this innovative approach of combining classroom
 
scientific inquiry, summer research projects, multidisciplinary
 
discussion, and community participation will give our students and the
 
wider community a unique opportunity to engage in truly modern and
 
authentic collaborative science.
 
  
 
==12. Fundraising:==
 
==12. Fundraising:==
Explain what other sources of funding have been sought, what amounts
+
We request that WMKF, with institutional support from the College, fund this pilot project. The College has committed $167,049 in resources as start-up funding. We are embarking on a capital campaign that includes a goal of building a $3 million endowment for science faculty/student research. We believe that a WMKF investment will serve as a catalyst for major gifts from alumni, friends, corporations and other foundations.
have been committed (including institutional funding), and the plan for
 
raising the remainder.
 
 
 
We are requesting that WMKF, with institutional support from the
 
College, fund this pilot project. The College has committed $167,049 in
 
combined cash and in-kind resources as start-up funding. We are embarking
 
on a capital campaign that has a goal of building a $3 million endowment
 
for science faculty/student research as one component. We believe that a
 
WMKF investment will serve as a catalyst for major gifts from alumni,
 
friends, corporations and other foundations.
 

Latest revision as of 15:04, 24 May 2006

6. Overview:

There have been repeated calls for multidisciplinary collaborative education and research as well as the incorporation of computational methods within the curriculums of other science disciplines (PITAC 2005, “Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research”, BIO2010). Research and curriculum models that study the fate and transport of metals in the environment require a multidisciplinary approach with a significant emphasis on computational methodology. These studies involve computational methods, field methods, and instrumentation that are accessible to undergraduates and can be incorporated in student-faculty collaborative research as well as course modules across the curriculum. Therefore, this area is an ideal topic for training our students to develop multi-faceted approaches to problem solving.

7. Relevant Efforts:

Earlham science faculty have been involved in multidisciplinary and computational student/faculty research. Additionally many of our science faculty have worked with local environmental issues. Faculty members in biology, geology and chemistry have been engaged in studies that range from atmospheric measurements of mercury and the determination of metal contamination in lake sediments to aquatic ecosystems. Our science curriculum places a strong emphasis on quantitative, analytical and research-based projects. Many of our research projects engage student/faculty teams in multidisciplinary efforts; e.g. computational phylogenetic reconstruction, molecular dynamics simulations, determination of atrazine from agricultural runoff in local water sources and its effect on the physiological development of aquatic species.

8. Peer Groups:

The Keck Center for Macromolecular Studies at Trinity University focuses on interdisciplinary faculty and student research, as well as interdisciplinary curricular development. However, Trinity’s program has a major focus on the integration of biology and chemistry, while our proposed program uses biology, chemistry, geosciences, mathematical, and computational science methods to explore environmental problems. Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania has implemented an Interdisciplinary Watershed Research Laboratory for field-based environmental laboratories. This project is similar in scope to our proposed project, but primarily integrates biology and geography/earth science, while we are proposing to involve more disciplinary perspectives.

9. Goals and Methodology:

The fundamental goal is the development of multidisciplinary curriculum modules and related research program that incorporate computational methods to study an environmental problem of local significance. This will be accomplished through an extensive study of the fate, transport and toxicity of metals in our local watershed. We anticipate that the outcome will provide a framework for future multidisciplinary environmental studies at Earlham College and other liberal arts institutions. Curriculum modules will be incorporated into 6 introductory courses and at least 7 upper level courses in biology, chemistry, computer science, geosciences and mathematics. To illustrate how traditional topics can be introduced in an innovative way using this environmental project as a unifying theme, we propose to incorporate a new environmental chemistry component into our general chemistry class. This unit will introduce students to fate and transport modeling of metals by measuring the distribution coefficient commonly used to estimate the concentration of metal pollutants in aqueous systems. An example of a lab module in an upper-level hydrogeology course will involve a complete hydrogeologic characterization of the research site. Students will use laboratory sessions to collect samples, determine aquifer properties, and quantitatively determine baseline metals concentrations in the research site in a process meant to simulate an actual research investigation. Hydrogeology students will work with students who have an emphasis in chemistry and computational science to develop protocols for performing environmental fate experiments, chemical analyses, and equilibrium speciation modeling. During the academic year, students taking courses that include these modules will be strongly encouraged to participate in a weekly, faculty facilitated seminar in which they will discuss their course experiences. At the end of each semester, students participating in courses that have these modules will be required to attend and present their group projects at a locally hosted poster session. Initially, the summer research component will involve developing and testing curriculum modules. In summers two and three, students will have the opportunity to conduct more advanced research related to metals in the environment including analyses of metals in a variety of environmental matrices, descriptions and quantifications of food chains and computational modeling of rates of biomagnification of metals at higher trophic levels, performance of whole-soil hydraulic conductivity tests and determination of soil mineral reactivities, and computer modeling of biochemical and groundwater processes. All students participating in summer research will have two opportunities each week to discuss the multidisciplinary perspectives related to their projects: faculty from all departments will facilitate a weekly seminar and students will discuss their research projects in a student-led seminar. Timeline: In spring 2007, we will purchase and install equipment, and begin initial course module/seminar development. In the summers of 2007-09, we will pursue course module and seminar development, as well as conduct student/faculty research. During the subsequent academic years (2007-10), we will implement these course modules and seminars throughout our curriculum.

10. Institutional Resources:

Earlham College has an unusually cohesive science faculty who meet in weekly divisional meetings to discuss and share many intra-divisional interests. Their teaching philosophy strongly emphasizes collaborative student-faculty research within courses and co-curricular activities. Science faculty and students gather every fall semester to present their research at the Earlham Annual Research Conference. Their close collaboration has led to the recent awarding of several multidisciplinary grants such as a Merck/AAAS grant for interdisciplinary summer research (2002), HHMI (2000), and an NSF-MRI for a 400-MHz NMR (2002). These successes, as well as the College’s commitment to supporting the faculty’s efforts in securing external funding, have resulted in an impressive list of scientific equipment, unusual for a college of our size. The quality of the teaching and learning experience at Earlham has also been demonstrated in the outcome of science alumni. In 2000, Earlham ranked eighth among 1302 institutions of higher learning in the Biological Sciences category of the Baccalaureate Origins Report.

11. Impact:

The college’s general education requirements will ensure that nearly every one of Earlham’s 1200 students will take at least one course that contains a multidisciplinary research module with a computational component before they graduate. Science majors will further benefit from taking multiple module-integrated courses and from participating in the summer research opportunities. Because this project will impact the local community, we will hold an annual poster session on-campus for the public in which faculty and students will present their results. We believe this innovative approach of combining classroom scientific inquiry, summer research projects, multidisciplinary discussion, and community participation will give our students and the wider community a unique opportunity to engage in truly modern and authentic collaborative science.

12. Fundraising:

We request that WMKF, with institutional support from the College, fund this pilot project. The College has committed $167,049 in resources as start-up funding. We are embarking on a capital campaign that includes a goal of building a $3 million endowment for science faculty/student research. We believe that a WMKF investment will serve as a catalyst for major gifts from alumni, friends, corporations and other foundations.