Proposal Number: EPS-1006466 Institution: University of Delaware Project Director: Karl V. Steiner
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The State of Delaware is focusing on development of a "green economy", environmental sustainability and growth in human health and the life sciences business areas to re-establish economic vitality for the state. Over the last decade, Delaware has been focusing efforts on strengthening its traditional economic base of agriculture, chemicals, automotive manufacturing and financial services by developing more advanced knowledge-based technologies. A concerted effort over this period has built a credible life sciences sector in Delaware. There is also a growing awareness in Delaware, a low lying coastal state, of the adverse, pervasive impact of Global Climate Change, primarily through sea level rise and increased storm severity and frequency to the state. Delaware EPSCoR, through the Research Infrastructure Improvement programs (RII Track-I and Track-II and now RII C2), is strongly focused on the state's need to develop a sustainable environment, develop capabilities in life sciences and educate the state's diverse population in critical STEM career areas. Delaware EPSCoR has built a strong, integrated partnership among the state's leading institutions of higher education: the University of Delaware (UD), Delaware State University (DSU), Wesley College and Delaware Technical & Community College (DTCC).
Intellectual Merit The five-year goal of the RII Track-1 (EPS-0814251) discovery-based research program, which is directly impacted by this RII C2 proposal, is to build a globally competitive capability in environmental research, education and outreach. This capability, which requires a strong broadband cyberinfrastructure, will strengthen the state's capability to compete for and win large, multi-investigator grants and contribute to the development of a productive pipeline of future scientists and technologists as a base for knowledge-based prosperity in the state. The research is focused on understanding the important processes that occur in the Earth's Critical Zone, the heterogeneous, near-surface environment that sustains life on this planet. A major theme of this program, which integrates the capabilities of the partner institutions, is to determine and deploy cyber-enabled technology needed to sense environmental events and processes. This will provide important monitoring and predictive capabilities to enhance air and water quality, minimize ecosystem events like fish kills and algal blooms, and ultimately assist in adapting to global climate change at the local level.
Broader Impacts The broader impact of this proposal is to add to the knowledge base of environmental and biological science and move Delaware towards a sustainable environment. The improved cyberconnectivity and broader use of data-intensive scientific knowledge facilitates the creation of a broad, statewide community of stakeholders, encompassing government, academia, private sector and the public. Major socio-economic problems (e.g. global climate change) will have an enriched scientific base from which to develop the ensuing policy decisions. The development of a demographically and geographically diverse educational pipeline of well-trained scientists and technologists will contribute significantly to the competitiveness and prosperity of the state. A new cyber-assisted education outreach partnership with the Delaware Nature Society enhances delivery of environmental education to a large urban population in Wilmington, Delaware's largest urban center with a high percentage of underrepresented minorities.
," all Delaware EPSCoR partner institutions (the University of Delaware (UD), Delaware State University (DSU), Delaware Technical Community College (DTCC), and Wesley College) now have access to high-quality inter- and intra-institutional cyberinfrastructure and centralized informatics capabilities that support leading-edge research, education, and outreach in environmental science and biotechnology. Intellectual Merit The five-year goal of the RIII Track 1, that was directly impacted by the RII C2 project, was to build a globally competitive capability in environmental research, education, and outreach. This capability, which requires a strong broadband cyberinfrastructure, has strengthened the state’s capability to compete for and win large, multi-investigator grants and contribute to the development of a productive pipeline of future scientists and technologists as a base for knowledge-based prosperity in the state and ultimately assists in adapting to global climate change at the local level. Project Outcomes University of Delaware DEMAC currently employs several researchers and students at both the undergraduate and graduate level to (1) support the integration of diverse environmental data streams to solve complex environmental problems across the Delmarva Region; (2) to make quality data available to researchers and statewide decision makers; and (3) to enhance environmental education in the K-16 curriculum. DEMAC established a web presence that serves as a primary portal to DEMAC projects and resources (http://demac.udel.edu) and hosts numerous value-added applications that are useful to the broader research community. In addition, DEMAC has led the development of and hosts a publicly accessible web site to disseminate data from the University of Delaware’s polar orbiting and geosynchronous satellite receiving stations (http://udsrs.udel.edu ), and assisted with the development and hosting of the Delaware Coastal Flood Monitoring System (http://coastal-flood.udel.edu ), has partnered in the development of the DNREC Water Quality Monitoring Network Data Portal and been a major contributor in developing outreach tools for the Office of the Delaware State Climatologist, including the development and hosting of a website for visualizing and disseminating Delaware climate data (http://climate.udel.edu). To enhance access to and sharing of research data, UD also upgraded its bandwidth between campuses in Newark and Lewes, DE, which are about 85 miles apart, from 100 Mbps to 1,000 Mbps. Delaware State University DSU completed cyberinfrastructure redundancy upgrades across its main campus and increased the bandwidth that now provides sufficient access for the DSU researchers working on the EPSCoR programs in environmental sciences. Support for GIS software and computer purchases to establish three GIS-related courses and training for students and the general public and sharing of research data and collection between faculty across the network. Wesley College At Wesley College the cyber connectivity upgrades allowed data acquired to be sent directly to the lab-bench in a separate room and downloading of spectral data files on the computers located on a separate floor. GIS collaborations across the state were developed that resulted in new watershed GIS spatial technology applications. Delaware Technical Community College At DTCC, the fiber optic components for the cyber upgrades at the Georgetown campus were installed allowing faculty and students to have better interconnectivity among campus buildings on the Owens Campus in Georgetown. A new Energy House that was tied into the campus loop and serves as an educational laboratory to teach students about energy-efficient and renewable technology and materials. Delaware Nature Society At DNS, the capacity of a new server, provided for the management of school and public group programs in the society’s central database as opposed to an antiquated method of processing. This migration completed an effort to manage all constituents and registrations in the central iMIS database and provided capabilities to enhance cyber-based environmental outreach education for K-12 students. DNS reached numerous school children through its enhanced capabilities, including over 30% underrepresented students. Broader Impacts The improved cyber-connectivity and broader use of data-intensive scientific knowledge facilitates the creation of a broad, statewide community of stakeholders, encompassing government, academia, private sector, and the public. Major socio-economic problems (e.g., global climate change) have an enriched scientific base from which to develop the ensuing policy decisions. The development of a demographically and geographically diverse educational pipeline of well-trained scientists and technologists will contribute significantly to the competitiveness and prosperity of the state. A new cyber-assisted education outreach partnership with the Delaware Nature Society enhanced delivery of environmental education to a large urban population in Wilmington, Delaware’s largest urban center with a high percentage of underrepresented minorities. Delaware also promoted broad-based education programs in spatial technologies, bringing together expertise at DSU, Wesley, and DTCC to establish new courses in GIS-based technologies and green technology education. Through EPSCoR C2 investments, the project was able to add to the knowledge base of environmental and biological science and transition Delaware towards a sustainable environment.
