UNH Science Institute Awards Hit a Record $24.5 Million

UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space

UNH Science Institute Awards Hit a Record $24.5 Million

February 11, 2002

DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire's Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) attracted a record $24.5 million in sponsored research awards last fiscal year, accounting for 30 percent of the university's $81.9 million in total awards.

EOS's funding came primarily from three sources: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

According to David Bartlett, associate director of EOS, external funding supports more than 200 projects at the institute. These awards not only fund faculty research programs, they also support graduate students and undergraduate student research through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships and more informal projects.

The Northeast Consortium, directed by UNH, received the largest grant, $9.5 million from NOAA. The consortium, headed by Ann Bucklin, professor of zoology and director of the N.H. Sea Grant program, encourages and funds partnerships among commercial fishermen, researchers and other stakeholders for collaborative research and monitoring projects in the coastal ocean.

Other programs receiving substantial awards include:

$2.2 million in NOAA funding for GroundWinds, a project headed by Berrien Moore, director of EOS, and James Ryan, professor of space physics, aimed at developing instrumentation for measuring winds from space,

$1.4 million in NOAA funding for the Atmospheric Investigations, Regional Modeling and Prediction (AIRMAP), a project lead by Robert Talbot, research professor of atmospheric chemistry, whose primary mission is to develop a detailed understanding of climate variability and the source of persistent air pollutants in New England,

$1.6 million in NASA funding to support Berrien Moore's long-term research program on changes in biochemical systems,

$828,000 in NASA funding for the PLasma And Supra-Thermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) Investigation to be flown on the upcoming STEREO mission. Toni Galvin, research associate professor of space physics, is the Principal Investigator for the instrument. The primary scientific goal of the mission is to advance understanding of the three-dimensional structure of the Sun's corona, especially regarding the origin, evolution, and consequences of

coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

In addition to NASA, NOAA and NSF, EOS also receives sponsored research awards from such organizations as the U.S. Forest Service, the N.H. Department of Education, the N.H. Executive Office of State Planning, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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