The Summer 2011 issue of Spheres Online is now available.  Spheres is the electronic newsletter of the University of New Hampshire Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space.

The Office of Environmental Health and Safety (OEHS) works to assure safe and healthful environments for all segments of the campus population through programs of information and education, review and monitoring, technical consultation and provision of direct services.

Network New Hampshire Now (NNHN) has awarded a contract to NH-based Green Mountain Communications Inc. to construct NHSafeNet, a wireless public safety microwave network  that will improve the communications, efficiency and emergency readiness of state and local agencies.

A live webcast, titled Labs, Data Centers, and High-Tech Facilities,will be presented by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on July 7, 2011, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. EDT.

Experts Dale Sartor and Paul Mathew of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Will Lintner of DOE's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), will present best practices to meet Federal mandates to improve the energy performance of laboratories, data centers, and other high-tech facilities and examine trends across these facilities.

To accelerate the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside, or cooperatively with, people, several federal agencies have jointly announced the National Robotics Initiative.  

The US Department of Education (US ED) has determined that, as a result of final Congressional action on FY 2011 appropriations, there are not sufficient funds available in 2011 to support new awards under these programs:

• Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) Program

• International Research and Studies (IRS) Program

• Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad (FRA) Fellowship Program

• Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship Program

About 100 scientists and engineers from academia and industry in Europe, Asia, and both North and South America will be coming to UNH for an an international research conference on the subject of polymer nanoparticles. The International Polymers Colloid Group (IPCG) Polymer Colloids Conference 2011 has been organized by Professor John Tsavalas and Emeritus Professor Donald Sundberg of the UNH Materials Science Program.

In a free webinar at 2:00 PM (EST) on June 16, 2011, Lisa Kurek (Managing Partner of Biotechnology Business Consultants [BBC]) will discuss both the differences and similarities between Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Grants and Contracts.

This 40-minute webinar will cover:

- Real vs. perceived differences between SBIR and STTR
- Common Misconceptions – especially as it pertains to University participation

A new report published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that "even though standard economic approaches may be difficult to apply to evaluations of some research benefits of public investments in agricultural research, economic reasoning can provide qualitative analysis even when estimates of benefits are difficult to quantify."

With a proclamation from Governor John Lynch declaring Thursday June 2, 2011, as New Hampshire Space Grant Day, members of the New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium (NHSGC) and officials from the University of New Hampshire and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - including keynote speaker former NASA astronaut Jeff Hoffman - will celebrate the consortium's 20 years of work dedicated to improving education and public awareness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, particularly as related to our nation's space program.