海角社区

 

BATON ROUGE 鈥� Six 海角社区 researchers have been awarded the National Science Foundation鈥檚 most prestigious grant for early-career faculty. Each was chosen because of their potential to serve as academic role models in research and education, and ability to integrate their endeavors within the context of their organization鈥檚 mission. The highly competitive grant, with funds for five consecutive years of a junior faculty鈥檚 research program, positions individual investigators for a lifetime of research and academic leadership, or, in 海角社区 lingo, for Scholarship First.

鈥淭hese NSF CAREER awards represent true research excellence in the faculty we recruit to 海角社区 to develop solutions that serve Louisiana and society at large,鈥� 海角社区 Vice President of Research & Economic Development Robert R. Twilley said. 鈥淭he six recipients recognized this year, combined with the success we鈥檝e had in recent years in winning these awards, is a testimony to our commitment to achieving the Scholarship First Agenda.鈥�

Learn more about the 海角社区 faculty and their research below.

Matthew Chambers

Matthew Chambers, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry in the 海角社区 College of Science, earned his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at MIT and works to make Louisiana鈥檚 vast chemical industry more efficient and sustainable. He reinvents ways to create commodity chemicals from feedstock hydrocarbons using less energy-intensive methods. His current project will focus on converting small hydrocarbons, usually treated as waste, into valuable chemicals and fuels, such as methane into octane. More sustainable chemical manufacturing methods, including those driven by solar energy and using more efficient photocatalysts, can lead to massive energy savings and waste reduction.

鈥淭his award will support my lab鈥檚 efforts to develop strategies to use energy from light to drive critical chemical-industrial processes and the energy economy,鈥� Chambers said. 鈥淲hen light interacts with molecules, the energy of the light is temporarily captured. We鈥檙e trying to harness this energy to promote some of the most challenging reactions.鈥�

In addition, Chambers will lead a major outreach effort to Louisiana K-12 schools through 海角社区鈥檚 revamped ChemDemo program. It is expected to reach about 5,000 students per year through hands-on demonstrations.

鈥淢uch of the underlying chemistry Louisiana鈥檚 chemical industry relies on has been effectively unchanged for close to 100 years,鈥� Chambers said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to modernize the way we convert oil and gas into critical commodities and fuels, and educate students about the challenges and opportunities that exist within these pursuits.鈥�

Chambers鈥� work to develop new petrochemical technologies relates to multiple aspects of 海角社区鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda, including, most obviously, energy. By lowering the carbon footprint of the chemical industry, Chambers will help protect coastal environments and the health of local communities.

Adam Forte

Adam Forte, assistant professor in the Department of Geology & Geophysics in the 海角社区 College of Science, works to better understand the evolution of landscapes. Along fault lines, especially, the forms and features of land surfaces can be suddenly transformed by earthquakes, both large and small, which over time build topography. Forte works to understand fault zone behavior and the dynamic interactions between tectonics and climatically mediated surface processes, such as erosion caused by rivers. His current project looks to bridge the gap between paleoseismology, which spans hundreds to thousands of years and a few earthquakes, and tectonic geomorphology, which spans hundreds of thousands to millions of years and numerous earthquakes. Forte will build an educational and research resource called the LandscapeLibrary, which can be used to assess long-term impacts of seismicity and better evaluate the risk of earthquakes to people and structures.

鈥淭his CAREER award will allow my student and postdoctoral collaborators and I to merge two formerly disparate aspects of my research program, one focused more on tectonics and one focused on landscape evolution,鈥� Forte said. 鈥淏y combining them, we hope to provide some insight into the styles of earthquakes that influence an area just from remotely sensed data.鈥�

Forte鈥檚 work connects with the coastal science, defense and energy priorities of 海角社区鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda.

鈥淚n an increasingly connected world, helping to easily characterize seismic hazard is important to ensure the safety of both populations and critical infrastructure, like those related to defense and energy,鈥� Forte said.

Christine Lattin

Christine Lattin, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences in the 海角社区 College of Science, investigates neophobia in house sparrows. Neophobia is fearful behavior toward anything new or unfamiliar. While some birds stay away from food, objects or environments they haven鈥檛 encountered before, others are willing to approach and explore. Lattin is discovering what this difference means in terms of neurobiology, especially in a brain region called the hippocampus. As some birds are able to learn from others to be less fearful鈥攂y watching them eat or interact with new things鈥擫attin also looks at how social learning experiences can change the brain. Her work holds ecological and evolutionary relevance for birds and other animals, as neophobia can help predict which species will survive in a changing environment. The research also impacts humans, as knowing the molecular mechanisms behind neophobia may reveal new ways to diagnose and treat anxiety and other mental illness in people.

鈥淎 key aspect of my CAREER proposal is the development of a new lab through 海角社区鈥檚 highly successful course-based undergraduate research experience, or CURE, program,鈥� Lattin said. 鈥淭his lab will involve first-year 海角社区 undergraduates in research, and鈥擨 hope鈥攊nspire and engage a new generation of future scientists in animal behavior and neurobiology.鈥�

Lattin鈥檚 award, over $1 million, is the largest CAREER award in history to 海角社区. Her work connects with various aspects of 海角社区鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda; particularly with the university鈥檚 biomedical science and health priorities, as well as in developing solutions to sustain life in changing coastal landscapes.

鈥淯nderstanding more about neophobia and how we can alleviate it could lead to interventions to help people cope with new things in their environment that cause them stress,鈥� Lattin said.

Shyam Menon

Shyam Menon, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the 海角社区 College of Engineering, works to understand and control how solid particles in high-speed gas flows impact material surfaces. He uses measurements of particle velocity and temperature, coupled with high-speed visualizations, to develop a regime map for particle-surface interaction outcomes as well as techniques to control them. Menon鈥檚 work has the potential to improve the safety and sustainability of both aerospace travel and power generation. It can also lead to the optimization of materials and component design to reduce maintenance requirements for aircraft, gas turbine engines, helicopter rotors, wind turbines and spacecraft.

鈥淭his award will allow our lab to make fundamental contributions to our understanding of high-speed multiphase flows while advancing 海角社区鈥檚 research capabilities in energy and defense through the development of unique experimental facilities, installation of advanced diagnostics and training of students on these capabilities,鈥� Menon said.

Menon鈥檚 award supports the defense and energy priorities of 海角社区鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda. His project will promote aerospace research and STEM education to K-12 students and the general public across Louisiana. He will engage high school students through summer camps, middle school students through a summer mini-course as well as the general public in hands-on demonstrations of aerodynamics and shockwave propagation.

Paul Miller

Paul Miller, assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences in the 海角社区 College of Coast & Environment, studies coastal meteorology. His current project will investigate the masses of dust that gather in the atmosphere above the Saharan Desert and travel across the Atlantic Ocean, sometimes as far as Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the dust was observed last year. While this phenomenon has been linked to the development of droughts in the Caribbean, Miller will investigate the direct relationship between the dust, the hot, dry air layer around the dust and drought dynamics. By focusing on Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory and island in the Caribbean Sea that experienced lots of Saharan dust and unprecedented drought in 2015鈥攕everely impacting its agricultural, ecological and municipal water needs鈥擬iller will develop a new undergraduate field course at 海角社区 and create demonstrations for outreach, including at 海角社区鈥檚 Ocean Commotion event for K-8 students.

鈥淐aribbean islands, including U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, don鈥檛 have large rivers and reservoirs and instead rely on rain for freshwater resources,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淭his CAREER award will help us understand the causes of rapidly developing drought conditions in water-vulnerable landscapes.鈥�

By providing new insight into climate-related phenomena, drought and particulate matter in the atmosphere, which all impact agriculture, coastal areas and human health, Miller鈥檚 work connects with multiple aspects of 海角社区鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda.

鈥淏eyond their effects on food systems through drought, Saharan dust outbreaks can influence North Atlantic hurricane activity and cause respiratory irritation as far away as the Gulf Coast,鈥� Miller said.

Justin Wilson

Justin Wilson, assistant professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy in the 海角社区 College of Science with a joint appointment in the 海角社区 Center for Computation & Technology, is a theoretical and computational condensed matter expert. His research provides new approaches to understand and manipulate the properties of materials in the quantum realm for information processing and storage. By improving the detection and control of quantum information phase transitions, which indicate the effectiveness of a quantum system鈥檚 information encoding, or 鈥渕emory,鈥� Wilson鈥檚 work will advance the development of quantum computers and quantum devices. His current project will involve the creation of a podcast, Quantum Matters, for broad audiences, as well as a new quantum technology course at 海角社区 and career development opportunities for 海角社区 graduate students in collaboration with the Erd艖s Institute.

鈥淭his award tremendously boosts my research and career, and enables us to explore the fascinating connections between condensed matter and quantum information sciences,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淥ur work has far-reaching implications for the development of quantum devices, while also providing opportunities to educate the public, graduate students and future professionals in the emerging quantum industry. I鈥檓 thrilled to play a part in shaping the future of quantum science and its societal impact.鈥�

Advances in quantum computing are related to both the defense and energy priorities of 海角社区鈥檚 Scholarship First Agenda. They can lead to breakthroughs in cybersecurity through cryptography and help protect the economy, critical infrastructure and people. In the energy sector, quantum technologies have the potential to optimize processes and drive energy resilience and emission reductions that contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable future.