2015

By Jenny Maloney
Picture   a   college   dorm   room.
There   are   two   cramped   desks,   each   against   a   wall   without   a   window.
Seated   at   either   desk   are   two   undergraduate   roommates   staring   blankly   at   large   textbooks.
They   stopped   reading   the   words   about   half   an   hour   earlier   and   are   now   thumbing   through   the   graphs   and   pictures,   hoping   to   glean   some   informa on   for   the   test   tomorrow.
One   is   a   biology   major,   the   other   one   is   majoring   in   English.
Neither   student   truly   understands   today’s   study   of   biology.
Enter   Dr.
Lisa   Hines,   associate   professor   of   biology   at   the   University   of   Colorado   Colorado   Springs   (UCCS),   whose   goal   is   to   determine   what   will   enable   undergraduates   like   these   two   gain   the   skill   sets   and   experiences   that   scien fi c   study   can   provide.
Hines   is   working   to   answer   the   challenge   leveled   at   science   educators   by   the   2009   Vision   and   Change   Report .
According   to   the
Vision   and   Change:   A   Call   to   Ac on   summary   for   2009:   “On   July   15 ‐
17,   2009,   more   than   500   biology   faculty   from   two ‐  and   four ‐ year   colleges   and   universi es,   researchers,   administrators,   students   and   other   stakeholders   in   the   future   of   undergraduate   biology   educa on   met   in   Washington,   DC.
...
The   conference   set   out   to   mobilize   the   na on’s   educators   to   ensure   that   the   undergraduate   biology   they   teach   in   their   classrooms   re fl ects   the   biology   they   prac ce   in   their   labs   and   in   the   fi eld.
The   conference   also   developed   recommenda ons   to   ensure   that   all   students
–   biology   majors   and   those   majoring   in   other   fi elds   –   gain   a   be er   understanding   of   the   nature   of   science   and   the   natural   world.”
In   other   words,   Hines   and   her   colleagues   are   working   to   ensure   the   classroom   experience   is   re fl ec ve   of   real ‐ world   science.
Biology   cannot   be   learned   via   textbooks.
Field   research,   new   technologies,   cri cal   thinking,   and   crea vity   all   play   a   part   in   how   biologists   work.
The   classroom   should   re fl ect   that   for   all   undergraduates,   not   just   science   majors.
Hines’s   interest   in   making   biology   educa on   more   comprehensive   and   complete   goes   right   to   the   heart   of   how   she   herself   likes   to   work.
“A er   I   graduated   college,   I   obtained   a   fabulous   job   with   a   biotech   company.
It   was   great   for   the   fi rst   few   years,   but   I   eventually   got   bored.
I   realized   that   I   wanted   to   be   involved   with   the   decision ‐ making   process,   rather   than   just   genera ng   the   data.
When   I   was   in   graduate   school,   I   became   more   involved   with   di ff erent   research   projects,   and   I   really   enjoyed   the   challenge   and   crea vity   of   research.”   She   wants   to   share   that   passion   for   research   with   all   students   in   a   way   that   will   keep   them   ac ve   and   engaged.
“I   became   involved   with   the   introductory   biology   series   about   fi ve   years   ago,”   said   Hines.
“At   that   me,   I   realized   that   the
emphasis   of   introductory   biology   courses   was   on   covering   the   details   on   a   wide   span   of   topics,   as   re fl ected   by   the   large   textbooks.
However,   this   is   not   really   re fl ec ve   of   what   scien sts   do,   or   what   makes   science   exci ng.”
This   is   a   na onal   call ‐ to ‐ ac on,   as   stated   by   Dr.
Bruce   Alberts,   the   former   Editor   for   Science   magazine,   “The   explora on   of   the   wonderful   world   of   living   things   should   be   a   fascina ng   delight   for   students.
But   in   California,   as   in   so   many   other   parts   of   the   United   States   and   the   world,   most   students   gain   no   sense   of   the   excitement   and   power   of   science,   because   we   adults   have   somehow   let   science   educa on   be   reduced   to   the   memoriza on   of
‘science   key   terms.’”
Before   implemen ng   changes   to   the   biology   classroom,   however,   Hines   is   answering   the   ques ons   surrounding   the   recommenda ons   presented   by   scien sts   and   educators   like   Alberts   and   the   Vision   and   Change   conference,   which   makes   her   research   a   li le   di ff erent.
“Technically,   the   tradi onal   format   [of   an   undergraduate   biology   classroom]   is   hands ‐ on,   but   it   is   very   cookbook.
It   doesn’t   resemble   what   scien sts   really   do   in   the   lab.
The   type   of   transforma on   that   we   did   is   called   a   ‘CURE,’”   Hines   explained.

Earlier   research   into   implemen ng   classroom   undergraduate   research   experiences   (CUREs)   hasn’t   been   applied   to   everyday,   undergraduate   classrooms.
Hines   has   partnered   with   the   biology   faculty   members   Tom   Wolkow   and
Lisa   Durrenberger   of   the   University   of   Colorado   Colorado   Springs   and   four   Pikes   Peak   Community   College   (PPCC)   faculty   members:   Bob   Henderson,   Lisa   Hollis ‐ Brown,   Melissa   Lema,   and   Anne   Montgomery   –   who   were   directly   involved   with   implementa on   in   the   classroom   –   hoping    to   fi gure   out   whether   or   not   changing   classroom   methodology   will   actually   work.
She   explained,   “Data   suppor ng   this   recommenda on   are   limited   to   selec ve   undergraduate   se ngs,   such   as   upper   level   or   honors   courses,   and   the   bene fi ts   are   ill ‐ de fi ned   due   to   methodological   limita ons.
We   are   evalua ng   whether   this   approach   is   truly   feasible   and   bene fi cial   in   the   large   introductory   level   course   at   a   public,   four ‐ year   ins tu on   [UCCS]   and   a   community   college   [PPCC].”
For   the   research,   Hines   and   her   colleagues   randomly   assigned   lab   sec ons   to   either   the   tradi onal   format   or   the   experimental   format   containing   the   newly   developed   research   experience.
“We   u lized   assessments   to   evaluate   both   learning   gains   and   percep on   and   compared   responses   between   the   di ff erent   formats.”
Hines   and   colleague   Tom   Wolkow   received   funding   from   the   Na onal   Science   Founda on   to   conduct   this   research.
They   have   submi ed   another   proposal   to   NSF   that   involves   a   new   collabora on   with   UCCSTeach,   which   would   expand   their   current   project   to   four   local   high   schools.
Hines   and   Wolkow   were   invited   to   the   second   Vision   and   Change   conference   in   2013   to   share   their   fi ndings.
The   focus   of   the   second   conference   was   to   address   what   has   happened   –   successes,   as   well   as   barriers   –   since   the   recommenda ons   were   published   as   a   result   of   the   fi rst   conference.
“We   all   share   a   common   goal   of   improving   the   quality   of   biology   educa on.”   A   goal   that   will   con nue   for   the   foreseeable   future.
Science   educa on   wasn’t   always   Hines’s   focus.
“When   I   began   my   academic   career,   I   was   not   involved   with   educa on   research.
I   am   an   epidemiologist   by   training,   and   my   research   focus   was   in   the   area   of   breast   cancer.
Although   I   s ll   do   breast   cancer   research,   I   am   now   involved   in   educa on   research   through   this   project.”   She   con nues,   “I   opted   to   pursue   a   career   in   academia   because   I’m   passionate   about   both   research   and   teaching.
It   was   fortuitous   that   I   had   the   opportunity   to   merge   these   two   areas.”
Having   had   the   opportunity   to   work   with   in fl uen al   and   highly   acclaimed   scien sts,   Hines   has   learned   “To   always   step   back   and   assess   the   bigger   picture.
It   is   very   easy   to   get   lost   in   the   weeds   of   a   project.”   This   perspec ve   mo vates   Hines   to   work   on   improving   science   educa on.
The   classroom   is   where   the   scien sts   of   the   future   will   fi nd   their   interests   and   their   passions,   which   makes   each   classroom   a   vital   part   of   the   future   of   scien fi c   advances.

By Jenny Maloney
For   twenty ‐ four   years,   Jugal   Kalita   taught   hundreds   of   students   in   his   computer   science   classes   at   the
University   of   Colorado   Colorado   Springs   (UCCS).
He   has   watched   the   college   grow   from   an   en rely   undergraduate   set   of   programs   to   a   sprawling,   post ‐ graduate   research   university.
Working   in   both   a   growing   university   and   the   constantly   changing   computer   science   fi eld,   Kalita   has   learned   to   adapt   and   thrive.
The   rapidly   changing   fi eld   has   inspired   Kalita   in   his   current   research   to   create   resources   for   endangered   languages.
Across   the   world,   resource ‐ rich   languages   like   English,   Mandarin   Chinese,   Spanish   and   Hindi   are   crowding   out   resource ‐ poor   languages.
“If   you   look   at   a   language   like   Cherokee,   here   in   the   US,”   Kalita   explained,
“or   a   language   like   Dimasa   in   northeast   India   or   a   language   like   Tai   Daeng   in   Vietnam   and   Laos,   these   are   languages   that   barely   have   any   resources.
However,   most   of   these   languages   have   at   least   one   bilingual   dic onary   because   of   explorers,   or   people   who   tried   to   colonize   these   places,   or   because   of   people   in   the   church   who   wanted   to   translate   the   Bible.
But   that’s   all,   in   terms   of   lexical   resources,   a   language   like   these   might   have   –   just   one   single   bilingual   dic onary   with   a   limited   number   of   terms.
But,   maybe,   now   computer   technology   can   help   these   languages.”
Kalita   and   his   colleagues   are   a emp ng   to   expand   available   dic onaries   to   endangered   language   speakers   by   wri ng   computer   algorithms   to   translate   a   low ‐ resource   language   like   Cherokee   into   Chinese,   French,   Hindi,   or
English.
Because   his   focus   is   ar fi cial   intelligence,   Kalita   is   teaching   the   computer   to   do   the   transla on   work.
“Using   resources   like   the   Bing   translator   or   the   Google   translator   and   limited   parallel   textual   documents,   we’re   trying   to   translate   dic onaries.
We’re   trying   to   use   limited   resources   available   on   the   Internet   to   develop   a   whole   bunch   of   addi onal   dic onaries,   automa cally,   without   human   help,”   said   Kalita.
Among   the   resources   Kalita   is   working   to   construct   are   thesauruses   and   Wordnets,   which   are   lexical   databases   that   group   core   elements   of   a   language   together.
“In   English   there   is   a   database,   or   we   could   call   it   an   ontology,   of   words   and   how   words   are   related   to   each   other   –   which   word   is   a   synonym   of   which   other   word,   which   word   is   an   antonym,   which   word   is   a   so ‐ called   hypernym   or   hyponym,   which   word   denotes   an   object   that   is   a   part   of   another   word,”   said   Kalita.
The   most   well ‐ known   Wordnet   is   the   one   compiled   by   Princeton   for   the   English   language.
Kalita   and   his   students   are   a emp ng   to   create   a   similar   resource   for   endangered   languages.
Kalita   explained,   “That   kind   of   word   ontology   or   Wordnet   resource   is   quite   valuable   in   performing   tasks   computa onally.
So   we’re   trying   to   create
Wordnets   for   these   languages   which   are   endangered   or   who   have   very   few   resources.”
While   the   main   funding   for   crea ng   language   resources   generally   goes   to   those   studying   the   dominant   languages,
Kalita   feels   developing   resources   for   endangered   languages   is   necessary   work.
He   said,   “Recently,   there   has   been   an   understanding   among   researchers   that   if   these   languages   go   away,   it   makes   all   of   humanity   poorer.
The   diversity   of   languages,   the   diversity   of   cultures,   the   diversity   of   thought   that   is   expressed   in   terms   of   languages   enrich   everyone.”
“
Since   computer   science   requires   a   great   deal   of   hand ‐ on   work,   wri ng   and   rewri ng   programs   –   then   evalua ng   the   e ff ec veness   of   those   programs   –   and   encompasses   a   wide   variety   of   subjects,   Kalita   does   not   work   in   a   vacuum.
Collabora on   and   teamwork   are   key   to   making   sure   his   research   works.
Over   the   years,   Kalita   has   worked   with   hundreds   of   undergraduate   and   graduate   students,   and   in   the   past   several   years   he’s   had   the   opportunity   to   work   with   UCCS’s   new   Ph.D.
students.
His   students   are   his   fi rst   collaborators.

O en,   he   will   come   up   with   the   seed   of   the   idea   and   then   encourage   his   students   to   develop   the   ideas   further   and   develop   computer   programs   to   test   out   their   ideas.
“Usually   I   come   up   with   the   basic   ideas   myself   –   what   topic   we   want   to   work   on   in   a   broad   area.
Some mes   with   some   students,   we   come   up   with   a   few   ques ons   or   problems   for   which   we   need   answers.”
Next,   he   tells   the   student,   “Research   these   problems   and   choose   the   problem   you’re   most   interested   in.”   He   added,   “I   work   on   explaining   papers,   asking   ques ons,   proposing   possible   answers,   but   they’re   the   ones   who   do   the   deeper   inves ga on.”
He   went   on   to   explain,   “Because   we’re   in   computer   science   we   can’t   just   do   theore cal   work.
People   have   to   write   computer   programming   to   verify   whatever   hypothesis   they   may   have   or   whatever   solu on   they   may   have   come   up   with.”
Another   area   of   Kalita’s   research   that   involves   collabora on   with   students   is   designing   automa cally   generated   comprehension   ques ons   to   test   natural   language   processing   and   ar fi cial   intelligence.
“Suppose   we   were   working   with   a   K ‐ 2   child   and   he   or   she   reads   a   passage,   a   short   story,   or   a   fairy   tale   or   a   Dr.
Seuss   book.
A er   reading   the   book   we   want   to   ask   a   few   ques ons   to   see   if   the   child   understood   it.
Sure,   a   teacher   can   generate   those   ques ons   on   her   own,   but   can   a   machine   do   it?
Automa cally?”
To   help   verify   results   of   these   computer   programs,   which   cross   a   broad   spectrum   of   subjects,   Kalita   has   worked   with   di ff erent   departments   throughout   his   history   at   UCCS.
“I’ve   worked   with   people   in   electrical   engineering,   mechanical   engineering,   psychology,   communica on,   biology,   chemistry,   and   linguis cs   on   our   campus.”
His   collabora ons   aren’t   limited   to   Colorado   Springs   –   he’s   worked   with   professors   and   students   from   Brigham
Young   University,   Louisiana   State   University,   SUNY ‐ Bu ff alo,   Colorado   College,   University   of   Texas,   University   of
Minnesota,   and   Stanford   University.
He’s   also   collaborated   outside   the   United   States.
He   has   worked   closely   with   colleagues   at   several   universi es   in
India,   and   in   par cular   Tezpur   University   (just   forty   miles   from   where   he   grew   up),   both   in   language   resource   produc on   and   several   other   fi elds.
For   example,   he   co ‐ wrote   a   book   on   network   security,   Network   Anomaly
Detec on:   A   Machine   Learning   Perspec ve,   with   Dr.
Dhurba   Kumar   Bha acharyya.
“His   area   of   interest   in   network   security   compliments   my   interest   in   ar fi cial   intelligence   and   machine   learning,   and   vice   versa,”   Kalita   said.
Kalita   sees   great   bene fi t   in   working   with   collaborators:   “It   is   always   a   great   idea   to   look   at   a   problem   from   di ff erent   perspec ves.
When   people   from   di ff erent   fi elds   come   together,   new   and   exci ng   things   are   likely   to   happen.”
For   his   expansive   research   and   passion   for   teaching,   Kalita   was   recognized   at   UCCS   in   2011   with   the   Chancellor’s
Award,   which   is   given   to   faculty   who   excel   in   research,   service,   and   teaching.
He   has   also   received   teaching,   research   and   service   awards   in   the   College   of   Engineering   and   Applied   Science   at   UCCS.
Seeing   his   students   succeed   is   one   of   the   greatest   points   of   pride   for   Kalita.
He   fi nds   pleasure   in   working   with   bright   undergraduate   researchers.
For   the   past   several   summers,   he   has   been   kept   busy   with   the   Research
Experience   for   Undergraduates   program,   funded   by   the   Na onal   Science   Founda on.
About   twenty   published   papers   have   resulted   from   the   grant,   and   in   these   papers   undergraduates   were   the   fi rst   authors.

By Jenny Maloney
“Study   what   you   fi nd   fascina ng.
Don’t   follow   fads   and   fashions,   trust   your   own   interests,”   said   University   of   Colorado   Colorado
Springs   (UCCS)   psychology   professor   Dr.
Thomas   Pyszczynski.
He’s   a   man   speaking   from   experience.
Dr.
Pyszczynski   is   one   of   the   foremost   researchers   of   Terror
Management   Theory,   a   topic   he   never   thought   he’d   fi nd   fascina ng   when   he   began   his   studies   in   psychology,   mostly   because   it   didn’t   exist.
He   came   to   it   in   a   rather   unorthodox   way   –   by   ini ally   fi nding   the   ideas   crazy   and   implausible   when   he   read   about   them   in   a   book   by   another   scien st.
In   1974,   anthropologist   Ernest   Becker   was   awarded   the   Pulitzer
Prize   for   his   non ‐ fi c on   book   The   Denial   of   Death .
Becker’s   central   argument,   as   the   tle   implies,   focuses   on   the   idea   that   man   refuses   to   acknowledge   his   own   mortality.
A   few   years   later,   Becker’s   book   wound   up   in   the   hands   of   a   psychology   grad   student   at   the
University   of   Kansas   named   Thomas   Pyszczynski.
Ini ally,   Pyszczynski   didn’t   buy   into   Becker’s   argument.
“At   fi rst   I   hated   his   ideas   and   found   myself   obsessed   with   proving   him   wrong,”   said   Pyszczynski.
But,   as   it   turns   out,   some mes   the   impetus   for   great   research   is   con fl ict.
“Then   it   struck   me   that   it   was   interes ng   how   much   these   ideas   bothered   me,   and   that   itself   was   worth   looking   into.”
Pyszczynski   looked   into   it.
Branching   o ff  of   Becker’s   ideas   and   joined   by   colleagues   and   friends   Je ff  Greenberg   and
Sheldon   Solomon,   Pyszczynski   helped   develop   Terror   Management   Theory   (TMT)   –   the   psychological   theory   that   states   humans   create   cultural   and   personal   constructs   to   quell   a   primi ve,   subconscious   fear   of   death.
Humans   have   evolved   with   a   unique   self ‐ awareness.
However,   according   to   Pyszczynski   in   his   2004   ar cle,   “What
Are   We   So   Afraid   Of?
A   Terror   Management   Theory   Perspec ve   on   the   Poli cs   of   Fear,”   published   in   Social
Research ,   “These   unique   intellectual   abili es   also   created   a   major   problem:   they   made   us   aware   that,   although   we   are   biologically   programmed   to   stay   alive   and   avoid   things   that   would   cut   our   life   short,   the   one   absolute   certainty   in   life   is   that   we   must   die.”
In   the   80s,   when   Pyszczynski   began   his   research,   there   was   li le   to   no   research   on   the   psychology   of   death.
“When   I   realized   the   psychology   of   the   day   said   absolutely   nothing   about   the   problem   of   death,   to   the   point   of   ac ng   like   death   didn’t   even   exist,   it   sealed   the   deal.
It   struck   me   as   implausible   that   something   as   important   as   death   would   not   have   a   big   e ff ect   on   people.”
So,   for   the   past   thirty   years,   Pyszczynski   has   explored   how   this   fear   of   death   in fl uences   personal   con fl icts,   na onalism,   terrorism,   love,   family   rela onships,   and   many   other   aspects   of   the   personal   and   social   psyche.
In   his   2004   ar cle   Pyszczynski   discusses   TMT:
The   basic   goal   of   TMT   was   to   answer   some   very   basic   ques ons   about   the   human   condi on:
1)   Why   do   people   need   self ‐ esteem   and   go   to   such   great   lengths   to   get   it?;
2)   Why   do   people   need   to   believe   that,   out   of   all   the   di ff erent   ways   of   a   conceiving   reality,   their   concep on   is   the   one   that   just   happens   to   bear   a   one ‐ to ‐ one   rela on   with   the   truth?;   and
3)   Why   do   people   have   such   a   hard   me   ge ng   along   with   each   other,   especially   those   who   are   di ff erent   from   themselves?

Prior   to   Pyszczynski   and   his   colleagues   delving   into   TMT,   the   psychology   of   death   was   relegated   to   conjecture,   with   no   empirical   evidence   to   evaluate   human   responses   to   death.
“Although   a   few   theorists   who   did   not   do   empirical   research   had   speculated   about   the   role   of   death   in   life,   this   was   considered   an   issue   that   was   impossible   to   study   scien fi cally   that   was   best   le   to   philosophers,”   said   Pyszczynski.
Pyszczynski   and   his   colleagues   use   the   experimental   method   for   their   research.
According   to   Pyszczynski,   this   methodology   is   the   “most   powerful   approach   to   answering   ques ons   yet   developed   by   humankind.”   They   manipulate   variables   they   want   to   assess   and   measure   their   impact   against   a   control   group.
Between   Pyszczynski’s   own   experiments   and   his   collabora on   with   psychologists   the   world   over   –   including   universi es   in   France,   Italy,   the   Netherlands,   Germany,   Poland,   Israel,   Iran,   Australia,   and   Japan   –   there   have   been   hundreds   of   explora ons   into   TMT’s   impact.
“And   working   with   people   in   di ff erent   places   gives   me   access   to   di ff erent   types   of   people,   cultures,   and   life   circumstances   to   stretch   the   limits   of   our   ideas.”
Stretching   the   limits   is   a   key   part   of   Pyszczynski’s   research.
His   original,   controversial   ideas   have   become   one   of   the   major   theories   in   psychology   today.
Working   across   the   world,   expanding   the   understanding   of   TMT,   has   the   poten al   to   change   the   world.
Pyszczynski   said,   “As   a   child,   I   always   wondered   why   people   did   such   crazy   things,   why   they   couldn’t   get   along,   and   how   to   help   people   get   beyond   the   limita ons   of   their   own   perspec ve.”
Now   he   gets   to   fi gure   out   why   people   behave   the   way   they   do   on   a   global   scale.
“We’ve   always   thought   it   important   that   abstract   scien fi c   theories   shed   light   on   important   world   events,”   Pyszczynski   said.
“The   9/11   terrorist   a acks   got   us   focused   on   terrorism,   and   then   war   more   generally,   and   eventually   peace ‐ making.
This   also   got   us   thinking   about   how   sudden   trauma c   events,   like   the   9/11   a acks,   can   disrupt   the   normal   systems   that   provide   psychological   security.
This   leads   back   to   further   re fi nement   of   the   basic   ideas   in   an   ongoing   cycle.”
This   is   the   most   exci ng   part   of   the   research   according   to   Pyszczynski.
“Seeing   how   the   ideas   con nue   to   shed   light   on   new   things,   both   personal   and   global.”
Pyszczynski   has   been   recognized   for   his   groundbreaking   research   with   a   Life me   Achievement   Award   from   the
Interna onal   Society   for   Self   and   Iden ty,   a   Presiden al   Cita on   of   Excellence   from   the   American   Psychological
Associa on,   and   the   tle   of   Dis nguished   Professor   at   UCCS.
It’s   not   all   work   and   no   play   for   Pyszczynski,   however.
“Music   is   my   main   love,   both   listening   to   it   and   playing   it.
I   played   bass   in   a   reggae   band   for   years   but   that   dissolved   as   we   all   got   too   old   to   deal   with   the   club   scene,”   he   said.
“And   skiing   has   been   a   big   part   of   my   life,   part   of   the   reason   when   I   was   young   I   fantasized   about   fi nding   a   way   to   live   in   Colorado.
And   I   love   to   travel.”   For   a   man   who   studies   the   impact   of   death,   life   is   too   short   to   spend   doing   things   you   don’t   love.

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1%
7%
11%
19%
4%
58%
Federal
State/   Local
Foundations/   Associations
Foreign
Universities
Industry/non ‐ federal
Funding   by   Activity
12%
18%
70%
Research
Instruction
Other

Tim   Behrens/   Cheryl   Kelly   Buening    Evalua on   and
Implementa on   of   the   Healthy   Schools   Successful   Students
Ini a ve
Terrance   Boult    RI:   Small:   Open   Vision  ‐  Tools   for   Open   Set
Computer   Vision   and   Learning
Daniel   Bowan    Walk   and   Wheel   Colorado:   Increasing   Walking   &
Biking   in   Colorado   Through   Employer   Ac on
Shannon   Cable    Teacher   Educa on   Program   for   the   2013 ‐ 2014
Program   Year
Dick   Carpenter    The   Genesis   and   Protec on   of   Occupa onal
Leadership
Zbigniew   Celinski    REAP   (Research   and   Engineering
Appren ceship   Program)
Sarbarish   Chakravarty    Collabora ve   Research:   RUI  ‐  Two   dimensional   wave   pa erns   and   physical   applica ons   of   the
KP   web ‐ solu ons
Thomas   Christensen    X ‐ Ray   Di ff rac on   for   Research   and
Educa on   in   Southern   Colorado
Mary   Coussons ‐ Read    Mechanisms   and   E ff ects   of   Prenatal
Maternal   A ff ect   on   Pregnancy   and   Infant   Development
Russell   Elsberry    Tropical   Cyclone   Intensity   and   Structure
Change   due   to   Upper ‐ level   Ou low   and   Environmental
Transi on   of   the   32 ‐ day   and   15 ‐ day   Forecasts   of   Tropical
Cyclone   Events   to   Opera ons   in   the   Western
Laura   Eurich    Scribe   Funding
Anatoliy   Glushchenko    Providing   R&D   exper se
Near   Surface   Polariza on   of   Liquid   Crystals
Characteriza on   of   Op cal   Parts   for   Kidde   Open   Area   Smoke
Detectors
Daphne   Greenwood    The   Full   Economic   and   Social   Impacts   of
State   and   Local   Government   Contrac ng   for   Services
Lori   James    The   Impact   of   Stress   on   Older   Adults'    Word
Retrieval   Ability
Steve   Jennings    Mini   Grant   for   Colorado   Geographic   Alliance
Steve   Jennings/   Rebecca   Theobald    Colorado   2013/2014
Alliance   Grant
Collabora ve   Planning   Grant:   Geographic   Resources,   Primary
Sources,   and   the   Common   Core
Jugal   Kalita    Checklist   Execu on   So ware   Services   (CHESS)
Jugal   Kalita/   Terrance   Boult/   Qing   Yi/   Rory   Lewis/   Kristen
Walco ‐ Jus ce    REU   Site:   Machine   Learning,   Theory   and
Applica ons
Catherine   Kaukinen/   Henriikka   Weir/   Anna   Kosloski    CDOC ‐
UCCS   Research   Services   Contract
Cheryl   Kelly   Buening/   Tim   Behrens    Evalua on   of   the   Healthy
Places:   Designing   an   Ac ve   Colorado   Ini a ve
Cheryl   Kelly   Buening/   Tim   Behrens/   Dick   Carpenter/   Julaine
Field    Evalua on   of   the   Thriving   Schools   Ini ta ve
Deborah   Kenny    Preparing   Diverse   Baccalaureate   and
Advanced   Clinical   Nurses   and   Nurse   Leaders   for   Rural,
Underserved   and   Vulnerable   Popula ons
Lived   Experiences   of   Female   Veterans   a er   Iraq   and
Afghanistan   who   are   Homeless   or   Near   Homeless:   A
Phenomenological   Study
Michael   Kenny    Integrated   Behavioral   and   Medical   Health
Services
Student   Clinical   Training   at   Pikes   Peak   Hospice   and   Pallia ve
Care
Aging   Families   and   Caregiver   Program ‐ Public   Informa on
Aging   Families   and   Caregiver   Program ‐ Individual   Counselling
David   Khaliqi    Colorado   Springs,   Center   for   STEM,   Southern
Colorado   Girls   STEM   Ini a ve
Mars   Rovers,   Robots,   and   Extreme   Environments
HARPOON/   SEAL   Program   Evalua on
David   Khaliqi/   Josephine   Benavidez    UNITE   2014
Kelli   Klebe    Graduate   Research   Fellowship   Program   (GRFP)
Aikta   Marcoulier    2013   Leading   Edge
Robyn   Marschke/   Mathew   Cox    Colorado   Reverse   Transfer
Roger   Mar nez     The   Revealing   Coopera on   and   Con fl ict
Project
Brian   McPike     UCCS   PD   Na onal   Crackdown   Impaired   Driving
Nanna   Meyer     Inter ‐ tester   reliability   of   ultrasound   and   anthropometry   in   athletes
Leann   Morgan     Counseling   Student   Outreach:   Engaging   Recent
Veterans   in   Career   Development
Janel   Owens    UCCS ‐ SURF ‐ Boulder
Kerry   Peterson     Evalua on   of   Two   Da ng   Violence   Preven on
Programs   on   Campus
Barbara   Prinari     Mathema cal   Associa on   of   America   Regional
Undergraduate   Mathema cs   Conferences
Tom   Pyszczynski    Religious   and   Scien fi c   Paths   to   Immortality:
A   Clash   of   Cultures?
Jia   Rao    Student   Travel   Support   for   the   2014   IEEE   Interna onal
Symposium   on   Workload   Characteriza on   (IISWC ‐ 2014)
Jia   Rao/   Xiaobo   Zhou    CSR:   Small:   System   and   Middleware
Approaches   to   Predictable   Services   in   Mul ‐ tenant   Clouds
Daniel   Segal    Pre ‐ doctoral   Clinical   Psychology   Training   in
Integrated   and   Inter ‐ Disciplinary   Care   for   Older   Adults
Michelle   Sla ery    CDVCTR   Evalua on ‐  Year   6   Add   and   Year   5   will   carryforward
Heather   Song/   TS   Kalkur     MRI:   Acquisi on   of   a   Terahertz
Vector   Network   Analyzer   as   a   Regional   Resource   for
Mul disciplinary   Research   and   Training   in   Southern   Colorado
Region
Jeane e   Su on    Hazards   SEES   Type   1:   End ‐ to ‐ end
Development   of   Time ‐ dependent   Geo ‐ targeted   Alerts   and
Warnings   Enabled   by   Dense   Observa ons   of   the   2011   Tohoku
Tsunami
Teri   Switzer    Academic   Library   Grant
Steven   Tragesser    Space   Grant   Course
Steven   Tragesser/   James   Stevens/   Rebecca   Webb    Space
Grant:   COURSE   Supplemental
Kristen   Walco ‐ Jus ce/   Terrance   Boult    AutoCheck
Rebecca   Webb    mm ‐ Wave   Heat   Exchanger   Thermal
Characteriza on ‐  Phase   ii
mm ‐ Wave   Thermal   Rocket   COMSOL   Modeling   Plan
Bret   Windom/   Rebecca   Webb/   Janel   Owens/   Bob   Camley/   TS
Kalkur    Professional   Research   Experience   Program:
Undergraduate/   Graduate   Student   and   Post ‐ Doctoral
Qing   Yi    Integrated   Programmable   Compiler   Op miza on   For
Scien fi c   Applica ons
Chuan   Yue    REU   Supplement   to:   EAGER:   Inves ga ng   Elderly
Computer   Users'   Suscep bility   to   Phishing
Chuan   Yue/   Brandon   Gave    EAGER:   Inves ga ng   Elderly
Computer   Users'   Suscep bility   to   Phishing
Xiaobo   Zhou     STTR   Phase   II:   Autonomic   Job   Scheduling   in
Distributed   Mul ‐ processor   Systems

Ida   Bauer    CCAMPIS
Terrance   Boult    Google   ATAP   Con nuous   Authen ca on
Janus   Face   Recogni on
Support   for   Animal   Recogni on   Project
Terrance   Boult/   Charles   Benight/   Rory   Lewis    SCH:   INT:
Collabora ve   Research:   Learning   and   Sensory ‐ based   Adap ve
Web ‐ Empowerment   Trauma
Dick   Carpenter/   Rebecca   Theobald    An   Examina on   of   the
Rela onship   between   School   Choice   Programs   and   Private
School   Popula ons
Zbigniew   Celinski/   Anatoliy   Glushchenko/   Robert   Camley
Microwave   and   Millimeter   Wave   Components
Ching ‐ Hua   Chow    Proximity   Based   Encryp on
Grant   Clayton    Student   Teaching   E ff ec veness   Project   (STEP)
Pilot   Study
Mary   Coussons ‐ Read/   Phillip   Morris/   Barbara   Gaddis
Gateways   to   Success
Jay   Dawes/   Craig   Elder    Compression   Garment   Impact   on
Performance   in   the   Tac cal   Athlete
Russell   Elsberry     NASA   Hurricane   and   Severe   Storm   Sen nel
(HS3)   Observa ons   for   Tes ng   Environmental   Control   of
Hurricane   Forma on   and   Intensi fi ca on
Transi on   of   32   day   and   15   day   forecasts   of   Tropical   Cyclone
Events   to   Opera ons   in   the   Western   North   Paci fi c   and
Extension   to   Other   Basins
Brandon   Gave    Development   of   a   novel   test   to   jointly   measure   episodic   memory   and   performance   validity
Cerian   Gibbes    Mapping   our   community:   Spa al   representa ons   of   diversity   and   resources
Anatoliy   Glushchenko    EAGER:   Single ‐ step   processing   of   self ‐ assembled   magneto ‐ dielectric   hybrid   composites   for   microwave   phased   array   sensors
Janusz   Hankiewicz/   Zbigniew   Celinski/   Robert   Camley
Development   of   Contrast   for   Magne c   Resonance   Imaging   for   Non ‐ Invasive   in   vivo   Temperature   Measurement
Steven   Jennings/   Rebecca   Theobald    Colorado   2014 ‐ 2015
Alliance   Grant
Empowering   Teachers   Through   GIS
Catherine   Kaukinen    Developing   and   Coordina ng   Campus
Resources,   Services,   and   Programs   to   Reduce   Sexual   Assault,
Domes c   Violence,   Da ng   Violence,   and   Stalking   on   Campus
The   nature   and   extent   of   absconding   and   escape   among
CDOC   inmates   and   parolees
Michael   Kenny/   Laura   Engleman    Aging   Families   and   Caregiver
Program  ‐  Individual   Counseling
Aging   Families   and   Caregiver   Program  ‐  Public   Informa on
Integrated   Behavioral   and   Medical   Health   Services
Student   Clinical   Training   at   Peak   Vista   Community   Health
Centers
Student   clinical   training   at   Pikes   Peak   Hospice   and   Pallia ve
Care
Michael   Kenny/   Laura   Engleman/   Leilani   Feliciano    Integrated   mental   health   care   services   for   seniors   and   caregivers
Andrew   Ketsdever    Diagnos c   Development   for   Advanced
Monopropellant   Thrusters
Model ‐ Based   Simula on   for   System   Engineering
David   Khaliqi     2015   Research   and   Engineering   Appren ceship
Programs
ExxonMobil   Bernard   Harris   Summer   Science   Camp ‐  Mars
Rovers,   Robots,   and   Extreme   Environments
Southern   Colorado   Girls   STEM   Ini a ve
STEM   By   Me
David   Khaliqi/Josephine   Benavidez    UNITE   Bridge   to
Engineering
Karin   Larkin/   Roche   Lindsey    Archaeological   Assessment   of
UCCS   Quarry   Ac vity   Site
Drew   Martorella    Happy   Days
Theatreworks
Daisy   McConnell    UCCS   Galleries   of   Contemporary   Art   2014 ‐
2015   Exhibit   &   Program   Season
Phillip   Morris    Building   Resilience   and   Success:   Holis c   Student
Veteran   Support
Janel   Owens    MRI:   Acquisi on   of   High   Performance   Liquid
Chromatography   Tandem   Mass   Spectrometry
Anatoliy   Pinchuk    Nanostructured   Metal ‐ Semiconductor   Thin
Films   for   E ffi cient   Solar   Harves ng
Anatoliy   Pinchuk/   Kathrin   Spendier    Nano   and   Microscale
Molecular   Machines   for   Innate   Immune   Sensing   of   Candida
Gregory   Ple /   Sco   Trimboli    Physics ‐ Based   Reduced ‐ Order
Modeling   for   Vehicle   BSE
Carley   Ries    Colorado   Rural   Inclusion   Project
Stephanie   Ryon    CEASE   Network   Evalua on
Sex   Purchase   Prevalence   Study:   Valid   Es mates   of   Demand   and   Ac onable   Informa on
Kotaro   Shoji    Parent ‐ Child   Processes   A ff ec ng   Long   Term   Post ‐
Disaster   Psychosocial   Adjustment
Heather   Song    Design   Study   on   Terahertz   TWTA
Teri   Switzer    State   Grants   to   Libraries
Steven   Tragesser    Wheelchair   Modi fi ca ons   for   Paralympic
Shoo ng
Steven   Tragesser/   Bret   Windom    Course   Supplement:   Colorado
Space   Grant
Jonathan   Ventura     CRII:   RI:   High ‐ speed   Vision ‐ based   Mo on
Es ma on
Rebecca   Webb    W ‐ Band   Propulsion   Development
Henriikka   Weir/   Catherine   Kaukinen    Diverse   Long ‐ term   E ff ects   of   Childhood   Exposure   to   Interpersonal   Violence
Development   of   Externalizing   Behaviors
Richard   White/   Terrance   Boult/   Ching ‐ Hua   Chow    RAMCAP
Needs   Assessment
Mark   Wickert    Communica ons,   Signal   Processing,   and
Geoloca on   Solu ons   Prototyping   Support
Marcus   Winters    E ff ect   of   Third   Grade   Test ‐ Based   Promo on
Policies   in   Florida   and   Arizona
Qing   Yi    SHF:   Small:   Specializing   Computers   For   High
Performance   Compu ng   Through   Coordinated   Data   and
Algorithm   Op miza ons
Chuan   Yue/   Terrance   Boult/   Ching ‐ Hua   Chow/   Xiaobo   Zhou    A
Security ‐ Integrated   Computer   Science   Curriculum   for
Intensive   Capacity   Building
Xiaobo   Zhou/   Jia   Rao    CSR:   Small:   Moving   MapReduce   into   the
Cloud:   Flexibility,   E ffi ciency,   and   Elas city

Thomas   Amundson
Mechanical   and   Aerospace   Engineering
Nick   Anderson
Physics
Sabine   Banuelos
History
Abhijit   Bendale
Computer   Science
Allison   Eades
Psychology
2014
James   Hicks
Psychology
Vira   Kravets
Physics
Megan   Ishum
History
Khang   Nhut   Lam
Computer   Science
Carlos   Maldonado
Mechanical   and   Aerospace   Engineering
2015
Alisa   Bartel
Psychology
Terainer   Brown
Educa onal   Leadership
Katherine   Johanson
Psychology
McKenna   Lovejoy ‐ Roberts
Electrical   and   Computer   Engineering
Tommy   McDowell
Mathema cs
Megan   Murphy
History
Kathryn   Presco
Chemistry
Hannah   Ryan
Chemistry
Jessica   Saurman
Psychology
James   Vedral
Physics
Rui   Zhao
Security Engineering
Jason   Nobles
Physics
Melanie   Pimentel
History
Albert   Rodriguez
Electrical   and   Computer   Engineering
Seyed   Shahrouzi
Electrical   and   Computer   Engineering
Shoshana   Shellans
Biology
Corbin   Spells
Mechanical   and   Aerospace   Engineering
Holly   Taylor
History
Samantha   Tow
Mechanical   and   Aerospace   Engineering
Katherine   Wright
Geography

Isaiah   Branch ‐ Boyle
Anthropology
Nicholas   Chris an
Physics
Miriam   DeJong
Physics
Zachary   Klimczak
Electrical   Engineering
2014
Caleb   Lamb
Mechanical   and   Aerospace   Engineering
Cuong   Nguyen
Computer   Science
Carissa   Ortega
Psychology
Brandon   Patz
Mechanical   and   Aerospace   Engineering
Hannah   Phalen
Psychology
Paul   Pinchuk
Physics
Slade   Rodrigues
Mechanical   Engineering
Logan   Schachtner
Biology
Lauren   Bell
Biology
Rachel   Drawbond
Physics
Andrew   Galbraith
Biology
Alexandra   Hood
Criminal   Jus ce   and   Psychology
2015
Jesse   Miller
Geography
Brandon   Patz
Mechanical   Engineering
Leah   Payne
Psychology
Jennifer   Roberts
Psychology
Sam   Schmidt
Electrical   Engineering
Nathan   Weeks
Chemistry

Gwen Logan Gennaro
Director, OSPRI
719-255-3153 ggennaro@uccs.edu
Mike Sanderson
Assistant Director for Research Integrity
719-255-3044 msander3@uccs.edu
Sarah Mesa
Research Integrity Specialist
719-255-3903 smesa@uccs.edu
Patricia Rea
Sponsored Programs Specialist
719-255-3845 prea@uccs.edu
http://www.uccs.edu/~osp/
Help you find funding
Help you prepare proposal budgets
Ensure proposals are complete and in compliance with the solicitation
Submit proposals on behalf of the university
Review and negotiate grants and contracts for sponsored programs and other activities such as:
 Memorandums of understanding
 Non-disclosure agreements
 Cooperative agreements
 Fee for service contracts
Conduct an annual Grant Writing Workshop
Provide training to PIs and department sponsored programs administrators
Export Controls
 International travel guidance
 Visiting scholar review
 Fundamental research determinations
 Guidance on government restrictions
Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB)
 Answer questions regarding human subjects research regulations
 Process IRB applications for review