Officials to U.S. Corps: Use sediment for coastal restoration
October 18, 2006Opening this Friday, Oct. 27
October 22, 2006Researchers at Nicholls State University have begun work on 10 projects ranging from improving immunology education to studying the physical conditions of low mass star formations.
Funded by the Louisiana Board of Regents at a total of over $300,000, the projects will involve 11 Nicholls faculty members, and most are expected to last through the current school year.
The most recent of the grants was for $11,600 from the Louisiana Space Consortium for two research efforts probing the physical conditions of low mass star formations. Dr. Chad Young, assistant professor of physical sciences, will conduct the research using infrared observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.
“Enhancing Immunology Education for Biology Students” was funded at $79,000 to improve immunology education with the purchase of instrumentation for the immunology teaching laboratory and presentation aids. Dr. Rajkumar Nathaniel, assistant professor of biological sciences, is the primary investigator.
A grant of $63,000 for interactive and intercultural education, designed to boost foreign language programs, will help the Languages department to create a laboratory with multimedia materials and communications, to support students study abroad, and to assist in faculty development. It will be headed by Dr. Robin White, assistant professor of French.
Dr. Raj Boopathy, distinguished service professor of biological sciences, will administer a $33,255 grant to upgrade the microbiology laboratory by purchasing modern digital imaging equipment and an autoclave to enhance student curricular and research activities.
A $31,296 grant was awarded for marine biology education by incorporating protein and DNA analysis to measure environmental effects on animals and water chemistry probes to monitor the water quality of marine environments. The principal investigator will be Dr. Gary LaFleur, associate professor of biological sciences.
Dr. Enmin Zou, assistant professor of biological sciences, received a $30,123 grant to improve the quality of the physiology lab with the purchase of two multichannel digital data acquisition systems, two desktop computers, eight force transducers, eight electric stimulators, an osmometer, a dissolved oxygen meter, a microcentrifuge, an electronic balance, a pH meter and a refrigerator.
A grant to replace existing compound and stereomicroscopes in freshman biology labs, at a cost of $20,130, was awarded to the Biology department. Dr. Earl Melancon Jr., professor of biological sciences, will administer this grant.
Dr. David Schultz, associate professor of biological sciences, authored a grant which was awarded $16,115 for the purchase of a boat for accessing inland waterways to allow students to collect live biological specimens and transport them to the laboratory.
A grant of $13,093 for the purchase of SmartTech’s Sypodiums and Table PCs will allow more flexible and interactive presentations and class discussions with the capability to save and distribute fully annotated classroom notes. Dr. Morris Coats, Argent Bank Endowed Professor of Economics, will be the principal investigator.
Dr. Ken Rachel, head of the Department of Information Systems, and Ronnie Fanguy, assistant professor of information systems, will use a $4,888 grant to upgrade four classrooms in their department with the purchase or LCD monitors and interactive white boards, known as SmartBoards, which enable presenters to interact with classroom presentation materials.
