| The Vice President for Research has announced this year’s recipients of the Research Excellence Fund Awards, which total $502,378 among 27 people.
Recipients from the School from the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science nd their respective award categories are: Mentoring Grants – Oliver Gailing Research Seed Grants – Michael Falkowski and Oliver Gailing Infrastructure Enhancement Grants – Andrew Burton, “Improving Michigan Tech’s Ability to Quantify Stable Isotopes of Water” Forty-six proposals, totaling $1.2 million, were submitted. “We thank all of the members of the review committee for their important role in this process,” said David Reed, Vice President for Research. |
April, 2011—Chandrashekhar Joshi, a professor of plant molecular biology in Michigan Tech’s School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, has been named the winner of the University’s 2011 Research Award.
The annual Research Award recognizes a Michigan Tech faculty member for outstanding achievement in research. The award is based on the impact that the researcher has made toward advancing knowledge or the state of scholarship in his or her field, as evidenced by either a sustained productive scholarly endeavor or a single noteworthy breakthrough.
Joshi’s research focuses on understanding how trees make cellulose. “We have been unraveling the process of cellulose synthesis in trees for over a decade now,” he said. “We hope that one day sustainable, renewable and improved bioenergy and other useful products will result from our research.”
SFRES Dean Peg Gale called Joshi “an excellent scientist, mentor, teacher and scholar. His research is groundbreaking, and he passes his knowledge on to others so that they might someday be greater than him. Shekhar has increased the reputation and visibility of Michigan Tech for quality research through his efforts. He certainly deserves this prestigious award.”
Among those recommending Joshi for the award was Stephen P. DiFazio, an associate professor of biology at West Virginia University. “His work is of fundamental importance in the burgeoning biofuels field, and his expertise is widely respected in the scientific community and beyond,” DiFazio said.
Joshi has contributed to three patents and received more than $6.5 million in research funding over the past three decades, said Professor Laigeng Li of the Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. “Just as noteworthy as his sustained productivity in the laboratory are his contributions to foster the advancement of knowledge among students from the undergraduate to postgraduate levels,” Li added.
Joshi said: “I am truly humbled and touched by my selection for one of the most prestigious awards at Michigan Tech,” Joshi said. “Michigan Tech is the place where dreams of building a better future really come true. I am grateful to Dean Peg Gale, my students, associates and colleagues at Michigan Tech, and friends and family around the world for inspiration, trust and support over the years.”
Assistant Professor Audrey Mayer has received $5,000 from Oak Ridge Associated Universities for a one-year project, “Regional-Scale Impacts of Bioenergy and Carbon Sequestration Policies for Nonindustrial Private Forests in Michigan and Tennessee.”
Congratulations to the School's newest graduates, the May Class of 2011!
The Board of Control at their April 29, 2011 meeting, approved John Vucetich’s promotion to Associate Professor with tenure!
John has a BS degree from Michigan Tech in Biological Science (1994) and a PhD in Forest Science (1999)
Congratulations, John.
Associate Professor John Vucetich and Assistant Professor Joseph Bump, members of the Conservation Ethics Group (CEG), were recently awarded the 2011 Michigan State University Phi Kappa Phi Excellence Award in Interdisciplinary Scholarship . The award specified the highly unique collaboration between the social and ecological sciences with ethics, the large amount of community engagement, and the highly productive research and publication record of CEG members as especially impressive and the main reasons for the award.
Professor Blair Orr was featured on the White House website in a story highlighting Peace Corps volunteers through the years. Orr is director of Tech’s Peace Corps Master’s International programs. He served in the Peace Corps from 1978 to 1981. View the article here.
Associate Professor Robert Froese has received $10,000 from the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region for a one-year project, “Optimal Energy Crop Production in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.“
| The Ecosystem Science Center and the Biotechnology Research Center announce award recipients of the Seventh Annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum, held March 25.
For the graduate students, two Grand Prize Awards, six Merit Awards and two Honorable Mention Awards were presented. They were selected from among the 42 posters and abstracts submitted by graduate students conducting research related to ecology, the environment and biotechnology at Michigan Tech. New this year was a separate undergraduate research division with 9 submissions. For the undergraduate students, each center awarded a grand prize winner. Posters will continue to be on display in the atrium of the Noblet Building, School of Forest Resources, Michigan Tech Campus through April 8 Graduate Research: $500 Grand Prizes
Biotechnology Research Center:
$100 Merit Awards
Biotechnology Research Center
$50 Honorable Mention Awards: Ecosystem Science Center
Undergraduate Research: $150 Grand Prize Awards
Biotechnology Research Center
Organizers thank participants, the judges and all who helped with another successful ESC/BRC Student Research Forum. |