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Graduate Student Fellowships
The UCI Newkirk Center for Science and Society promotes appropriate and effective uses of research in the natural and social sciences to enhance the quality of human life. The Center is continuing its cycle of Newkirk Fellows and is now soliciting applications from UCI doctoral students from across campus.
Awards are up to $8,000 and can be used for tuition, fees, and/or research support. Preference will be given for proposals that are in line with addressing scientific research issues that benefit society.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Thursday, May 17th, 12pm
Application Process
Evaluation Criteria
Join us on Wed, April 18th, for an INFORMATION SESSION on the application process and proposal content.
WHEN: Wed, April 18, 4-5pm
WHERE: SBSG Conference Rm 5105 (Bldg 214, 5th floor)
Light refreshments will be served. RSVP at newkirk@uci.edu
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Congratulations 2011 Newkirk Center Fellowship Recipients!
Ashley Demyan, Department of Criminology, Law, and Society –What’s Compassion Got To Do With It? An Empirical Examination of Medical Release in California Prisons
Timu Gallien, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering – Parcel Scale Coastal Inundation Modeling: Empowering informed decision making through accurate flood mapping.
Kristen Gamble, Department of Psychology and Social Behavior – Post-Disaster Aid Provisions: How do Systems and Culture affect Success?
James Leonhardt, The Paul Merage School of Business – Icons and Health: Using Graphical Risk Representations to Increase Child Vaccination Rates
J.T. Reager, Department of Earth System Science – Estimating long-range global flood potential using GRACE terrestrial water storage and IPCC precipitation
Beth Karlin, Department of Planning, Policy, and Design – Market Characterization and Potentials of Feedback Devices (Honorable Mention)
Natalia Milovantseva, School of Social Ecology – Toward Sustainable Electronic Waste Management Policies (Honorable Mention)
Past Recipients can be viewed on the Fellowship page.
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Faculty Seed Grants
The UCI Newkirk Center for Science and Society has a program of seed funding for research that is relevant to its mission:
- Promoting appropriate and effective uses of research in the natural and social sciences to enhance the quality of human life
- Developing and sharing research knowledge with the public and policy makers so they can make informed decisions on vital policy issues on law, education, environment, health care, crime, and public infrastructure
Funding for Seed Grants has been temporarily put on hold.
Past Recipients can be viewed on the Seed Grant page.
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Seed Grant Spotlight: Diane Pataki
Assistant Professor of Earth System Science and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
How does urban turf grass affect climate?
Drop by the UCI Arboretum and you may find Diane Pataki in a fenced in patch of turf grass. Diane is interested in turf grass because it is ubiquitous in urban and suburban environments. Soccer fields, putting greens, and lawns now account for 2% of the land surface of the United States (an area bigger than the state of Washington) and as it does, its role in the climate system becomes increasingly important. However, this effect has largely overlooked - but Diane, and her colleagues are changing that.
Diane, along with Professor Susan Trumbore, was a recipient in 2005 of a Newkirk Center Faculty Seed Grant. The overall goal of the research is to evaluate how management of urban landscapes may influence the climate system, and ultimately to communicate this information to urban managers and planners. She set up an experiment at the UCI Arboretum, with the help of the friendly staff, to measure the exchange of gases between the grass and the air. The study included two plots of grass, one left normal and the other heated by lamps to simulate the effect of expected temperature rises due to climate change. The first surprising result was that rabbits seemed to like sleeping under the heat lamps in winter - a problem that was solved by fencing the study plots. The study also yielded some more scientific findings:
- Turf grass may contribute to greenhouse warming rather than mitigate it – turf grass removes carbon but emits nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) because of the high levels of fertilization.
- Less carbon is removed from the atmosphere when the turf grass is growing at higher temperatures.
Work continues out at the Arboretum with the focus on the impacts of fertilization and land management techniques. She has obtained additional funding for this from the Kearney Foundation for soil science and one of her graduate students, Neeta Bijoor received a prestigious NSF fellowship for related work. As research continues and the results become more robust, Diane will communicate her findings to not only urban managers and planners but also to you and me – so we can make informed decisions about how to plant our own backyards.
Additional information on Diana Pataki:
Through the generous donation of Audrey Steele Burnand, the Irvine campus of the University of California will open a new desert research center located next to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in the winter of 2012. Professor Diane Pataki will be utilizing this center to further her research on the desert ecosystem and the relationship between human development and the natural environment.
For more information, read Los Angeles Time’s article: Former Desert Resort to Become UC Irvine Research Center
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Research Spotlight on Past Recipients
Diane Pataki
2005 Seed Grant Recipient
How does urban turf grass affect climate?
Errol Glenn
2010 Fellowship Recipient
The Electrokinetics of Bacterial Colloids
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