Funding Opportunities:

2008 CECG SUMMER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

The CECG accepts fellowship applications for Penn State undergraduate or graduate students to pursue work on research topics related to environmental chemistry during summer sessions. This is a broad request where research areas ranging from the biological sciences to engineering to geochemistry are considered.  This year, due to funding constraints, we are only able to fund those proposals with a 50% matching component.  Students submitting winning proposals receive $1500 from CECG, to be paid via wage payroll, and we expect the host faculty member to provide at least that amount from other sources. Students are selected on the basis of intellectual promise, academic record, and faculty recommendations.

Recipients of the 2008 Summer Fellowships include:
Daniel Hummer, Department of Geosciences, graduate student
Daniel Jones, Department of Geosciences, graduate student
Daniel Silverman, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, undergraduate student
Michelle Williams-Tober, Department of Ecology, graduate student

Recipients of the 2007 Summer Fellowships include:
Aaron Diefendorf, Department of Geosciences, graduate student
Vanathi Duraisamy, Department of Agronomy, graduate student
Venkata Pradeep Indrakanti, Depart of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering, graduate student
Nancy Washton, Department of Chemistry, graduate student
Ren Zhiyong, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, graduate student

Recipients of the 2006 Summer Fellowships include:
Apurba Sakti - Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering, graduate student
Laura Hoch - Department of ERM and Chemistry, undergraduate student
Barbara Fricks - Department of Soil Sciences, graduate student
Suzanne McFarland, Department of Biology, undergraduate student
Joshua Middaugh - Department of Chemical Engineering, undergraduate student

Recipients of the 2005 Summer Fellowships include:
Jennifer Vrentas - Department of Biology, and Molecular Biology, undergraduate student
Jeffrey McDonough - Department of Civil and Environmental Civil Engineering, undergraduate student
Geoffrey Bowers - Department of Chemistry, graduate student
Sharmishtha Dattagupta - Department of Biology, graduate student

Announcements regarding the competition are made in early Spring session. Students can contact Deb Lambert or click here for an application. Application materials should include the following:

1. Curriculum vita, emphasizing all pertinent work or research experience. Include information about science and mathematics courses completed.
2. An unofficial copy of the student's transcript (including grades for most recent Fall semester - if available).
3. Short (1-3 page) paper outlining the proposed research.
4. One letter of recommendation (in a sealed envelope signed by the faculty) from a faculty member that knows the student from class or laboratory. This letter should address such characteristics as the work ethic, maturity, intellectual preparation, and potential of the student.
5. One letter of recommendation and invitation (in a sealed envelope signed by the faculty) from the CECG faculty member whose laboratory will host the student. This letter can address some of the points as described in #4, but should primarily describe the research project in which the student will be involved. Please emphasize environmental implications.

The letters of recommendation must come from separate faculty members. Letters from appropriate staff members will also be considered. The selection committee will be drawn from CECG faculty.

Questions about program should be addressed to Deb Lambert (EESI, Penn State, 2217 EES Building, University Park, PA 16802). Students are expected to submit a final report describing their completed research at the end of the summer.

RESEARCH INITIATION GRANTS

The objective of the program is to seed new efforts in the general area of environmental chemistry and geochemistry at Penn State. Research projects may involve field studies, laboratory experiments or computation and can focus on any area of chemical research that has significant environmental implications. We encourage submission of proposals to fund the initiation of research projects for researchers to enter new fields that may lead to future extramural funding. We also encourage submission of cross-college proposals or proposals from personnel early in or returning to their research careers.

Winners of the 2004 RIG competition follow.

Doug Archibald, Crop and Soil Science, received a RIG for his proposal "Equipment to Facilitate Development of Efficient Infrared Spectroscopic Methods for Assessing Pools of Soil Organic Matter."

Thomas Mallouk, Chemistry, submitted the proposal "Anodic vs. Cathodic Control of the Reactivity of Zero-Valent Iron Nanoparticles for Soil and Ground Water Remediation" which will be jointly funded by Materials Research Institute and CECG.

Ming Tien, BMB, and Bruce Logan, Civil and Environmental Engineering,"Isolation and Characterization of Microbes Selected for Wastewater Microbial Fuel Cells." RIG to be co-funded by COE Environmental Institute.

Awards of up to $10,000 each may be available. Funding derives from the CECG (funded by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and Eberly College of Science). Funds may be utilized to defray costs for project salary for graduate students and/or staff, materials and supplies, equipment, analytical fees, or travel; no funds may be used for faculty salary. All funds are General Funds, and all University policies must be followed for utilization of these funds. For example, no funds may be used for graduate tuition. Any faculty or staff member at Penn State may apply; however, investigators who have won RIGs in the past must propose significantly different research to be considered for funding. For budgeting purposes, researchers are encouraged to spend the money within the first 9 months of the award.

The proposal should be five pages or less (excluding references, figures, and CVs) and should include the following:

1. significance of and background to the research problem
2. objectives
3. research approach
4. description of personnel (with contact information) and equipment availability
5. proposed budget
6. name and address of one Penn State reviewer with competence in the area of research


Proposals are reviewed by a committee of environmental experts drawn from the Penn State faculty and staff. The judging committee is chosen by the CECG advisory board, which includes representatives from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Eberly College of Science, College of Engineering, and College of Agricultural Sciences.

Proposal evaluation scheme:

Proposals are evaluated based upon the following scoring criteria, with each category weighted equally:

1) quality and feasibility of the work and its potential for impact in environmental chemistry and geochemistry (up to 5 points total);

2) potential for future funding, including novelty and significance of the project within fields of environmental chemistry and geochemistry (up to 5 points total);

3) quality of the research personnel and their publication record or potential: extra weight will be given toward projects incorporating significant contribution from personnel drawn from different colleges, personnel that are drawn from junior, pre-tenure levels, or personnel that have returned to the work force (up to five points total).

Past CECG Research Initiation Grant Winners

Peter Heaney, Sridhar Komarneni, $10,000, "Real time structural analysis of heavy metal cation exchange reactions in anionic clays and manganese oxides."

Will White, Barry Scheetz, $10,000, "Characterization of an allophane-precipitating spring: A natural analog for acid mine drainage remediation systems."

Dave DeWalle, Dick Parizek, $10,000, "Tracers of surface water-groundwater interactions in an urban, karst watershed."

Dave Clifford, Caroline Burgess, $10,000, "Investigation of lignin depolymerization reactions for improved characterization and utiliztion of biomass."

Chris House, $8000, "Anaerobic Methane Oxidation: A Test of the Syntrophic Growth Hypothesis for Reverse Methanogenesis."

Bill Burgos, $10,000, "Using Mossbauer-Effect Spectroscopy to Investigate the Transformation of Iron- containing Phases under Environmental Conditions."

Jerzy Dec, $10,000, "The Roles of Poorly Crystalline Mineral Colloids and Enzymes in the Transformation of Organic Compounds in Soil."

Karl Mueller, $8000, "Heteronuclear Solid-State NMR Studies of the Structure and Corrosion Behavior of Sodium Aluminosilicate Glasses."

Serguei Lvov, $10,000, "Experimental Studies and Computer Simulation of the Environmentally Significant"